Published
February 07, 2024
The business community is concerned that there has been an increase in human trafficking offenses, and additional resources are needed to combat this heinous crime. On February 5, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 443, “The Enhancing Detection of Human Trafficking Act,” unanimously, 407-0. This legislation would aid prevention and awareness by ensuring staff at the Department of Labor (DOL) receive the appropriate training and continuing education to recognize instances of human trafficking and refer these cases to law enforcement agencies.
This bill directs DOL to implement a program to train and periodically retrain relevant agency personnel to detect and assist law enforcement in preventing human trafficking during the course of their primary responsibilities and ensure that such personnel regularly receive current information on matters regarding the detection of human trafficking. This type of training can be conducted in-person or virtually and includes methods for identifying suspected victims and perpetrators of human trafficking and location- or environment-specific training.
The Secretary of Labor would be required to regularly report the training and continuing education provided under the program for the preceding year, the number of cases referred during the preceding year to the Department of Justice and other appropriate authorities in which human trafficking was suspected, and the metrics used by such employees to accurately measure and track the response of the DOL to such cases.
This bipartisan bill includes commonsense measures that will assist federal employees in recognizing human trafficking and how to report it.
Learn more: The U.S. Chamber’s Task Force to Eradicate Human Trafficking brings member companies together to educate stakeholders, lawmakers, senior government officials, and the public about best practices in supply chain management and identify strategies to combat human trafficking.
About the authors
Michael Billet
Michael Billet, director of policy research for Employment Policy at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, keeps members and internal Chamber policy staff abreast of pending labor, immigration, and health care legislation, as well as federal regulatory and subregulatory activities. He is also responsible for planning the Chamber’s annual workplace and community wellness forum.
