116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 7 

AN ACT 

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, 
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1 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

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

3 Act’’. 

4 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

5 Congress finds the following: 

6 (1) Women have entered the workforce in 

7 record numbers over the past 50 years. 

8 (2) Despite the enactment of the Equal Pay Act 

9 of 1963, many women continue to earn significantly 

10 lower pay than men for equal work. These pay dis11 parities exist in both the private and governmental 

12 sectors. Pay disparities are especially severe for 

13 women and girls of color. 

14 (3) In many instances, the pay disparities can 

15 only be due to continued intentional discrimination 

16 or the lingering effects of past discrimination. After 

17 controlling for educational attainment, occupation, 

18 industry, union status, race, ethnicity, and labor 

19 force experience roughly 40 percent of the pay gap 

20 remains unexplained. 

21 (4) The existence of such pay disparities— 

22 (A) depresses the wages of working fami23 lies who rely on the wages of all members of the 

24 family to make ends meet; 
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1 (B) undermines women’s retirement secu2 rity, which is often based on earnings while in 

3 the workforce; 

4 (C) prevents women from realizing their 

5 full economic potential, particularly in terms of 

6 labor force participation and attachment; 

7 (D) has been spread and perpetuated, 

8 through commerce and the channels and instru9 mentalities of commerce, among the workers of 

10 the several States; 

11 (E) burdens commerce and the free flow of 

12 goods in commerce; 

13 (F) constitutes an unfair method of com14 petition in commerce; 

15 (G) tends to cause labor disputes, as evi16 denced by the tens of thousands of charges filed 

17 with the Equal Employment Opportunity Com18 mission against employers between 2010 and 

19 2016; 

20 (H) interferes with the orderly and fair 

21 marketing of goods in commerce; and 

22 (I) in many instances, may deprive workers 

23 of equal protection on the basis of sex in viola24 tion of the 5th and 14th Amendments to the 

25 Constitution. 
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1 (5)(A) Artificial barriers to the elimination of 

2 discrimination in the payment of wages on the basis 

3 of sex continue to exist decades after the enactment 

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

5 201 et seq.) and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 

6 U.S.C. 2000a et seq.). 

7 (B) These barriers have resulted, in significant 

8 part, because the Equal Pay Act of 1963 has not 

9 worked as Congress originally intended. Improve10 ments and modifications to the law are necessary to 

11 ensure that the Act provides effective protection to 

12 those subject to pay discrimination on the basis of 

13 their sex. 

14 (C) Elimination of such barriers would have 

15 positive effects, including— 

16 (i) providing a solution to problems in the 

17 economy created by unfair pay disparities; 

18 (ii) substantially reducing the number of 

19 working women earning unfairly low wages, 

20 thereby reducing the dependence on public as21 sistance; 

22 (iii) promoting stable families by enabling 

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

24 (iv) remedying the effects of past discrimi25 nation on the basis of sex and ensuring that in 
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1 the future workers are afforded equal protection 

2 on the basis of sex; and 

3 (v) ensuring equal protection pursuant to 

4 Congress’ power to enforce the 5th and 14th 

5 Amendments to the Constitution. 

6 (6) The Department of Labor and the Equal 

7 Employment Opportunity Commission carry out 

8 functions to help ensure that women receive equal 

9 pay for equal work. 

10 (7) The Department of Labor is responsible 

11 for— 

12 (A) collecting and making publicly avail13 able information about women’s pay; 

14 (B) ensuring that companies receiving 

15 Federal contracts comply with anti-discrimina16 tion affirmative action requirements of Execu17 tive Order 11246 (relating to equal employment 

18 opportunity); 

19 (C) disseminating information about wom20 en’s rights in the workplace; 

21 (D) helping women who have been victims 

22 of pay discrimination obtain a remedy; and 

23 (E) investigating and prosecuting systemic 

24 gender based pay discrimination involving gov25 ernment contractors. 
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1 (8) The Equal Employment Opportunity Com2 mission is the primary enforcement agency for 

3 claims made under the Equal Pay Act of 1963, and 

4 issues regulations and guidance on appropriate in5 terpretations of the law. 

6 (9) Vigorous implementation by the Depart7 ment of Labor and the Equal Employment Oppor8 tunity Commission, increased information as a result 

9 of the amendments made by this Act, wage data, 

10 and more effective remedies, will ensure that women 

11 are better able to recognize and enforce their rights. 

