Title: Discrimination in Labor and Employment

Summary: Creates "Helen Gordon Davis Fair Pay Protection Act"; revises provisions prohibiting discrimination on basis of sex to include discrimination on basis of gender identity; prohibits employer from providing less favorable employment opportunities to employees based on sex or gender identity; provides exceptions; specifies civil penalties; revises applicability; prohibits employer from taking certain employment actions against employees; prohibits employer from engaging in certain activities relating to employee wages & benefits or requiring employee to sign certain waivers.

Full Text:
An act relating to discrimination in labor and employment; creating the "Helen Gordon Davis Fair Pay Protection Act"; amending s. 448.07, F.S.; revising provisions prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex to include discrimination on the basis of gender identity; providing definitions; prohibiting an employer from providing less favorable employment opportunities to employees based on their sex or gender identi ty; providing exceptions; specifying civil penalties; revising applicability; amending s. 448.102, F.S.; prohibiting an employer from taking certain employment actions against employees; creating s. 448.111, F.S.; prohibiting an employer from engaging in certain activities relating to employee wages and benefits or requiring an employee to sign certain waivers; providing an effective date. Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: Section 1. This act may be cited as the "Helen Gord on Davis Fair Pay Protection Act." Section 2. Section 448.07, Florida Statutes, is amended to read: 448.07 Wage rate discrimination based on sex or gender HB 2017 identity prohibited.-(1) DEFINITIONS.-As used in this section, unless the context or subject matter clearly requires otherwise, the following terms shall have the meanings as defined in this section: (a) "Business necessity" means an overriding legitimate business purpose that relies on a bona fide factor, as described in subparagraph (2)(a)4., to effectively fulfill such business purpose. (b)(a) "Employee" means any individual employed by an employer, including individuals employed by the state or any of its political subdivisions or instrumentalities of subdivisions. (c)(b) "Employer" mean sany person who employs two or more employees. (d) "Gender identity" means an individual's identification of self as male, female, a combination of male and female, or neither male or female, regardless of the individual's physiology or assigned sex at birth. (e) "Less favorable employment opportunities" means: 1. Assigning or directing an employee to a position or career track in which the work performed requires substantially less skill, effort, and responsibility than the work performed by the maj ority of individuals in the employee's same occupation and labor market area; 2. Assigning the employee work less likely to lead to a HB 2017 promotion or career advancement opportunity; or 3. Limiting or depriving an employee of a promotion or career advancem ent opportunity that would otherwise be available to the employee but for the employee's sex or gender identity. (f)(d) "Rate" with reference to wages means the basis of compensation for services by an employee for an employer and includes compensation based on time spent in the performance of such services, on the number of operations accomplished, or on the quality produced or handled. (g)(e) "Unpaid wages" means the difference between the wages actually paid to an employee and the wages required to be paid to an employee pursuant to subsection (3). (h)(c) "Wages" means and includes all compensation paid by an employer or the employer's his or her agent for the performance of service by an employee, including the cash value of all compensation paid in any medium other than cash. (2) DISCRIMINATION BASED ON BASIS OF SEX OR GENDER IDENTITY PROHIBITED.-(a) An No employer may not provide less favorable employment opportunities to employees based on their shall discriminate between employees on the basis of sex or gender identity or pay by paying wages to employees at a rate less than the rate the employer at which he or she pays wages to employ ees of the opposite sex or a different gender identity for substantially similar equal work on jobs the performance of HB 2017 which requires equal skill, effort, and responsibility, and which are performed under similar working conditions, except when the employe rdemonstrates the entire wage differential is based on one or more of the following reasonably applied factors when such payment is made pursuant to:1. A seniority system; 2. A merit system; 3. A system that which measures earnings by quantity or quality of production; or 4. A bona fide differential based on any reasonable factor other than sex or gender identity, including, but not limited to, education, training, or experience. This subparagraph only applies if the employer demonstrates that the factor is not based on, or derived from, a sex-based or gender identity-based wage differential, is job related with respect to the position in question, and is consistent with a business necessity. (b) An employer who is paying a wage in violation of this section may not reduce another employee's wage to comply with this section when exercised in good faith.(c)(b) A No person may not shall cause or attempt to cause an employer to discriminate against an any employee in violation of the provisions of this section. (3) CIVIL ACTION FOR UNPAID WAGES.-Any employer or person who violates the provisions of this section is liable to the employee for the amount of the difference between the amount the HB 2017 employee was paid and the amount he or she should have been paid under this section. Nothing in this section allows a claimant to recover more than an amount equal to any his or her unpaid wages while so employed for year prior to the filing of the claim.An action to recover such liability may be maintained in any court of competent jurisdiction by the aggrieved employee within months after termination of employment. The court in such action may award to the prevailing party costs of the action and a reasonable attorney attorney's fee. (4) CIVIL PENALTIE SFOR VIOLATIONS.-(a) An employer who violates this section is subject to a civil penalty of: 1. Up to $2,500 for a first violation. 2. Up to $3,000 for a second violation. 3. Up to $5,000 for a third and each subsequent violation. (b) In determ ining the amount of a civil penalty to be assessed under paragraph (a), a court of competent jurisdiction shall consider the severity of the violation. (5) A minority business enterprise, as defined in s. 288.703, is exempt from this section. (4) Nothi ng in this section or in s. 725.07, relating to discrimination based on sex in providing equal pay for equal services performed, is applicable to any employer, labor organization or member thereof, or employee whose employer is subject to the federal Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, as HB 2017 amended. Section 3. Subsection (4) is added to section 448.102, Florida Statutes, to read: 448.102 Prohibitions.-An employer may not take any retaliatory personnel action against an employee because the employee has: (4)(a) Discussed or disclosed the employee's own wages; (b) Inquired about another employee's wages; (c) Discussed another employee's wages if such wages have been voluntarily disclosed by such employee; (d) Requested that the employer provide a rea son for the amount of the employee's own wages; or (e) Aided or encouraged another employee to exercise rights under this chapter. Section 4. Section 448.111, Florida Statutes, is created to read: 448.111 Prohibited employer activities related to wages and benefits.-An employer may not: (1)(a)1. Screen a job applicant based on prior wages or benefits or require that the applicant's prior wages or benefits satisfy minimum or maximum criteria. 2. Request or require as a condition of being intervie wed, or as a condition of continued consideration for an employment offer, that an applicant disclose prior wages or benefits. (b) Request or inquire about the prior wages or benefits HB 2017 of an applicant from a current or former employer. However, an applicant may provide written authorization to a prospective employer to confirm such prior wages or benefits after an employment offer with compensation has been made to the applicant. (2) Prohibit an employee from: (a) Discussing or disclosing the employee's own wages; (b) Inquiring about another employee's wages; (c) Discussing another employee's wages if such wages have been voluntarily disclosed by such employee; or (d) Requesting that the employer provide a reason for the amount of the emp loyee's own wages. (3) Require an employee to sign a waiver or any other document that prohibits the employee from: (a) Discussing or disclosing the employee's own wages; (b) Inquiring about another employee's wages; or (c) Discussing another emplo yee's wages if such wages have been voluntarily disclosed by such employee. Section 5. This act shall take effect July 1, 2017.