I
119THCONGRESS
1
STSESSION H. R. 17
To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to provide more effective
remedies to victims of discrimination in the payment of wages on the
basis of sex, and for other purposes.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
MARCH25, 2025
Ms. D
ELAURO(for herself, Mr. FIGURES, Ms. SEWELL, Ms. ANSARI, Mr.
S
TANTON, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. THOMPSONof California, Mr. BERA, Ms.
M
ATSUI, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. HARDERof California, Mr. DESAULNIER,
Ms. P
ELOSI, Ms. SIMON, Mr. GRAY, Mr. SWALWELL, Mr. MULLIN, Mr.
L
ICCARDO, Mr. KHANNA, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. COSTA, Mr.
C
ARBAJAL, Mr. RUIZ, Ms. BROWNLEY, Mr. WHITESIDES, Ms. CHU, Ms.
R
IVAS, Ms. FRIEDMAN, Mr. CISNEROS, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. AGUILAR, Mr.
G
OMEZ, Mrs. TORRESof California, Mr. LIEU, Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE,
Ms. S
A´NCHEZ, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. GARCIAof California, Ms. WATERS, Ms.
B
ARRAGA´N, Mr. TRAN, Mr. CORREA, Mr. MIN, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. PETERS,
Ms. J
ACOBS, Mr. VARGAS, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. NEGUSE, Mr. CROW, Ms.
P
ETTERSEN, Mr. LARSONof Connecticut, Mr. COURTNEY, Mr. HIMES,
Mrs. H
AYES, Ms. NORTON, Ms. MCBRIDE, Mr. SOTO, Mr. FROST, Ms.
C
ASTORof Florida, Mrs. CHERFILUS-MCCORMICK, Ms. LOISFRANKELof
Florida, Mr. M
OSKOWITZ, Ms. WILSONof Florida, Ms. WASSERMAN
S
CHULTZ, Mr. BISHOP, Mr. JOHNSONof Georgia, Ms. WILLIAMSof
Georgia, Mrs. M
CBATH, Mr. DAVIDSCOTTof Georgia, Mr. CASE, Ms.
T
OKUDA, Mr. JACKSONof Illinois, Ms. KELLYof Illinois, Mrs. RAMIREZ,
Mr. G
ARCI´Aof Illinois, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. CASTEN, Mr. DAVISof Illinois,
Mr. K
RISHNAMOORTHI, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SCHNEIDER, Mr. FOS-
TER, Ms. BUDZINSKI, Ms. UNDERWOOD, Mr. SORENSEN, Mr. MRVAN,
Mr. C
ARSON, Ms. DAVIDSof Kansas, Mr. MCGARVEY, Mr. CARTERof
Louisiana, Mr. F
IELDS, Mr. NEAL, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mrs. TRAHAN, Mr.
A
UCHINCLOSS, Ms. CLARKof Massachusetts, Mr. MOULTON, Ms.
P
RESSLEY, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. KEATING, Mr. OLSZEWSKI, Ms. ELFRETH,
Mr. I
VEY, Mr. HOYER, Mrs. MCCLAINDELANEY, Mr. MFUME, Mr.
R
ASKIN, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. GOLDENof Maine, Ms. SCHOLTEN, Mrs.
D
INGELL, Ms. MCDONALDRIVET, Ms. STEVENS, Ms. TLAIB, Mr.
T
HANEDAR, Ms. CRAIG, Ms. MORRISON, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Ms. OMAR, Mr.
B
ELL, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. THOMPSONof Mississippi, Mr. DAVISof North
Carolina, Ms. R
OSS, Mrs. FOUSHEE, Ms. ADAMS, Mr. PAPPAS, Ms.
G
OODLANDER, Mr. NORCROSS, Mr. CONAWAY, Mr. GOTTHEIMER, Mr.
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PALLONE, Mr. MENENDEZ, Ms. POU, Mrs. MCIVER, Ms. SHERRILL, Mrs.
W
ATSONCOLEMAN, Ms. STANSBURY, Mr. VASQUEZ, Ms. LEGER
F
ERNANDEZ, Ms. TITUS, Ms. LEEof Nevada, Mr. HORSFORD, Mr.
S
UOZZI, Ms. GILLEN, Mr. MEEKS, Ms. MENG, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr.
J
EFFRIES, Ms. CLARKEof New York, Mr. GOLDMANof New York, Mr.
