Employee Rights Act

Republicans in Congress have introduced the Employee Rights Act (H.R. 2700, S. 1201), which would amend federal labor law to more appropriately align with the modern workforce and economy and protect employees’ individual rights. The ERA makes critical changes to the law that will safeguard workers’ rights and privacy and protect business models that have spurred economic innovation and growth and created millions of jobs for America’s workers.

The ERA would:

• guarantee workers will use secret ballots to choose whether or not to unionize, ensuring they can vote their conscience without being harassed, retaliated against, or threatened by union organizers, colleagues, or employers looking to pressure them to vote a certain way;
• protect workers’ privacy by giving them the power to decide who receives their personal contact information during union organizing campaigns and prohibiting unions from using their personal information for any reason other than a representation election;
• ensure workers can choose if their membership dues should be spent on political activity by requiring an “opt-in” provision for all union dues other than collective bargaining efforts;
• ensure workers who want to be self-employed can work freely and independently by clarifying the independent contractor standard and safeguarding independent contractor status; and
• protect small business owners by clarifying the joint employer standard, only allowing joint employer status to be triggered if an employer holds direct and immediate control over workers’ terms and conditions of employment.

The changes proposed in the Employee Rights Act are critical for improving the nation’s labor and employment law and modernizing these laws to more appropriately address the 21^st Century workplace. CDW wrote a letter to Congress supporting the Employee Rights Act in April 2023.

Democrats, on the other hand, are pursuing radical legislation, the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, that includes dozens of provisions that would violate workers’ free choice and privacy rights, force unions on employees who have voted against such representation, cost millions of American jobs, threaten vital supply chains, and greatly hinder our economy. The bill boosts union membership at the expense of American workers and small businesses.

Congress must pass the Employee Rights Act as soon as possible to help spur our nation’s economic growth and protect workers, employers and the economy from Democrats’ disastrous PRO Act.