Large companies — those with 50 or more call-center workers — would face new consequences for shipping customer-service jobs overseas. The Labor Department would maintain a public list of employers that relocate or outsource call-center work abroad, with a 120-day advance-notice rule and civil penalties of up to 10,000 dollars per day for violations. Companies on the list would be barred from new federal grants and guaranteed loans for five years, and those already holding federal awards would owe a monthly penalty of 8.3 percent of the total award until they return the work to the United States — after a year, the award would be canceled outright. Federal contracting officers would have to give a preference to U.S.-based call-center employers, and any call-center work performed under a federal contract would have to be done inside the United States. Title II would require every customer-service call to begin with the agent disclosing their physical location; if the agent is overseas, the consumer must be offered an immediate transfer to a U.S.-based human. Businesses using artificial intelligence for customer service would have to disclose that upfront and offer the same transfer option on request, including via a voice command like saying "agent." The Federal Trade Commission would enforce the disclosure rules under its unfair-or-deceptive-practices authority.
Congressional Summary
Keep Call Centers in America Act of 2025This bill generally requires businesses to make U.S.-based, human customer service agents available to consumers and makes certain businesses ineligible for federal loans or grants if they relocate a call center overseas or contract for overseas call center work.Generally, at the beginning of a customer service communication, agents must disclose their location and, if the agent is outside of the United States, that the consumer may request immediate transfer to a U.S.-based agent. Businesses that use artificial intelligence (AI) for customer service communications must also disclose that a nonhuman AI or machine is being used and that the consumer may request immediate transfer to a U.S.-based, human agent.Separately, the Department of Labor must maintain a list of businesses that operate call centers of a specified size and that either relocate a call center out of the United States or contract call center work overseas. Businesses must generally remain on the list for up to five years, but Labor must remove a business from the list if the business meets certain requirements.Businesses on the list are generally ineligible for federal grants or federally guaranteed loans for a specified period. Businesses with existing federal grants or loans that are added to the list must pay a monthly penalty and are ineligible for further disbursement while they remain on the list. If such a business remains on the list after one year, the grant or loan must be cancelled.
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- Senate
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Introduced in Senate
- Action Date
- 2025-07-29
- Date Added
- 2026-04-23
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