12 (10) Certain employers have already made 

13 great strides in eradicating unfair pay disparities in 

14 the workplace and their achievements should be rec15 ognized. 

16 SEC. 3. ENHANCED ENFORCEMENT OF EQUAL PAY RE17 QUIREMENTS. 

18 (a) BONA FIDE FACTOR DEFENSE AND MODIFICA19 TION OF SAME ESTABLISHMENT REQUIREMENT.—Section 

20 6(d)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 

21 U.S.C. 206(d)(1)) is amended— 

22 (1) by striking ‘‘No employer having’’ and in23 serting ‘‘(A) No employer having’’; 
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1 (2) by striking ‘‘any other factor other than 

2 sex’’ and inserting ‘‘a bona fide factor other than 

3 sex, such as education, training, or experience’’; and 

4 (3) by inserting at the end the following: 

5 ‘‘(B) The bona fide factor defense described in sub6 paragraph (A)(iv) shall apply only if the employer dem7 onstrates that such factor (i) is not based upon or derived 

8 from a sex-based differential in compensation; (ii) is job9 related with respect to the position in question; (iii) is con10 sistent with business necessity; and (iv) accounts for the 

11 entire differential in compensation at issue. Such defense 

12 shall not apply where the employee demonstrates that an 

13 alternative employment practice exists that would serve 

14 the same business purpose without producing such dif15 ferential and that the employer has refused to adopt such 

16 alternative practice. 

17 ‘‘(C) For purposes of subparagraph (A), employees 

18 shall be deemed to work in the same establishment if the 

19 employees work for the same employer at workplaces lo20 cated in the same county or similar political subdivision 

21 of a State. The preceding sentence shall not be construed 

22 as limiting broader applications of the term ‘establish23 ment’ consistent with rules prescribed or guidance issued 

24 by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.’’. 
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1 (b) NONRETALIATION PROVISION.—Section 15 of the 

2 Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 215) is 

3 amended— 

4 (1) in subsection (a)— 

5 (A) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘em6 ployee has filed’’ and all that follows and insert7 ing ‘‘employee— 

8 ‘‘(A) has made a charge or filed any com9 plaint or instituted or caused to be instituted 

10 any investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action 

11 under or related to this Act, including an inves12 tigation conducted by the employer, or has tes13 tified or is planning to testify or has assisted or 

14 participated in any manner in any such inves15 tigation, proceeding, hearing or action, or has 

16 served or is planning to serve on an industry 

17 committee; or 

18 ‘‘(B) has inquired about, discussed, or dis19 closed the wages of the employee or another 

20 employee (such as by inquiring or discussing 

21 with the employer why the wages of the em22 ployee are set at a certain rate or salary);’’; 

23 (B) in paragraph (5), by striking the pe24 riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

25 (C) by adding at the end the following: 
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1 ‘‘(6) to require an employee to sign a contract 

2 or waiver that would prohibit the employee from dis3 closing information about the employee’s wages.’’; 

4 and 

5 (2) by adding at the end the following: 

6 ‘‘(c) Subsection (a)(3)(B) shall not apply to instances 

7 in which an employee who has access to the wage informa8 tion of other employees as a part of such employee’s essen9 tial job functions discloses the wages of such other employ10 ees to individuals who do not otherwise have access to such 

11 information, unless such disclosure is in response to a 

12 complaint or charge or in furtherance of an investigation, 

13 proceeding, hearing, or action under section 6(d), includ14 ing an investigation conducted by the employer. Nothing 

15 in this subsection shall be construed to limit the rights 

16 of an employee provided under any other provision of 

17 law.’’. 

18 (c) ENHANCED PENALTIES.—Section 16(b) of the 

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

20 amended— 

21 (1) by inserting after the first sentence the fol22 lowing: ‘‘Any employer who violates section 6(d) 

23 shall additionally be liable for such compensatory 

24 damages, or, where the employee demonstrates that 

25 the employer acted with malice or reckless indiffer-
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1 ence, punitive damages as may be appropriate, ex2 cept that the United States shall not be liable for 

3 punitive damages.’’; 

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

5 by striking ‘‘the preceding sentences’’ and inserting 

6 ‘‘any of the preceding sentences of this subsection’’; 

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

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

9 ‘‘Except with respect to class actions brought to en10 force section 6(d), no employee’’; 

