I

106TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 541

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

FEBRUARY 3, 1999

Ms. DELAURO (for herself, Mr. GEPHARDT, Ms. NORTON, Mr. COSTELLO, Mr.

GEJDENSON, Mrs. MALONEY of New York, Ms. PELOSI, Mrs. LOWEY,

Ms. KILPATRICK, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Mr. OLVER, Ms.

KAPTUR, Mr. FROST, Mr. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. STARK, Ms.

MILLENDER-MCDONALD, Mr. NADLER, Ms. WOOLSEY, Mr. SERRANO,

Mr. SANDERS, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. MCNULTY, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms.

JACKSON-LEE of Texas, and Mrs. TAUSCHER) introduced the following

bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce

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.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Paycheck Fairness

5 Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

2 Congress makes the following findings:

3 (1) Women have entered the workforce in

4 record numbers.

5 (2) Even in the 1990’s, women earn signifi6 cantly lower pay than men for work on jobs that re7 quire equal skill, effort, and responsibility and that

8 are performed under similar working conditions.

9 These pay disparities exist in both the private and

10 governmental sectors. In many instances, the pay

11 disparities can only be due to continued intentional

12 discrimination or the lingering effects of past dis13 crimination.

14 (3) The existence of such pay disparities—

15 (A) depresses the wages of working fami16 lies who rely on the wages of all members of the

17 family to make ends meet;

18 (B) prevents the optimum utilization of

19 available labor resources;

20 (C) has been spread and perpetuated,

21 through commerce and the channels and instru22 mentalities of commerce, among the workers of

23 the several States;

24 (D) burdens commerce and the free flow of

25 goods in commerce;
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1 (E) constitutes an unfair method of com2 petition in commerce;

3 (F) leads to labor disputes burdening and

4 obstructing commerce and the free flow of

5 goods in commerce;

6 (G) interferes with the orderly and fair

7 marketing of goods in commerce; and

8 (H) in many instances, may deprive work9 ers of equal protection on the basis of sex in

10 violation of the 5th and 14th amendments.

11 (4)(A) Artificial barriers to the elimination of

12 discrimination in the payment of wages on the basis

13 of sex continue to exist more than 3 decades after

14 the enactment of the Fair Labor Standards Act of

15 1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.) and the Civil Rights

16 Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000a et seq.).

17 (B) Elimination of such barriers would have

18 positive effects, including—

19 (i) providing a solution to problems in the

20 economy created by unfair pay disparities;

21 (ii) substantially reducing the number of

22 working women earning unfairly low wages,

23 thereby reducing the dependence on public as24 sistance; and
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1 (iii) promoting stable families by enabling

2 all family members to earn a fair rate of pay;

3 (iv) remedying the effects of past discrimi4 nation on the basis of sex and ensuring that in

5 the future workers are afforded equal protection

6 on the basis of sex; and

7 (v) in the private sector, ensuring equal

8 protection pursuant to Congress’ power to en9 force the 5th and 14th amendments.

10 (5) With increased information about the provi11 sions added by the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and gen12 eralized wage data, along with more effective rem13 edies, women will be better able to recognize and en14 force their rights to equal pay for work on jobs that

15 require equal skill, effort, and responsibility and that

16 are performed under similar working conditions.

17 (6) Certain employers have already made great

18 strides in eradicating unfair pay disparities in the

19 workplace and their achievements should be recog20 nized.

21 SEC. 3. ENHANCED ENFORCEMENT OF EQUAL PAY RE22 QUIREMENTS.

23 (a) NONRETALIATION PROVISION.—Section 15(a)(3)

24 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C.

25 215(a)(3)) is amended—
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1 (1) by striking ‘‘or has’’ each place it appears

2 and inserting ‘‘has’’; and

3 (2) by inserting before the semicolon the follow4 ing: ‘‘, or has inquired about, discussed, or otherwise

5 disclosed the wages of the employee or another em6 ployee’’.