N
ADLER, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Mr. TORRESof New
York, Mr. L
ATIMER, Mr. RYAN, Mr. RILEYof New York, Mr. TONKO,
Mr. M
ANNION, Mr. MORELLE, Mr. KENNEDYof New York, Mr.
L
ANDSMAN, Mrs. BEATTY, Ms. KAPTUR, Ms. BROWN, Mrs. SYKES, Ms.
B
ONAMICI, Ms. DEXTER, Ms. HOYLEof Oregon, Ms. BYNUM, Ms. SALI-
NAS, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. BOYLEof Pennsylvania, Mr. EVANSof Penn-
sylvania, Ms. D
EANof Pennsylvania, Ms. SCANLON, Ms. HOULAHAN, Ms.
L
EEof Pennsylvania, Mr. DELUZIO, Mr. HERNA´NDEZ, Mr. AMO, Mr.
M
AGAZINER, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr. COHEN, Mrs. FLETCHER, Mr. GREEN
of Texas, Ms. E
SCOBAR, Mr. CASTROof Texas, Mr. CUELLAR, Ms. GAR-
CIAof Texas, Ms. CROCKETT, Ms. JOHNSONof Texas, Mr. VEASEY, Mr.
V
ICENTEGONZALEZof Texas, Mr. CASAR, Mr. DOGGETT, Mr. SCOTTof
Virginia, Ms. M
CCLELLAN, Mr. VINDMAN, Mr. BEYER, Mr.
S
UBRAMANYAM, Mr. CONNOLLY, Ms. PLASKETT, Ms. BALINT, Ms.
D
ELBENE, Mr. LARSENof Washington, Ms. PEREZ, Ms. RANDALL, Ms.
J
AYAPAL, Ms. SCHRIER, Mr. SMITHof Washington, Ms. STRICKLAND,
Mr. P
OCAN, and Ms. MOOREof Wisconsin) introduced the following bill;
which was referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce, and
in addition to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, for
a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com-
mittee concerned
A BILL
To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to provide
more effective remedies to victims of discrimination in
the payment of wages on the basis of sex, and for other
purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-1
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Paycheck Fairness 4
Act’’. 5
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SEC. 2. ENHANCED ENFORCEMENT OF EQUAL PAY RE-1
QUIREMENTS. 2
(a) D
EFINITIONS.—Section 3 of the Fair Labor 3
Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203) is amended by 4
adding at the end the following: 5
‘‘(z) ‘Sex’ includes— 6
‘‘(1) pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical 7
condition; 8
‘‘(2) sexual orientation or gender identity; and 9
‘‘(3) sex characteristics, including intersex 10
traits. 11
‘‘(aa) ‘Sexual orientation’ includes homosexuality, 12
heterosexuality, and bisexuality. 13
‘‘(bb) ‘Gender identity’ means the gender-related 14
identity, appearance, mannerisms, or other gender-related 15
characteristics of an individual, regardless of the individ-16
ual’s designated sex at birth.’’. 17
(b) B
ONAFIDEFACTORDEFENSE ANDMODIFICA-18
TION OFSAMEESTABLISHMENTREQUIREMENT.—Section 19
6(d)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 20
U.S.C. 206(d)(1)) is amended— 21
(1) by striking ‘‘No employer having’’ and in-22
serting ‘‘(A) No employer having’’; 23
(2) by striking ‘‘the opposite’’ and inserting 24
‘‘another’’; 25
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(3) by striking ‘‘any other factor other than 1
sex’’ and inserting ‘‘a bona fide factor other than 2
sex, such as education, training, or experience’’; and 3
(4) by adding at the end the following: 4
‘‘(B) The bona fide factor defense described in sub-5
paragraph (A)(iv) shall apply only if the employer dem-6
onstrates that such factor (i) is not based upon or derived 7
from a sex-based differential in compensation; (ii) is job- 8
related with respect to the position in question; (iii) is con-9
sistent with business necessity; and (iv) accounts for the 10
entire differential in compensation at issue. Such defense 11
shall not apply where the employee demonstrates that an 12
alternative employment practice exists that would serve 13
the same business purpose without producing such dif-14
ferential and that the employer has refused to adopt such 15
alternative practice. 16
‘‘(C) For purposes of subparagraph (A), employees 17
shall be deemed to work in the same establishment if the 18
employees work for the same employer at workplaces lo-19
cated in the same county or similar political subdivision 20
of a State. The preceding sentence shall not be construed 21
as limiting broader applications of the term ‘establish-22
ment’ consistent with rules prescribed or guidance issued 23
by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.’’. 24
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(c) NONRETALIATIONPROVISION.—Section 15 of the 1
Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 215) is 2
amended— 3
(1) in subsection (a)— 4
(A) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘em-5
ployee has filed’’ and all that follows and insert-6
ing ‘‘employee— 7
‘‘(A) has made a charge or filed any com-8
plaint or instituted or caused to be instituted 9
any investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action 10
under or related to this Act, including an inves-11
tigation conducted by the employer, or has tes-12
tified or is planning to testify or has assisted or 13