11 (4) by inserting after the sentence referred to 

12 in paragraph (3), the following: ‘‘Notwithstanding 

13 any other provision of Federal law, any action 

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

15 as a class action as provided by the Federal Rules 

16 of Civil Procedure.’’; and 

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

18 (A) by striking ‘‘in such action’’ and in19 serting ‘‘in any action brought to recover the li20 ability prescribed in any of the preceding sen21 tences of this subsection’’; and 

22 (B) by inserting before the period the fol23 lowing: ‘‘, including expert fees’’. 
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1 (d) ACTION BY SECRETARY.—Section 16(c) of the 

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

3 amended— 

4 (1) in the first sentence— 

5 (A) by inserting ‘‘or, in the case of a viola6 tion of section 6(d), additional compensatory or 

7 punitive damages, as described in subsection 

8 (b),’’ before ‘‘and the agreement’’; and 

9 (B) by inserting before the period the fol10 lowing: ‘‘, or such compensatory or punitive 

11 damages, as appropriate’’; 

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

13 the period the following: ‘‘and, in the case of a viola14 tion of section 6(d), additional compensatory or pu15 nitive damages, as described in subsection (b)’’; 

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

17 sentence’’ and inserting ‘‘the first or second sen18 tence’’; and 

19 (4) in the sixth sentence— 

20 (A) by striking ‘‘commenced in the case’’ 

21 and inserting ‘‘commenced— 

22 ‘‘(1) in the case’’; 

23 (B) by striking the period and inserting ‘‘; 

24 or’’; and 

25 (C) by adding at the end the following: 
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1 ‘‘(2) in the case of a class action brought to en2 force section 6(d), on the date on which the indi3 vidual becomes a party plaintiff to the class action.’’. 

4 SEC. 4. TRAINING. 

5 The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission 

6 and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, 

7 subject to the availability of funds appropriated under sec8 tion 11, shall provide training to Commission employees 

9 and affected individuals and entities on matters involving 

10 discrimination in the payment of wages. 

11 SEC. 5. NEGOTIATION SKILLS TRAINING. 

12 (a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.— 

13 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Labor, 

14 after consultation with the Secretary of Education, 

15 is authorized to establish and carry out a grant pro16 gram. 

17 (2) GRANTS.—In carrying out the program, the 

18 Secretary of Labor may make grants on a competi19 tive basis to eligible entities to carry out negotiation 

20 skills training programs for the purposes of address21 ing pay disparities, including through outreach to 

22 women and girls. 

23 (3) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—To be eligible to re24 ceive a grant under this subsection, an entity shall 

25 be a public agency, such as a State, a local govern-
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1 ment in a metropolitan statistical area (as defined 

2 by the Office of Management and Budget), a State 

3 educational agency, or a local educational agency, a 

4 private nonprofit organization, or a community5 based organization. 

6 (4) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a 

7 grant under this subsection, an entity shall submit 

8 an application to the Secretary of Labor at such 

9 time, in such manner, and containing such informa10 tion as the Secretary of Labor may require. 

11 (5) USE OF FUNDS.—An entity that receives a 

12 grant under this subsection shall use the funds made 

13 available through the grant to carry out an effective 

14 negotiation skills training program for the purposes 

15 described in paragraph (2). 

16 (b) INCORPORATING TRAINING INTO EXISTING PRO17 GRAMS.—The Secretary of Labor and the Secretary of 

18 Education shall issue regulations or policy guidance that 

19 provides for integrating the negotiation skills training, to 

20 the extent practicable, into programs authorized under— 

21 (1) in the case of the Secretary of Education, 

22 the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 

23 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.), the Carl D. Perkins 

24 Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 (20 

25 U.S.C. 2301 et seq.), the Higher Education Act of 
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1 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.), and other programs 

2 carried out by the Department of Education that the 

3 Secretary of Education determines to be appro4 priate; and 

5 (2) in the case of the Secretary of Labor, the 

6 Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 

7 U.S.C. 3101 et seq.), and other programs carried 

8 out by the Department of Labor that the Secretary 

9 of Labor determines to be appropriate. 

10 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after the 

11 date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 

12 the Secretary of Labor, in consultation with the Secretary 

13 of Education, shall prepare and submit to Congress a re14 port describing the activities conducted under this section 

15 and evaluating the effectiveness of such activities in 

16 achieving the purposes of this section. 