7 (b) ENHANCED PENALTIES.—Section 16(b) of the

8 Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 216(b)) is

9 amended—

10 (1) by inserting after the first sentence the fol11 lowing: ‘‘Any employer who violates section 6(d)

12 shall additionally be liable for such compensatory or

13 punitive damages as may be appropriate, except that

14 the United States shall not be liable for punitive

15 damages.’’;

16 (2) in the sentence beginning ‘‘An action to’’,

17 by striking ‘‘either of the preceding sentences’’ and

18 inserting ‘‘any of the preceding sentences of this

19 subsection’’;

20 (3) in the sentence beginning ‘‘No employees

21 shall’’, by striking ‘‘No employees’’ and inserting

22 ‘‘Except with respect to class actions brought to en23 force section 6(d), no employee’’;

24 (4) by inserting after the sentence referred to

25 in paragraph (3), the following: ‘‘Notwithstanding
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1 any other provision of Federal law, any action

2 brought to enforce section 6(d) may be maintained

3 as a class action as provided by the Federal Rules

4 of Civil Procedure.’’; and

5 (5) in the sentence beginning ‘‘The court in’’—

6 (A) by striking ‘‘in such action’’ and in7 serting ‘‘in any action brought to recover the li8 ability prescribed in any of the preceding sen9 tences of this subsection’’; and

10 (B) by inserting before the period the fol11 lowing: ‘‘, including expert fees’’.

12 (c) ACTION BY SECRETARY.—Section 16(c) of the

13 Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 216(c)) is

14 amended—

15 (1) in the first sentence—

16 (A) by inserting ‘‘or, in the case of a viola17 tion of section 6(d), additional compensatory or

18 punitive damages,’’ before ‘‘and the agree19 ment’’; and

20 (B) by inserting before the period the fol21 lowing: ‘‘, or such compensatory or punitive

22 damages, as appropriate’’;

23 (2) in the second sentence, by inserting before

24 the period the following: ‘‘and, in the case of a viola-
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1 tion of section 6(d), additional compensatory or pu2 nitive damages’’;

3 (3) in the third sentence, by striking ‘‘the first

4 sentence’’ and inserting ‘‘the first or second sen5 tence’’; and

6 (4) in the last sentence, by inserting after ‘‘in

7 the complaint’’ the following: ‘‘or becomes a party

8 plaintiff in a class action brought to enforce section

9 6(d)’’.

10 SEC. 4. TRAINING.

11 The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

12 and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs,

13 subject to the availability of funds appropriated under sec14 tion 9(b), shall provide training to Commission employees

15 and affected individuals and entities on matters involving

16 discrimination in the payment of wages.

17 SEC. 5. RESEARCH, EDUCATION, AND OUTREACH.

18 The Secretary of Labor shall conduct studies and

19 provide information to employers, labor organizations, and

20 the general public concerning the means available to elimi21 nate pay disparities between men and women, including—

22 (1) conducting and promoting research to de23 velop the means to correct expeditiously the condi24 tions leading to the pay disparities;
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1 (2) publishing and otherwise making available

2 to employers, labor organizations, professional asso3 ciations, educational institutions, the media, and the

4 general public the findings resulting from studies

5 and other materials, relating to eliminating the pay

6 disparities;

7 (3) sponsoring and assisting State and commu8 nity informational and educational programs;

9 (4) providing information to employers, labor

10 organizations, professional associations, and other

11 interested persons on the means of eliminating the

12 pay disparities;

13 (5) recognizing and promoting the achievements

14 of employers, labor organizations, and professional

15 associations that have worked to eliminate the pay

16 disparities; and

17 (6) convening a national summit to discuss, and

18 consider approaches for rectifying, the pay dispari19 ties.

20 SEC. 6. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND EMPLOYER RECOGNI21 TION PROGRAM.

22 (a) GUIDELINES.—

23 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Labor shall

24 develop guidelines to enable employers to evaluate

25 job categories based on objective criteria such as
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1 educational requirements, skill requirements, inde2 pendence, working conditions, and responsibility, in3 cluding decisionmaking responsibility and de facto

4 supervisory responsibility.