participated in any manner in any such inves-14
tigation, proceeding, hearing or action, or has 15
served or is planning to serve on an industry 16
committee; 17
‘‘(B) has opposed any practice made un-18
lawful by this Act; or 19
‘‘(C) has inquired about, discussed, or dis-20
closed the wages of the employee or another 21
employee (such as by inquiring or discussing 22
with the employer why the wages of the em-23
ployee involved are set at a certain rate or sal-24
ary);’’; 25
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(B) in paragraph (5), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 1
the end; 2
(C) in paragraph (6), by striking the pe-3
riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 4
(D) by adding at the end the following: 5
‘‘(7) to require an employee to sign a contract 6
or waiver that would prohibit the employee from dis-7
closing information about the employee’s wages.’’; 8
and 9
(2) by adding at the end the following: 10
‘‘(c) Subsection (a)(3)(C) shall not apply to instances 11
in which an employee who has access to the wage informa-12
tion of other employees as a part of such employee’s essen-13
tial job functions discloses the wages of such other employ-14
ees to individuals who do not otherwise have access to such 15
information, unless such disclosure is in response to a 16
complaint or charge or in furtherance of an investigation, 17
proceeding, hearing, or action under section 6(d), includ-18
ing an investigation conducted by the employer. Nothing 19
in this subsection shall be construed to limit the rights 20
of an employee provided under any other provision of 21
law.’’. 22
(d) E
NHANCEDPENALTIES.—Section 16(b) of the 23
Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 216(b)) is 24
amended— 25
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(1) by inserting after the first sentence the fol-1
lowing: ‘‘Any employer who violates section 6(d), or 2
who violates the provisions of section 15(a)(3) in re-3
lation to section 6(d), shall additionally be liable for 4
such compensatory damages, or, if the employee 5
demonstrates that the employer acted with malice or 6
reckless indifference, punitive damages as may be 7
appropriate, except that the United States shall not 8
be liable for punitive damages.’’; 9
(2) in the sentence beginning ‘‘An action to’’, 10
by striking ‘‘the preceding sentences’’ and inserting 11
‘‘any of the preceding sentences of this subsection’’; 12
(3) in the sentence beginning ‘‘No employees 13
shall’’, by striking ‘‘No employees’’ and inserting 14
‘‘Except with respect to class actions brought to en-15
force section 6(d), no employee’’; 16
(4) by inserting after the sentence referred to 17
in paragraph (3), the following: ‘‘Notwithstanding 18
any other provision of Federal law, any action 19
brought to enforce section 6(d) may be maintained 20
as a class action as provided by the Federal Rules 21
of Civil Procedure.’’; and 22
(5) in the sentence beginning ‘‘The court in’’— 23
(A) by striking ‘‘in such action’’ and in-24
serting ‘‘in any action brought to recover the li-25
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ability prescribed in any of the preceding sen-1
tences of this subsection’’; and 2
(B) by inserting ‘‘, including expert fees’’ 3
before the period. 4
(e) A
CTION BY THESECRETARY.—Section 16(c) of 5
the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 216(c)) 6
is amended— 7
(1) in the first sentence— 8
(A) by inserting ‘‘or, in the case of a viola-9
tion of section 6(d), additional compensatory or 10
punitive damages, as described in subsection 11
(b),’’ before ‘‘and the agreement’’; and 12
(B) by inserting before the period the fol-13
lowing: ‘‘, or such compensatory or punitive 14
damages, as appropriate’’; 15
(2) in the second sentence, by inserting before 16
the period the following: ‘‘and, in the case of a viola-17
tion of section 6(d), additional compensatory or pu-18
nitive damages, as described in subsection (b)’’; and 19
(3) in the third sentence, by striking ‘‘the first 20
sentence’’ and inserting ‘‘the first or second sen-21
tence’’. 22
(f) E
NFORCEMENTAUTHORITY.— 23
(1) I
N GENERAL.—The Equal Opportunity Em-24
ployment Commission shall carry out the functions 25
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and authorities described in section 1 of Reorganiza-1
tion Plan No. 1 of 1978 (92 Stat. 3781; 5 U.S.C. 2
App.) to enforce and administer the provisions of 3
section 6(d) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 4
1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(d)), except that the Secretary 5
of Labor, through the Office of Federal Contract 6
Compliance Programs, may also enforce this provi-7
sion with respect to Federal contractors, Federal 8
subcontractors, and federally assisted construction 9
contractors, within the jurisdiction of the Office of 10
