II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 875 

To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to strengthen equal pay 

requirements. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 26, 2015 

Mrs. FISCHER introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to 

strengthen equal pay requirements. 

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 ‘‘Workplace Advance5 ment Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress makes the following findings: 

8 (1) In 1963, Congress passed on a bipartisan 

9 basis the Equal Pay Act of 1963 to prohibit dis10 crimination on account of sex in the payment of 


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1 wages for equal work performed by employees for 

2 employers engaged in commerce or in the production 

3 of goods for commerce. 

4 (2) Following the passage of such Act, in 1964, 

5 Congress passed on a bipartisan basis the Civil 

6 Rights Act of 1964. 

7 (3) Since the passage of both the Equal Pay 

8 Act of 1963 and the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 

9 women have made significant strides, both in the 

10 workforce and in their educational pursuits. 

11 (4) Currently, according to a Prudential Re12 search Study, 60 percent of women are the primary 

13 earners in their households and the Bureau of Labor 

14 Statistics has found that 47 percent of women are 

15 members of the workforce. 

16 (5) According to the Department of Education, 

17 women receive 57 percent of all college degrees, a 33 

18 percent increase from 1970. 

19 (6) Women hold the majority of positions in the 

20 5 fastest growing fields, and women are more likely 

21 than men to work in professional and related occu22 pations. 

23 (7) Despite this significant progress, surveys 

24 suggest there is a concern among American women 

25 that gender-based pay discrimination still exists. 


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1 (8) Over the last 15 years, the Equal Employ2 ment Opportunity Commission has received on aver3 age 2,400 complaints annually alleging gender-based 

4 pay discrimination. This represents two to three per5 cent of charges filed with the Commission during the 

6 same time period. Even though the Commission de7 termines that no discrimination occurred in a major8 ity of these complaints, the extent to which these al9 legations continue underscores there is still progress 

10 to be made. 

11 (9) A number of factors contribute to dif12 ferences in total compensation, including variations 

13 in occupation, education, hours worked, institutional 

14 knowledge, and other business reasons and personal 

15 choices that shape career paths and earning poten16 tial. 

17 SEC. 3. PROHIBITION ON WAGE DISCRIMINATION. 

18 Pursuant to Federal law in effect on the date of en19 actment of this Act: 

20 (1) IN GENERAL.—No employer shall discrimi21 nate, within any establishment in which employees 

22 are employed by the employer, between employees on 

23 the basis of sex by paying wages to employees in 

24 such establishment at a rate less than the rate at 

25 which the employer pays wages to employees of the 


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1 opposite sex in such establishment for equal work on 

2 jobs the performance of which requires equal skill, 

3 effort, and responsibility, and which are performed 

4 under similar working conditions, except where such 

5 payment is made pursuant to— 

6 (A) a seniority system; 

7 (B) a merit system; 

8 (C) a system which measures earnings by 

9 quantity or quality of production; or 

10 (D) a differential based on any other fac11 tor other than sex. 

12 (2) LIMITATION.—An employer who is paying a 

13 wage rate differential in violation of this section 

14 shall not, in order to comply with the provisions of 

15 this section, reduce the wage rate of any employee. 

16 (3) NOTICE.—Every employer, employment 

17 agency, and labor organization, as the case may be, 

18 shall post and keep posted in conspicuous places 

19 upon its premises where notices to employees, appli20 cants for employment, and members are customarily 

21 posted, a notice to be prepared or approved by the 

22 Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that 

23 sets forth excerpts from, or summaries of, the perti24 nent provisions of this Act (including the amend25 ments made by this Act) and of title VII of the Civil 


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1 Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq.), and 

2 information pertinent to the filing of a complaint. 

3 SEC. 4. ENHANCED ENFORCEMENT OF EQUAL PAY ACT RE4 QUIREMENTS. 

5 Section 15(a) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 

6 1938 (29 U.S.C. 215(a)) is amended— 

7 (1) in paragraph (5), by striking the period and 

8 inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 

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

10 ‘‘(6) to discharge or in any other manner retali11 ate against any employee because such employee has 

12 inquired about, discussed, or disclosed comparative 

13 compensation information for the purpose of deter14 mining whether the employer is compensating an 

15 employee in a manner that provides equal pay for 

16 equal work, except that this paragraph shall not 

17 apply to instances in which an employee who has ac18 cess to the wage information of other employees as 

19 a part of such employee’s job functions discloses the 

20 wages of such other employees to an individual who 

21 does not otherwise have access to such information, 

22 unless such disclosure is in response to a charge or 

23 complaint or in furtherance of an investigation, pro24 ceeding, hearing, or action under section 6(d), in25 cluding an investigation conducted by the employee. 


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1 Nothing in paragraph (6) shall be construed to limit the 

2 rights of an employee provided under any other provision 

3 of law.’’. 

Æ 


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