17 SEC. 6. RESEARCH, EDUCATION, AND OUTREACH. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months after 

19 the date of enactment of this Act, and periodically there20 after, the Secretary of Labor shall conduct studies and 

21 provide information to employers, labor organizations, and 

22 the general public concerning the means available to elimi23 nate pay disparities between men and women (including 

24 women who are Asian American, Black or African-Amer25 ican, Hispanic American or Latino, Native American or 
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1 Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, and 

2 White American), including— 

3 (1) conducting and promoting research to de4 velop the means to correct expeditiously the condi5 tions leading to the pay disparities, with specific at6 tention paid to women and girls from historically 

7 underrepresented and minority groups; 

8 (2) publishing and otherwise making available 

9 to employers, labor organizations, professional asso10 ciations, educational institutions, the media, and the 

11 general public the findings resulting from studies 

12 and other materials, relating to eliminating the pay 

13 disparities; 

14 (3) sponsoring and assisting State, local, and 

15 community informational and educational programs; 

16 (4) providing information to employers, labor 

17 organizations, professional associations, and other 

18 interested persons on the means of eliminating the 

19 pay disparities; and 

20 (5) recognizing and promoting the achievements 

21 of employers, labor organizations, and professional 

22 associations that have worked to eliminate the pay 

23 disparities. 

24 (b) REPORT ON GENDER PAY GAP IN TEENAGE

25 LABOR FORCE.— 
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1 (1) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than one 

2 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the 

3 Secretary of Labor, acting through the Director of 

4 the Women’s Bureau and in coordination with the 

5 Commissioner of Labor Statistics, shall— 

6 (A) submit to Congress a report on the 

7 gender pay gap in the teenage labor force; and 

8 (B) make the report available on a publicly 

9 accessible website of the Department of Labor. 

10 (2) ELEMENTS.—The report under subsection 

11 (a) shall include the following: 

12 (A) An examination of trends and potential 

13 solutions relating to the teenage gender pay 

14 gap. 

15 (B) An examination of how the teenage 

16 gender pay gap potentially translates into 

17 greater wage gaps in the overall labor force. 

18 (C) An examination of overall lifetime 

19 earnings and losses for informal and formal 

20 jobs for women, including women of color. 

21 (D) An examination of the teenage gender 

22 pay gap, including a comparison of the average 

23 amount earned by males and females, respec24 tively, in informal jobs, such as babysitting and 
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1 other freelance jobs, as well as formal jobs, 

2 such as retail, restaurant, and customer service. 

3 (E) A comparison of — 

4 (i) the types of tasks typically per5 formed by women from the teenage years 

6 through adulthood within certain informal 

7 jobs, such as babysitting and other free8 lance jobs, and formal jobs, such as retail, 

9 restaurant, and customer service; and 

10 (ii) the types of tasks performed by 

11 younger males in such positions. 

12 (F) Interviews and surveys with workers 

13 and employers relating to early gender-based 

14 pay discrepancies. 

15 (G) Recommendations for— 

16 (i) addressing pay inequality for 

17 women from the teenage years through 

18 adulthood, including such women of color; 

19 (ii) addressing any disadvantages ex20 perienced by young women with respect to 

21 work experience and professional develop22 ment; 

23 (iii) the development of standards and 

24 best practices for workers and employees 

25 to ensure better pay for young women and 
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1 the prevention of early inequalities in the 

2 workplace; and 

3 (iv) expanding awareness for teenage 

4 girls on pay rates and employment rights 

5 in order to reduce greater inequalities in 

6 the overall labor force. 

7 SEC. 7. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NATIONAL AWARD FOR 

8 PAY EQUITY IN THE WORKPLACE. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—There is established the Secretary 

10 of Labor’s National Award for Pay Equity in the Work11 place, which shall be awarded, on an annual basis, to an 

12 employer to encourage proactive efforts to comply with 

13 section 6(d) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 

14 U.S.C. 206(d)), as amended by this Act. 

15 (b) CRITERIA FOR QUALIFICATION.—The Secretary 

16 of Labor shall set criteria for receipt of the award, includ17 ing a requirement that an employer has made substantial 

18 effort to eliminate pay disparities between men and 

19 women, and deserves special recognition as a consequence 

20 of such effort. The Secretary shall establish procedures for 

21 the application and presentation of the award. 

