Congress is looking at a bill — The Patriot Corporations of America Act — that would gave tax and contracting breaks to companies that meet certain requirements. But wait till you see the requirements.

First, the main benefits to companies that qualify under the act:

• A 5% reduction in taxable income.
• Preference in bidding for federal contracts.

Now here’s where the other shoe drops. The act calls for at least eight requirements to be met in order to qualify. The eight major ones are:

1. At least 90 percent of goods and services sold must be produced in the United States.
2. The company must pay at least 70% of standardized health insurance plan costs for the benefit of employees.
3. All National Guard and Reserve employees called to active duty must be paid full differential salary and insurance benefits.
4. At least 50% of research and development, based on cost, must be conducted in the United States.
5. Management compensation cannot exceed 10,000% of compensation for the least-compensated full-time employee.
6. At least 5% of paid wages must be contributed to a portable pension fund for the benefit of employees.
7. The company must not have violated any Federal regulations on labor relations, workplace safety, the environment, consumer protection, or any other regulations specified by the Secretary of the Treasury.
8. The company must maintain at all times during the taxable year “neutrality in employee organizing drives and … a policy to that effect.”

Note that #8 is the trickiest one to interpret. It essentially says that management can’t interfere with unionizing efforts.

Go here to see a summary or the full text of the bill.