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104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION H. R. 1507

To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to prohibit discrimination

in the payment of wages on account of sex, race, or national origin,

and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

APRIL 7, 1995

Ms. NORTON (for herself, Mrs. MALONEY, Mr. NADLER, Miss. COLLINS of

Michigan, Ms. VELA ́ZQUEZ, Mr. SERRANO, Mrs. SCHROEDER, Mr.

FILNER, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. PAYNE of New Jersey, Mr. MARTINEZ, Mr. TUCKER, Mr. GONZALEZ, Mr. FROST, Mr. LEWIS of Georgia,

Mrs. MINK of Hawaii, Mr. EVANS, Ms. MCKINNEY, Mr. HINCHEY, Ms.

EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON, Mrs. LOWEY, and Ms. BROWN of Florida) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Economic and Educational Opportunities

A BILL

To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to prohibit

discrimination in the payment of wages on account of

sex, race, or national origin, 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 AND REFERENCE.

4 (a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the

5 ‘‘Fair Pay Act of 1995’’.
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1 (b) REFERENCE.—Whenever in this Act an amend2 ment or repeal is expressed in terms of an amendment

3 to, or repeal of, a section or other provision, the reference

4 shall be considered to be made to a section or other provi5 sion of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 The Congress finds the following:

8 (1) Wage differentials exist between equivalent

9 jobs segregated by sex, race, and national origin in

10 Government employment and in industries engaged

11 in commerce or in the production of goods for com12 merce:

13 (2) The existence of such wage differentials—

14 (A) depresses wages and living standards

15 for employees necessary for their health and ef16 ficiency;

17 (B) prevents the maximum utilization of

18 the available labor resources;

19 (C) tends to cause labor disputes, thereby

20 burdening, affecting, and obstructing com21 merce;

22 (D) burdens commerce and the free flow of

23 goods in commerce; and

24 (E) constitutes an unfair method of com25 petition.
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1 (3) Discrimination in hiring and promotion has

2 played a role in maintaining a segregated work

3 force.

4 (4) Many women and people of color work in

5 occupations dominated by individuals of their same

6 sex, race, and national origin.

7 (5)(A) A General Accounting Office analysis of

8 wages in the civil service of the State of Washington

9 found that in 1985 of the 44 jobs studied that paid

10 less than the average of all equivalent jobs, approxi11 mately 39 percent were female-dominated and ap12 proximately 16 percent were male dominated.

13 (B) A study of wages in Minnesota using 1990

14 Decennial Census data found that 75 percent of the

15 wage differential between white and non-white work16 ers was unexplained and may be a result of discrimi17 nation.

18 (6) Section 6(d) of the Fair Labor Standards

19 Act of 1938 prohibits discrimination in compensa20 tion for ‘‘equal work’’ on the basis of sex.

21 (7) Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964

22 prohibits discrimination in compensation because of

23 race, color, religion, national origin, and sex. The

24 United States Supreme Court, in its decision in

25 County of Washington v. Gunther, 452 U.S. 161
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1 (1981), held that title VII’s prohibition against dis2 crimination in compensation also applies to jobs

3 which do not constitute ‘‘equal work’’ as defined in

4 section 6(d) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of

5 1938. Decisions of lower courts, however, have dem6 onstrated that further clarification of existing legis7 lation is necessary in order effectively to carry out

8 the intent of Congress to implement the Supreme

9 Court’s holding in its Gunther decision.

10 (8) Artificial barriers to the elimination of dis11 crimination in compensation based upon sex, race,

12 and national origin continue to exist more than 3

13 decades after the passage of section 6(d) of the Fair

14 Labor Standards Act of 1938 and the Civil Rights

15 Act of 1964. Elimination of such barriers would

16 have positive effects, including—

17 (A) providing a solution to problems in the

18 economy created by discriminating wage dif19 ferentials;

20 (B) substantially reducing the number of

21 working women and people of color earning low

22 wages, thereby reducing the dependence on pub23 lic assistance; and
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1 (C) promoting stable families by enabling

2 working family members to earn a fair rate of

3 pay.

