§1558 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), P.L. 111-148

§1558. PROTECTIONS FOR EMPLOYEES.

The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 is amended by inserting after section 18B (as added by section 1512) the following:

SEC. 18C. PROTECTIONS FOR EMPLOYEES.

(a) PROHIBITION. No employer shall discharge or in any manner discriminate against any employee with respect to his or her compensation, terms, conditions, or other privileges of employment because the employee (or an individual acting at the request of the employee) has

(1) received a credit under section 36B of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 or a subsidy under section 1402 of this Act;

(2) provided, caused to be provided, or is about to provide or cause to be provided to the employer, the Federal Government, or the attorney general of a State information relating to any violation of, or any act or omission the employee reasonably believes to be a violation of, any provision of this title (or an amendment made by this title);

(3) testified or is about to testify in a proceeding concerning such violation;

(4) assisted or participated, or is about to assist or participate, in such a proceeding; or

(5) objected to, or refused to participate in, any activity, policy, practice, or assigned task that the employee (or other such person) reasonably believed to be in violation of any provision of this title (or amendment), or any order, rule, regulation, standard, or ban under this title (or amendment).

(b) COMPLAINT PROCEDURE.

(1) IN GENERAL. An employee who believes that he or she has been discharged or otherwise discriminated against by any employer in violation of this section may seek relief in accordance with the procedures, notifications, burdens of proof, remedies, and statutes of limitation set forth in section 2087(b) of title 15, United States Code.

(2) NO LIMITATION ON RIGHTS. Nothing in this section shall be deemed to diminish the rights, privileges, or remedies of any employee under any Federal or State law or under any collective bargaining agreement. The rights and remedies in this section may not be waived by any agreement, policy, form, or condition of employment.

Under Section 1558 of the ACA, retaliation complaints must be filed within 180 days of the adverse action, as required under 15 U.S.C. §2087(b), the whistleblower provision of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act.

The full text of P.L.111-148 may be found on the GPO website at: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PLAW-111publ148/pdf/PLAW-111publ148.pdf.

The consolidated print of P.L. 111-148 and P.L. 111-152 may be found at: http://housedocs.house.gov/energycommerce/ppacacon.pdf.