Federal Contract Compliance Programs under Exec-11
utive Order No. 11246 (42 U.S.C. 2000e note; relat-12
ing to equal employment opportunity) or a successor 13
Executive order. 14
(2) C
OORDINATION.—The Equal Opportunity 15
Employment Commission shall issue such regula-16
tions as may be necessary to explain and implement 17
the standards of such section 6(d). The Secretary of 18
Labor may issue regulations to govern procedures 19
for enforcement of section 6(d) by the Office of Fed-20
eral Contract Compliance Programs. The Secretary 21
of Labor and the Equal Employment Opportunity 22
Commission shall establish other coordinating mech-23
anisms as may be necessary. 24
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SEC. 3. TRAINING. 1
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission 2
and the Secretary of Labor, acting through the Office of 3
Federal Contract Compliance Programs, subject to the 4
availability of funds appropriated under section 11, shall 5
provide training to employees of the Commission and the 6
Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs and to 7
affected individuals and entities on matters involving dis-8
crimination in the payment of wages. 9
SEC. 4. NEGOTIATION SKILLS TRAINING. 10
(a) N
EGOTIATIONBIASTRAINING.— 11
(1) I
N GENERAL.—The Secretary of Labor shall 12
establish a program to award contracts and grants 13
for the purpose of training employers about the role 14
that salary negotiation and other inconsistent wage 15
setting practices can have on allowing bias to enter 16
compensation. 17
(2) T
RAINING TOPICS.—Each training program 18
established using funds under section (a) shall in-19
clude an overview of how structural issues may 20
cause inequitable earning and advancement opportu-21
nities for women and people of color and assist em-22
ployers in examining the impact of a range of prac-23
tices on such opportunities, including— 24
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(A) self-auditing to identify structural 1
issues that allow bias and inequity to enter 2
compensation; 3
(B) recruitment of candidates to ensure di-4
verse pools of applicants; 5
(C) salary negotiations that result in simi-6
larly qualified workers entering at different 7
rates of pay; 8
(D) internal equity among workers with 9
similar skills, effort, responsibility and working 10
conditions; 11
(E) consistent use of market rates and in-12
centives driven by industry competitiveness; 13
(F) evaluation of the rate of employee 14
progress and advancement to higher paid posi-15
tions; 16
(G) work assignments that result in great-17
er opportunity for advancement; 18
(H) training, development and promotion 19
opportunities; 20
(I) impact of mid-level or senior level hir-21
ing in comparison to wage rates of incumbent 22
workers; 23
(J) opportunities to win commissions and 24
bonuses; 25
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(K) performance reviews and raises; 1
(L) processes for adjusting pay to address 2
inconsistency and inequity in compensation; and 3
(M) other topics that research identifies as 4
a common area for assumptions, bias and in-5
equity to impact compensation. 6
(b) P
ROGRAMAUTHORIZED.— 7
(1) I
N GENERAL.—The Secretary of Labor, 8
after consultation with the Secretary of Education, 9
is authorized to establish and carry out a grant pro-10
gram. 11
(2) G
RANTS.—In carrying out the program, the 12
Secretary of Labor may make grants on a competi-13
tive basis to eligible entities to carry out negotiation 14
skills training programs for the purposes of address-15
ing pay disparities, including through outreach to 16
women and girls. 17
(3) E
LIGIBLE ENTITIES.—To be eligible to re-18
ceive a grant under this subsection, an entity shall 19
be a public agency, such as a State, a local govern-20
ment in a metropolitan statistical area (as defined 21
by the Office of Management and Budget), a State 22
educational agency, or a local educational agency, a 23
private nonprofit organization, or a community- 24
based organization. 25
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(4) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a 1
grant under this subsection, an entity shall submit 2
an application to the Secretary of Labor at such 3
time, in such manner, and containing such informa-4
tion as the Secretary of Labor may require. 5
(5) U
SE OF FUNDS.—An entity that receives a 6
grant under this subsection shall use the funds made 7
available through the grant to carry out an effective 8
negotiation skills training program for the purposes 9
described in paragraph (2). 10
(c) I
NCORPORATINGTRAININGINTOEXISTINGPRO-11
GRAMS.—The Secretary of Labor and the Secretary of 12
Education shall issue regulations or policy guidance that 13
provides for integrating the negotiation skills training, to 14