4 SEC. 3. EQUAL PAY FOR EQUIVALENT JOBS.

5 (a) AMENDMENT.—Section 6 (29 U.S.C. 206) is

6 amended by adding at the end the following:

7 ‘‘(g)(1)(A) No employer having employees subject to

8 any provisions of this section shall discriminate between

9 its employees on the basis of sex, race, or national origin

10 by paying wages to employees or groups of employees at

11 a rate less than the rate at which the employer pays wages

12 to employees or groups of employees of the opposite sex

13 or different race or national origin for work in equivalent

14 jobs, except where such payment is made pursuant to a

15 seniority system, a merit system, or a system which meas16 ures earnings by quantity or quality of production.

17 ‘‘(B) An employer who is paying a wage rate differen18 tial in violation of subparagraph (A) shall not, in order

19 to comply with the provisions of such subparagraph, re20 duce the wage rate of any employee.

21 ‘‘(2) No labor organization or its agents representing

22 employees of an employer having employees subject to any

23 provision of this section shall cause or attempt to cause

24 such an employer to discriminate against an employee in

25 violation of paragraph (1)(A).
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1 ‘‘(3) For purposes of administration and enforcement

2 of this subsection, any amounts owing to any employee

3 which have been withheld in violation of paragraph (1)(A)

4 shall be deemed to be unpaid minimum wages or unpaid

5 overtime compensation under this section or section 7.

6 ‘‘(4) As used in this subsection:

7 ‘‘(A) The term ‘labor organization’ means any

8 organization of any kind, or any agency or employee

9 representation committee or plan, in which employ10 ees participate and which exists for the purpose, in

11 whole or in part, of dealing with employers concern12 ing grievances, labor disputes, wages, rates of pay,

13 hours of employment, or conditions of work.

14 ‘‘(B) The term ‘equivalent jobs’ means jobs that

15 may be dissimilar, but whose requirements are

16 equivalent, when viewed as a composite of skills, ef17 fort, responsibility, and working conditions.’’.

18 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 13(a) (29

19 U.S.C. 213(a)) is amended in the matter before paragraph

20 (1) by striking ‘‘section 6(d)’’ and inserting ‘‘sections 6(d)

21 and 6(g)’’.

22 SEC. 4. PROHIBITED ACTS.

23 Section 15(a) (29 U.S.C. 215(a)) is amended by

24 striking the period at the end of paragraph (5) and insert-
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1 ing a semicolon and by adding after paragraph (5) the

2 following:

3 ‘‘(6) to discriminate against any individual be4 cause such individual has opposed any act or prac5 tice made unlawful by section 6(g) or because such

6 individual made a charge, testified, assisted, or par7 ticipated in any manner in an investigation, proceed8 ing, or hearing under section 6(g); or

9 ‘‘(7) to discharge or in any other manner dis10 criminate against, coerce, intimidate, threaten, or

11 interfere with any employee or any other person be12 cause the employee inquired about, disclosed, com13 pared, or otherwise discussed the employee’s wages

14 or the wages of any other employee, or because the

15 employee exercised, enjoyed, aided, or encouraged

16 any other person to exercise or enjoy any right

17 granted or protected by section 6(g).’’.

18 SEC. 5. REMEDIES.

19 Section 16 (29 U.S.C. 216) is amended—

20 (1) by adding at the end the following:

21 ‘‘(f) In any action brought under this section for vio22 lation of section 6(g), the court shall, in addition to any

23 other remedies awarded to the prevailing plaintiff or plain24 tiffs, allow expert fees as part of the costs. Any such action
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1 may be maintained as a class action as provided by the

2 Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.’’;

3 (2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘section

4 15(a)(3)’’ each place it occurs and inserting ‘‘para5 graphs (3), (6), and (7) of section 15(a)’’; and

6 (3) in the fourth sentence of subsection (b), by

7 striking ‘‘No employees’’ and inserting ‘‘Except with

8 respect to class actions brought under subsection (f),

9 no employees’’.