22 (c) BUSINESS.—In this section, the term ‘‘employer’’ 

23 includes— 

24 (1)(A) a corporation, including a nonprofit cor25 poration; 
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1 (B) a partnership; 

2 (C) a professional association; 

3 (D) a labor organization; and 

4 (E) a business entity similar to an entity de5 scribed in any of subparagraphs (A) through (D); 

6 (2) an entity carrying out an education referral 

7 program, a training program, such as an apprentice8 ship or management training program, or a similar 

9 program; and 

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

11 formed by a combination of any entities described in 

12 paragraph (1) or (2). 

13 SEC. 8. COLLECTION OF PAY INFORMATION BY THE EQUAL 

14 EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION. 

15 Section 709 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 

16 U.S.C. 2000e–8) is amended by adding at the end the fol17 lowing: 

18 ‘‘(f)(1) Not later than 18 months after the date of 

19 enactment of this subsection, the Commission shall pro20 vide for the collection from employers of compensation 

21 data and other employment-related data (including hiring, 

22 termination, and promotion data) disaggregated by the 

23 sex, race, and ethnic identity of employees. 

24 ‘‘(2) In carrying out paragraph (1), the Commission 

25 shall have as its primary consideration the most effective 
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1 and efficient means for enhancing the enforcement of Fed2 eral laws prohibiting pay discrimination. For this purpose, 

3 the Commission shall consider factors including the impo4 sition of burdens on employers, the frequency of required 

5 reports (including the size of employers required to pre6 pare reports), appropriate protections for maintaining 

7 data confidentiality, and the most effective format to re8 port such data. 

9 ‘‘(3)(A) For each 12-month reporting period for an 

10 employer, the compensation data collected under para11 graph (1) shall include, for each range of taxable com12 pensation described in subparagraph (B), disaggregated 

13 by the categories described in subparagraph (E)— 

14 ‘‘(i) the number of employees of the employer 

15 who earn taxable compensation in an amount that 

16 falls within such taxable compensation range; and 

17 ‘‘(ii) the total number of hours worked by such 

18 employees. 

19 ‘‘(B) Subject to adjustment under subparagraph (C), 

20 the taxable compensation ranges described in this sub21 paragraph are as follows: 

22 ‘‘(i) Not more than $19,239. 

23 ‘‘(ii) Not less than $19,240 and not more than 

24 $24,439. 
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1 ‘‘(iii) Not less than $24,440 and not more than 

2 $30,679. 

3 ‘‘(iv) Not less than $30,680 and not more than 

4 $38,999. 

5 ‘‘(v) Not less than $39,000 and not more than 

6 $49,919. 

7 ‘‘(vi) Not less than $49,920 and not more than 

8 $62,919. 

9 ‘‘(vii) Not less than $62,920 and not more than 

10 $80,079. 

11 ‘‘(viii) Not less than $80,080 and not more 

12 than $101,919. 

13 ‘‘(ix) Not less than $101,920 and not more 

14 than $128,959. 

15 ‘‘(x) Not less than $128,960 and not more than 

16 $163,799. 

17 ‘‘(xi) Not less than $163,800 and not more 

18 than $207,999. 

19 ‘‘(xii) Not less than $208,000. 

20 ‘‘(C) The Commission may adjust the taxable com21 pensation ranges under subparagraph (B)— 

22 ‘‘(i) if the Commission determines that such ad23 justment is necessary to enhance enforcement of 

24 Federal laws prohibiting pay discrimination; or 
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1 ‘‘(ii) for inflation, in consultation with the Bu2 reau of Labor Statistics. 

3 ‘‘(D) In collecting data described in subparagraph 

4 (A)(ii), the Commission shall provide that, with respect 

5 to an employee who the employer is not required to com6 pensate for overtime employment under section 7 of the 

7 Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 207), an 

8 employer may report— 

9 ‘‘(i) in the case of a full-time employee, that 

10 such employee works 40 hours per week, and in the 

11 case of a part-time employee, that such employee 

12 works 20 hours per week; or 

13 ‘‘(ii) the actual number of hours worked by 

14 such employee. 