the extent practicable, into programs authorized under— 15
(1) in the case of the Secretary of Education, 16
the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 17
1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.), the Carl D. Perkins 18
Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 (20 19
U.S.C. 2301 et seq.), the Higher Education Act of 20
1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.), and other programs 21
carried out by the Department of Education that the 22
Secretary of Education determines to be appro-23
priate; and 24
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(2) in the case of the Secretary of Labor, the 1
Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 2
U.S.C. 3101 et seq.), and other programs carried 3
out by the Department of Labor that the Secretary 4
of Labor determines to be appropriate. 5
(d) R
EPORT.—Not later than 18 months after the 6
date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 7
the Secretary of Labor, in consultation with the Secretary 8
of Education, shall prepare and submit to Congress a re-9
port describing the activities conducted under this section 10
and evaluating the effectiveness of such activities in 11
achieving the purposes of this section. 12
SEC. 5. RESEARCH, EDUCATION, AND OUTREACH. 13
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Not later than 18 months after 14
the date of enactment of this Act, and periodically there-15
after, the Secretary of Labor shall conduct studies and 16
provide information to employers, labor organizations, and 17
the general public concerning the means available to elimi-18
nate pay disparities between men and women (including 19
women who are Asian American, Black or African Amer-20
ican, Hispanic American or Latino, Native American or 21
Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, and 22
White American), including— 23
(1) conducting and promoting research to de-24
velop the means to correct expeditiously the condi-25
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tions leading to the pay disparities, with specific at-1
tention paid to women and girls from historically 2
underrepresented and minority groups; 3
(2) publishing and otherwise making available 4
to employers, labor organizations, professional asso-5
ciations, educational institutions, the media, and the 6
general public the findings resulting from studies 7
and other materials, relating to eliminating the pay 8
disparities; 9
(3) sponsoring and assisting State, local, and 10
community informational and educational programs; 11
(4) providing information to employers, labor 12
organizations, professional associations, and other 13
interested persons on the means of eliminating the 14
pay disparities; and 15
(5) recognizing and promoting the achievements 16
of employers, labor organizations, and professional 17
associations that have worked to eliminate the pay 18
disparities. 19
(b) R
ESEARCH ONGENDERPAYGAP INTEENAGE 20
L
ABORFORCE.— 21
(1) R
ESEARCH REVIEW .—Not later than 12 22
months after the date of the enactment of this Act, 23
the Secretary of Labor, acting through the Director 24
of the Women’s Bureau, shall conduct a review and 25
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develop a synthesis of research on the gender wage 1
gap among younger workers existing as of the date 2
of enactment of this Act, and shall make such review 3
and synthesis available on a publicly accessible 4
website of the Department of Labor. 5
(2) A
UTHORITY TO COMMISSION STUDIES .—Not 6
later than 36 months after the date of the enact-7
ment of this Act, the Secretary of Labor, acting 8
through the Director of the Women’s Bureau, shall 9
request proposals and commission studies that can 10
advance knowledge on the gender wage gap among 11
younger workers, and shall make such studies avail-12
able on a publicly accessible website of the Depart-13
ment of Labor. 14
SEC. 6. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NATIONAL AWARD FOR 15
PAY EQUITY IN THE WORKPLACE. 16
(a) I
NGENERAL.—There is established the National 17
Award for Pay Equity in the Workplace, which shall be 18
awarded by the Secretary of Labor in consultation with 19
the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, on an 20
annual basis, to an employer to encourage proactive ef-21
forts to comply with section 6(d) of the Fair Labor Stand-22
ards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(d)), as amended by this 23
Act. 24
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(b) CRITERIA FORQUALIFICATION.—The Secretary 1
of Labor, in consultation with the Equal Employment Op-2
portunity Commission, shall— 3
(1) set criteria for receipt of the award, includ-4
ing a requirement that an employer has made sub-5
stantial effort to eliminate pay disparities between 6
men and women and deserves special recognition as 7