10 SEC. 6. RECORDS.

11 Section 11(c) (29 U.S.C. 211(c)) is amended by in12 serting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘(c)’’ and by adding at the end the

13 following:

14 ‘‘(2)(A) Every employer subject to section 6(g) shall

15 preserve records which document and support the method,

16 system, calculations, and other bases used by the employer

17 in establishing, adjusting, and determining the wages paid

18 to the employees of the employer. Every employer subject

19 to section 6(g) shall preserve such records for such periods

20 of time and shall make such reports therefrom to the

21 Equal Employment Opportunity Commission as shall be

22 prescribed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Com23 mission by regulation or order as necessary or appropriate

24 for the enforcement of the provisions of section 6(g) or

25 any regulations promulgated thereunder.
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1 ‘‘(B) Every employer subject to section 6(g) shall file

2 annually with the Equal Employment Opportunity Com3 mission a report signed by its president, treasurer, or cor4 responding principal officer containing information in

5 such detail as may be necessary accurately to disclose the

6 wage or salary rates paid to each classification, position,

7 job title, or other wage or salary group of employees em8 ployed by the employer, as well as the sex, race, and na9 tional origin of employees at each wage or salary level in

10 each classification, position, job title, or other wage or sal11 ary group. The report shall not contain the name of any

12 individual employee.

13 ‘‘(C) In order to carry out the purposes of this Act,

14 the contents of the reports filed with the Equal Employ15 ment Opportunity Commission pursuant to subparagraph

16 (B) shall be public information, and the Equal Employ17 ment Opportunity Commission may publish any informa18 tion and data which it obtains pursuant to the provisions

19 of subparagraph (B). The Equal Employment Oppor20 tunity Commission may use the information and data for

21 statistical and research purposes, and compile and publish

22 such studies, analyses, reports, and surveys based thereon

23 as it may deem appropriate.

24 ‘‘(D) In order to carry out the purposes of this Act

25 the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission shall by
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1 regulation make reasonable provision for the inspection

2 and examination by any person of the information and

3 data contained in any report filed with it pursuant to sub4 paragraph (B).

5 ‘‘(E) The Equal Employment Opportunity Commis6 sion shall by regulation provide for the furnishing of copies

7 of reports filed with it pursuant to subparagraph (B) to

8 any person upon payment of a charge based upon the cost

9 of the service.

10 ‘‘(F) The Equal Employment Opportunity Commis11 sion shall issue rules and regulations prescribing the form

12 and content of reports required to be filed under subpara13 graph (B) and such other reasonable rules and regulations

14 as it may find necessary to prevent the circumvention or

15 evasion of such reporting requirements. In exercising its

16 authority under subparagraph (B), the Equal Employ17 ment Opportunity Commission may prescribe by general

18 rule simplified reports for employers for whom it finds

19 that by virtue of their size a detailed report would be un20 duly burdensome.’’.

21 SEC. 7. RESEARCH, EDUCATION, AND TECHNICAL ASSIST22 ANCE PROGRAM; REPORT TO CONGRESS.

23 Section 4(d) (29 U.S.C. 204(d)) is amended by add24 ing at the end the following:
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1 ‘‘(4) The Equal Employment Opportunity Commis2 sion shall undertake studies and provide information and

3 technical assistance to employers, labor organizations, and

4 the general public concerning effective means available to

5 implement the provisions of section 6(g) prohibiting wage

6 discrimination between employees performing work in

7 equivalent jobs on the basis of sex, race, or national origin.

8 Such studies, information, and technical assistance shall

9 be based upon and include reference to the declared policy

10 of such section to eliminate such discrimination. In order

11 to achieve the purposes of such section, the Equal Employ12 ment Opportunity Commission shall further carry on a

13 continuing program of research, education, and technical

14 assistance including—

15 ‘‘(A) undertaking and promoting research with

16 the intent of developing means to expeditiously cor17 rect the conditions leading to section 6(g);

18 ‘‘(B) publishing and otherwise making available

19 to employers, labor organizations, professional asso20 ciations, educational institutions, the various media

21 of communication, and the general public the find22 ings of studies and other materials for promoting

23 compliance with section 6(g);

24 ‘‘(C) sponsoring and assisting State and com25 munity informational and educational programs; and
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1 ‘‘(D) providing technical assistance to employ2 ers, labor organizations, professional associations

3 and other interested persons on means of achieving

4 and maintaining compliance with the provisions of

5 section 6(g).

6 ‘‘(5) The report submitted annually by the Equal

7 Employment Opportunity Commission to Congress pursu8 ant to paragraph (1) shall include a separate evaluation

9 and appraisal regarding the implementation of section

10 6(g).’’.

11 SEC. 8. EFFECTIVE DATE.

12 The amendments made by this Act shall take effect

13 upon the expiration of one year from the date of its

14 enactment.

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