15 ‘‘(E) The categories described in this subparagraph 

16 shall be determined by the Commission and shall in17 clude— 

18 ‘‘(i) race; 

19 ‘‘(ii) ethnic identity; 

20 ‘‘(iii) sex; and 

21 ‘‘(iv) job categories, including the job categories 

22 described in the instructions for the Equal Employ23 ment Opportunity Employer Information Report 

24 EEO–1, as in effect on the date of the enactment 

25 of this subsection. 
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1 ‘‘(F) The Commission shall use the compensation 

2 data collected under paragraph (1)— 

3 ‘‘(i) to enhance— 

4 ‘‘(I) the investigation of charges filed 

5 under section 706 or section 6(d) of the Fair 

6 Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 

7 206(d)); and 

8 ‘‘(II) the allocation of resources to inves9 tigate such charges; and 

10 ‘‘(ii) for any other purpose that the Commission 

11 determines appropriate. 

12 ‘‘(G) The Commission shall annually make publicly 

13 available aggregate compensation data collected under 

14 paragraph (1) for the categories described in subpara15 graph (E), disaggregated by industry, occupation, and 

16 core based statistical area (as defined by the Office of 

17 Management and Budget). 

18 ‘‘(4) The compensation data under paragraph (1) 

19 shall be collected from each employer that— 

20 ‘‘(A) is a private employer that has 100 or 

21 more employees, including such an employer that is 

22 a contractor with the Federal Government, or a sub23 contractor at any tier thereof; or 

24 ‘‘(B) the Commission determines appropriate.’’. 
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1 SEC. 9. REINSTATEMENT OF PAY EQUITY PROGRAMS AND 

2 PAY EQUITY DATA COLLECTION. 

3 (a) BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS DATA COLLEC4 TION.—The Commissioner of Labor Statistics shall con5 tinue to collect data on women workers in the Current 

6 Employment Statistics survey. 

7 (b) OFFICE OF FEDERAL CONTRACT COMPLIANCE

8 PROGRAMS INITIATIVES.—The Director of the Office of 

9 Federal Contract Compliance Programs shall ensure that 

10 employees of the Office— 

11 (1)(A) shall use the full range of investigatory 

12 tools at the Office’s disposal, including pay grade 

13 methodology; 

14 (B) in considering evidence of possible com15 pensation discrimination— 

16 (i) shall not limit its consideration to a 

17 small number of types of evidence; and 

18 (ii) shall not limit its evaluation of the evi19 dence to a small number of methods of evalu20 ating the evidence; and 

21 (C) shall not require a multiple regression anal22 ysis or anecdotal evidence for a compensation dis23 crimination case; 

24 (2) for purposes of its investigative, compliance, 

25 and enforcement activities, shall define ‘‘similarly 

26 situated employees’’ in a way that is consistent with 
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1 and not more stringent than the definition provided 

2 in item 1 of subsection A of section 10–III of the 

3 Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Com4 pliance Manual (2000), and shall consider only fac5 tors that the Office’s investigation reveals were used 

6 in making compensation decisions; and 

7 (3) shall implement a survey to collect com8 pensation data and other employment-related data 

9 (including hiring, termination, and promotion data) 

10 and designate not less than half of all nonconstruc11 tion contractor establishments each year to prepare 

12 and file such survey, and shall review and utilize the 

13 responses to such survey to identify contractor es14 tablishments for further evaluation and for other en15 forcement purposes as appropriate. 

16 (c) DEPARTMENT OF LABOR DISTRIBUTION OF

17 WAGE DISCRIMINATION INFORMATION.—The Secretary of 

18 Labor shall make readily available (in print, on the De19 partment of Labor website, and through any other forum 

20 that the Department may use to distribute compensation 

21 discrimination information), accurate information on com22 pensation discrimination, including statistics, explanations 

23 of employee rights, historical analyses of such discrimina24 tion, instructions for employers on compliance, and any 
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1 other information that will assist the public in under2 standing and addressing such discrimination. 

3 SEC. 10. PROHIBITIONS RELATING TO PROSPECTIVE EM4 PLOYEES’ SALARY AND BENEFIT HISTORY. 

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Fair Labor Standards Act of 

6 1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.) is amended by inserting 

7 after section 7 the following new section: 

8 ‘‘SEC. 8. REQUIREMENTS AND PROHIBITIONS RELATING TO 

9 WAGE, SALARY, AND BENEFIT HISTORY. 

10 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—It shall be an unlawful practice 

11 for an employer to— 

12 ‘‘(1) rely on the wage history of a prospective 

13 employee in considering the prospective employee for 

14 employment, including requiring that a prospective 

15 employee’s prior wages satisfy minimum or max16 imum criteria as a condition of being considered for 

17 employment; 