a consequence of such effort; and 8
(2) establish procedures for the application and 9
presentation of the award. 10
(c) B
USINESS.—In this section, the term ‘‘employer’’ 11
includes— 12
(1)(A) a corporation, including a nonprofit cor-13
poration; 14
(B) a partnership; 15
(C) a professional association; 16
(D) a labor organization; and 17
(E) a business entity similar to an entity de-18
scribed in any of subparagraphs (A) through (D); 19
(2) an entity carrying out an education referral 20
program, a training program, such as an apprentice-21
ship or management training program, or a similar 22
program; and 23
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(3) an entity carrying out a joint program, 1
formed by a combination of any entities described in 2
paragraph (1) or (2). 3
SEC. 7. COLLECTION OF PAY INFORMATION BY THE EQUAL 4
EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION. 5
Section 709 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 6
U.S.C. 2000e–8) is amended by adding at the end the fol-7
lowing: 8
‘‘(f)(1) Not later than 24 months after the date of 9
enactment of this subsection, the Commission shall pro-10
vide for the annual collection from employers of compensa-11
tion data disaggregated by the sex, race, and national ori-12
gin of employees. The Commission may also require em-13
ployers to submit other employment-related data (includ-14
ing hiring, termination, and promotion data) so 15
disaggregated. 16
‘‘(2) In carrying out paragraph (1), the Commission 17
shall have as its primary consideration the most effective 18
and efficient means for enhancing the enforcement of Fed-19
eral laws prohibiting pay discrimination. The Commission 20
shall also consider factors including the imposition of bur-21
dens on employers, the frequency of required reports (in-22
cluding the size of employers required to prepare reports), 23
appropriate protections for maintaining data confiden-24
tiality, and the most effective format to report such data. 25
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‘‘(3)(A) For each 12-month reporting period for an 1
employer, the data collected under paragraph (1) shall in-2
clude compensation data disaggregated by the categories 3
described in subparagraph (E). 4
‘‘(B) For the purposes of collecting the disaggregated 5
compensation data described in subparagraph (A), the 6
Commission may use compensation ranges reporting— 7
‘‘(i) the number of employees of the employer 8
who earn compensation in an amount that falls with-9
in such compensation range; and 10
‘‘(ii) the total number of hours worked by such 11
employees. 12
‘‘(C) If the Commission uses compensation ranges to 13
collect the pay data described in subparagraph (A), the 14
Commission may adjust such compensation ranges— 15
‘‘(i) if the Commission determines that such ad-16
justment is necessary to enhance enforcement of 17
Federal laws prohibiting pay discrimination; or 18
‘‘(ii) for inflation, in consultation with the Bu-19
reau of Labor Statistics. 20
‘‘(D) In collecting data described in subparagraph 21
(A)(ii), the Commission may provide that, with respect to 22
an employee who the employer is not required to com-23
pensate for overtime employment under section 7 of the 24
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Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 207), an 1
employer may report— 2
‘‘(i) in the case of a full-time employee, that 3
such employee works 40 hours per week, and in the 4
case of a part-time employee, that such employee 5
works 20 hours per week; or 6
‘‘(ii) the actual number of hours worked by 7
such employee. 8
‘‘(E) The categories described in this subparagraph 9
shall be determined by the Commission and shall in-10
clude— 11
‘‘(i) race; 12
‘‘(ii) national origin; 13
‘‘(iii) sex; and 14
‘‘(iv) job categories, including the job categories 15
described in the instructions for the Equal Employ-16
ment Opportunity Employer Information Report 17
EEO–1, as in effect on the date of the enactment 18
of this subsection. 19
‘‘(F) The Commission shall use the compensation 20
data collected under paragraph (1)— 21
‘‘(i) to enhance— 22
‘‘(I) the investigation of charges filed 23
under section 706 or section 6(d) of the Fair 24
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Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 1
206(d)); and 2
‘‘(II) the allocation of resources to inves-3
tigate such charges; and 4
‘‘(ii) for any other purpose that the Commission 5
determines appropriate. 6
‘‘(G) The Commission shall at 18-month intervals 7
make publicly available aggregate compensation data col-8
lected under paragraph (1) for the categories described in 9
subparagraph (E), disaggregated by industry, occupation, 10
and core based statistical area (as defined by the Office 11
of Management and Budget). 12
‘‘(4) The compensation data under paragraph (1) 13