5 (2) USE.—The guidelines developed under

6 paragraph (1) shall be designed to enable employers

7 voluntarily to compare wages paid for different jobs

8 to determine if the pay scales involved adequately

9 and fairly reflect the educational requirements, skill

10 requirements, independence, working conditions, and

11 responsibility for each such job with the goal of

12 eliminating unfair pay disparities between occupa13 tions traditionally dominated by men or women.

14 (3) PUBLICATION.—The guidelines shall be de15 veloped under paragraph (1) and published in the

16 Federal Register not later than 180 days after the

17 date of enactment of this Act.

18 (b) EMPLOYER RECOGNITION.—

19 (1) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this sub20 section to emphasize the importance of, encourage

21 the improvement of, and recognize the excellence of

22 employer efforts to pay wages to women that reflect

23 the real value of the contributions of such women to

24 the workplace.
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1 (2) IN GENERAL.—To carry out the purpose of

2 this subsection, the Secretary of Labor shall estab3 lish a program under which the Secretary shall pro4 vide for the recognition of employers who, pursuant

5 to a voluntary job evaluation conducted by the em6 ployer, adjust their wage scales (such adjustments

7 shall not include the lowering of wages paid to men)

8 using the guidelines developed under subsection (a)

9 to ensure that women are paid fairly in comparison

10 to men.

11 (3) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary of

12 Labor may provide technical assistance to assist an

13 employer in carrying out an evaluation under para14 graph (2).

15 (c) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of Labor shall

16 promulgate such rules and regulations as may be nec17 essary to carry out this section.

18 SEC. 7. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NATIONAL AWARD FOR

19 PAY EQUITY IN THE WORKPLACE.

20 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is established the Robert

21 Reich National Award for Pay Equity in the Workplace,

22 which shall be evidenced by a medal bearing the inscrip23 tion ‘‘Robert Reich National Award for Pay Equity in the

24 Workplace’’. The medal shall be of such design and mate-
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1 rials, and bear such additional inscriptions, as the Sec2 retary of Labor may prescribe.

3 (b) CRITERIA FOR QUALIFICATION.—To qualify to

4 receive an award under this section a business shall—

5 (1) submit a written application to the Sec6 retary of Labor, at such time, in such manner, and

7 containing such information as the Secretary may

8 require, including at a minimum information that

9 demonstrates that the business has made substantial

10 effort to eliminate pay disparities between men and

11 women, and deserves special recognition as a con12 sequence; and

13 (2) meet such additional requirements and

14 specifications as the Secretary of Labor determines

15 to be appropriate.

16 (c) MAKING AND PRESENTATION OF AWARD.—

17 (1) AWARD.—After receiving recommendations

18 from the Secretary of Labor, the President or the

19 designated representative of the President shall an20 nually present the award described in subsection (a)

21 to businesses that meet the qualifications described

22 in subsection (b).

23 (2) PRESENTATION.—The President or the des24 ignated representative of the President shall present

25 the award under this section with such ceremonies
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1 as the President or the designated representative of

2 the President may determine to be appropriate.

3 (d) BUSINESS.—In this section, the term ‘‘business’’

4 includes—

5 (1)(A) a corporation, including a nonprofit cor6 poration;

7 (B) a partnership;

8 (C) a professional association;

9 (D) a labor organization; and

10 (E) a business entity similar to an entity de11 scribed in any of subparagraphs (A) through (D);

12 (2) an entity carrying out an education referral

13 program, a training program, such as an apprentice14 ship or management training program, or a similar

15 program; and

16 (3) an entity carrying out a joint program,

17 formed by a combination of any entities described in

18 paragraph (1) or (2).

19 SEC. 8. SENSE OF THE SENATE REGARDING INCREASED IN20 FORMATION ON PAY DISPARITIES.

21 It is the sense of the Senate that the President should

22 take appropriate steps to increase the amount of informa23 tion available with respect to wage disparities. In so doing,

24 the President, or the designees of the President, should

25 consider ways of collecting this data that—
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1 (1) maximize the utility of the information for

2 both the government and the public; while

3 (2) protecting individuals’ privacy and minimiz4 ing the burdens on reporting entities.

5 SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

6 There are authorized to be appropriated such sums

7 as may be necessary to carry out this Act.

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