18 ‘‘(2) rely on the wage history of a prospective 

19 employee in determining the wages for such prospec20 tive employee, except that an employer may rely on 

21 wage history if it is voluntarily provided by a pro22 spective employee, after the employer makes an offer 

23 of employment with an offer of compensation to the 

24 prospective employee, to support a wage higher than 

25 the wage offered by the employer; 
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1 ‘‘(3) seek from a prospective employee or any 

2 current or former employer the wage history of the 

3 prospective employee, except that an employer may 

4 seek to confirm prior wage information only after an 

5 offer of employment with compensation has been 

6 made to the prospective employee and the prospec7 tive employee responds to the offer by providing 

8 prior wage information to support a wage higher 

9 than that offered by the employer; or 

10 ‘‘(4) discharge or in any other manner retaliate 

11 against any employee or prospective employee be12 cause the employee or prospective employee— 

13 ‘‘(A) opposed any act or practice made un14 lawful by this section; or 

15 ‘‘(B) took an action for which discrimina16 tion is forbidden under section 15(a)(3). 

17 ‘‘(b) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘wage 

18 history’ means the wages paid to the prospective employee 

19 by the prospective employee’s current employer or previous 

20 employer.’’. 

21 (b) PENALTIES.—Section 16 of such Act (29 U.S.C. 

22 216) is amended by adding at the end the following new 

23 subsection: 

24 ‘‘(f)(1) Any person who violates the provisions of sec25 tion 8 shall— 
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1 ‘‘(A) be subject to a civil penalty of $5,000 for 

2 a first offense, increased by an additional $1,000 for 

3 each subsequent offense, not to exceed $10,000; and 

4 ‘‘(B) be liable to each employee or prospective 

5 employee who was the subject of the violation for 

6 special damages not to exceed $10,000 plus attor7 neys’ fees, and shall be subject to such injunctive re8 lief as may be appropriate. 

9 ‘‘(2) An action to recover the liability described in 

10 paragraph (1)(B) may be maintained against any em11 ployer (including a public agency) in any Federal or State 

12 court of competent jurisdiction by any one or more em13 ployees or prospective employees for and on behalf of— 

14 ‘‘(A) the employees or prospective employees; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(B) other employees or prospective employees 

17 similarly situated.’’. 

18 SEC. 11. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 

19 (a) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

20 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be 

21 necessary to carry out this Act. 

22 (b) PROHIBITION ON EARMARKS.—None of the funds 

23 appropriated pursuant to subsection (a) for purposes of 

24 the grant program in section 5 of this Act may be used 
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1 for a congressional earmark as defined in clause 9(e) of 

2 rule XXI of the Rules of the House of Representatives. 

3 SEC. 12. SMALL BUSINESS ASSISTANCE. 

4 (a) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This Act and the amend5 ments made by this Act shall take effect on the date that 

6 is 6 months after the date of enactment of this Act. 

7 (b) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE MATERIALS.—The Sec8 retary of Labor and the Commissioner of the Equal Em9 ployment Opportunity Commission shall jointly develop 

10 technical assistance material to assist small enterprises in 

11 complying with the requirements of this Act and the 

12 amendments made by this Act. 

13 (c) SMALL BUSINESSES.—A small enterprise shall be 

14 exempt from the provisions of this Act, and the amend15 ments made by this Act, to the same extent that such en16 terprise is exempt from the requirements of the Fair 

17 Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.) pur18 suant to clauses (i) and (ii) of section 3(s)(1)(A) of such 

19 Act (29 U.S.C. 203(s)(1)(A)). 

20 SEC. 13. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 

21 Nothing in this Act, or in any amendments made by 

22 this Act, shall affect the obligation of employers and em23 ployees to fully comply with all applicable immigration 

24 laws, including being subject to any penalties, fines, or 

25 other sanctions. 
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1 SEC. 14. SEVERABILITY. 

2 If any provision of this Act, an amendment made by 

3 this Act, or the application of that provision or amend4 ment to particular persons or circumstances is held invalid 

5 or found to be unconstitutional, the remainder of this Act, 

6 the amendments made by this Act, or the application of 

7 that provision to other persons or circumstances shall not 

8 be affected. 

Passed the House of Representatives March 27, 

2019. 

Attest: 

Clerk. 

116TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. R. 7 

AN ACT 

To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 

basis of sex, and for other purposes. discrimination in the payment of wages on the to provide more effective remedies to victims of