shall be collected from each employer that— 14
‘‘(A) is a private employer that has 100 or 15
more employees, including such an employer that is 16
a contractor with the Federal Government, or a sub-17
contractor at any tier thereof; or 18
‘‘(B) the Commission determines appropriate.’’. 19
SEC. 8. REINSTATEMENT OF PAY EQUITY PROGRAMS AND 20
PAY EQUITY DATA COLLECTION. 21
(a) B
UREAU OFLABORSTATISTICSDATACOLLEC-22
TION.—The Commissioner of Labor Statistics shall con-23
tinue to collect data on women workers in the Current 24
Employment Statistics survey. 25
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(b) OFFICE OFFEDERALCONTRACTCOMPLIANCE 1
P
ROGRAMSINITIATIVES.—The Director of the Office of 2
Federal Contract Compliance Programs shall collect com-3
pensation data and other employment-related data (in-4
cluding, hiring, termination, and promotion data) by de-5
mographics and designate not less than half of all non-6
construction contractors each year to prepare and file such 7
data, and shall review and utilize the responses to such 8
data to identify contractors for further evaluation and for 9
other enforcement purposes as appropriate. 10
(c) D
EPARTMENT OF LABORDISTRIBUTION OF 11
W
AGEDISCRIMINATIONINFORMATION.—The Secretary of 12
Labor shall make readily available (in print, on the De-13
partment of Labor website, and through any other forum 14
that the Department may use to distribute compensation 15
discrimination information), accurate information on com-16
pensation discrimination, including statistics, explanations 17
of employee rights, historical analyses of such discrimina-18
tion, instructions for employers on compliance, and any 19
other information that will assist the public in under-20
standing and addressing such discrimination. 21
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SEC. 9. PROHIBITIONS RELATING TO PROSPECTIVE EM-1
PLOYEES’ SALARY AND BENEFIT HISTORY. 2
(a) I
NGENERAL.—The Fair Labor Standards Act of 3
1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.) is amended by inserting 4
after section 7 the following new section: 5
‘‘SEC. 8. REQUIREMENTS AND PROHIBITIONS RELATING TO 6
WAGE, SALARY, AND BENEFIT HISTORY. 7
‘‘(a) I
NGENERAL.—It shall be an unlawful practice 8
for an employer to— 9
‘‘(1) rely on the wage history of a prospective 10
employee in considering the prospective employee for 11
employment in a position as an employee who in any 12
workweek is engaged in commerce or in the produc-13
tion of goods for commerce, or is employed in an en-14
terprise engaged in commerce or in the production 15
of goods for commerce, including requiring that a 16
prospective employee’s prior wages satisfy minimum 17
or maximum criteria as a condition of being consid-18
ered for such employment; 19
‘‘(2) rely on the wage history of a prospective 20
employee in determining the wages for such prospec-21
tive employee for a position described in paragraph 22
(1) of the employer, except that an employer may 23
rely on wage history if it is voluntarily provided by 24
a prospective employee, after the employer makes an 25
offer of employment in such a position with an offer 26
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of compensation to the prospective employee for such 1
position, to support a wage higher than the wage of-2
fered by the employer; 3
‘‘(3) seek from a prospective employee or any 4
current or former employer the wage history of the 5
prospective employee, except that an employer may 6
seek to confirm prior wage information only after an 7
offer of employment with compensation has been 8
made to the prospective employee and the prospec-9
tive employee responds to the offer by providing 10
prior wage information to support a wage higher 11
than that offered by the employer; or 12
‘‘(4) discharge or in any other manner retaliate 13
against any employee or prospective employee for a 14
position described in paragraph (1) because the em-15
ployee or prospective employee— 16
‘‘(A) opposed any act or practice made un-17
lawful by this section; or 18
‘‘(B) took an action for which discrimina-19
tion is forbidden under section 15(a)(3). 20
‘‘(b) D
EFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘wage 21
history’ means the wages paid to the prospective employee 22
by the prospective employee’s current employer or previous 23
employer.’’. 24
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(b) PENALTIES.—Section 16 of such Act (29 U.S.C. 1
216) is amended by adding at the end the following new 2
subsection: 3
‘‘(f)(1) Any person who violates the provisions of sec-4
tion 8 shall— 5
‘‘(A) be subject to a civil penalty of $5,000 for 6
a first offense, increased by an additional $1,000 for 7
each subsequent offense, not to exceed $10,000; and 8
‘‘(B) be liable to each employee or prospective 9
employee who was the subject of the violation for 10
special damages not to exceed $10,000 plus attor-11
neys’ fees, and shall be subject to such injunctive re-12
lief as may be appropriate. 13
‘‘(2) An action to recover the liability described in 14
paragraph (1)(B) may be maintained against any em-15
ployer (including a public agency) in any Federal or State 16
court of competent jurisdiction by any one or more em-17
ployees or prospective employees for and on behalf of— 18
‘‘(A) the employees or prospective employees; 19
and 20
‘‘(B) other employees or prospective employees 21
similarly situated.’’. 22
(c) C
ONFORMINGAMENDMENT.—Section 10 of the 23
Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 210) is re-24
pealed. 25
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SEC. 10. NATIONAL EQUAL PAY ENFORCEMENT TASK 1
FORCE. 2
(a) I
NGENERAL.—There is established the National 3
Equal Pay Enforcement Task Force, consisting of rep-4
resentatives from the Equal Employment Opportunity 5
Commission, the Department of Justice, the Department 6
of Labor, and the Office of Personnel Management. 7
(b) M
ISSION.—In order to improve compliance, public 8
education, and enforcement of equal pay laws, the Na-9
tional Equal Pay Enforcement Task Force will ensure that 10
the agencies in subsection (a) are coordinating efforts and 11
limiting potential gaps in enforcement. 12
(c) D
UTIES.—The National Equal Pay Enforcement 13
Task Force shall investigate challenges related to pay in-14
equity pursuant to its mission in subsection (b), advance 15
recommendations to address those challenges, and create 16
action plans to implement the recommendations. 17
SEC. 11. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 18
(a) A
UTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 19
are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 20
necessary to carry out this Act. 21
(b) P
ROHIBITION ONEARMARKS.—None of the funds 22
appropriated pursuant to subsection (a) for purposes of 23
the grant program in section 4 of this Act may be used 24
for a congressional earmark as defined in clause 9(e) of 25
rule XXI of the Rules of the House of Representatives. 26
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SEC. 12. SMALL BUSINESS ASSISTANCE. 1
(a) E
FFECTIVEDATE.—This Act and the amend-2
ments made by this Act shall take effect on the date that 3
is 6 months after the date of enactment of this Act. 4
(b) T
ECHNICALASSISTANCEMATERIALS.—The Sec-5
retary of Labor and the Commissioner of the Equal Em-6
ployment Opportunity Commission shall jointly develop 7
technical assistance material to assist small enterprises in 8
complying with the requirements of this Act and the 9
amendments made by this Act. 10
(c) S
MALLBUSINESSES.—A small enterprise shall be 11
exempt from the provisions of this Act, and the amend-12
ments made by this Act, to the same extent that such en-13
terprise is exempt from the requirements of the Fair 14
Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.) pur-15
suant to clauses (i) and (ii) of section 3(s)(1)(A) of such 16
Act (29 U.S.C. 203(s)(1)(A)). 17
SEC. 13. NOTICE REQUIREMENTS. 18
(a) I
NGENERAL.—Each employer shall post and 19
keep posted, in conspicuous places on the premises of the 20
employer where notices to employees are customarily post-21
ed, a notice, to be prepared or approved by the Equal Em-22
ployment Opportunity Commission and the Secretary of 23
Labor, of the requirements described in this Act (or the 24
amendments made by such Act). 25
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(b) RELATION TOEXISTINGNOTICES.—The notice 1
under subsection (a) may be incorporated into notices re-2
quired of the employer as of the date of enactment of this 3
Act. 4
(c) D
IGITALNOTICE.—With respect to the notice 5
under subsection (a), each employer shall— 6
(1) post electronic copies of the notice on an in-7
ternal website to which employees have access; and 8
(2) notify employees on such internal website of 9
the location of the place on the premises where the 10
notice is posted. 11
SEC. 14. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 12
Nothing in this Act, or in any amendments made by 13
this Act, shall affect the obligation of employers and em-14
ployees to fully comply with all applicable immigration 15
laws, including being subject to any penalties, fines, or 16
other sanctions. 17
SEC. 15. SEVERABILITY. 18
If any provision of this Act, an amendment made by 19
this Act, or the application of that provision or amend-20
ment to particular persons or circumstances is held invalid 21
or found to be unconstitutional, the remainder of this Act, 22
the amendments made by this Act, or the application of 23
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that provision to other persons or circumstances shall not 1
be affected. 2
Æ
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