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SEC. 2. ENHANCED ENFORCEMENT OF EQUAL PAY RE-
QUIREMENTS. 
(a) DEFINITIONS.—Section 3 of the Fair Labor 
Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 203) is amended by 
adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(z) ‘Sex’ includes— 
‘‘(1) pregnancy, childbirth, or a related medical 
condition; 
‘‘(2) sexual orientation or gender identity; and 
‘‘(3) sex characteristics, including intersex 
traits. 
‘‘(aa) ‘Sexual orientation’ includes homosexuality, 
heterosexuality, and bisexuality. 
‘‘(bb) ‘Gender identity’ means the gender-related 
identity, appearance, mannerisms, or other gender-related 
characteristics of an individual, regardless of the individ-
ual’s designated sex at birth.’’. 
(b) BONA FIDE FACTOR DEFENSE AND MODIFICA-
TION OF SAME ESTABLISHMENT REQUIREMENT.—Section 
6(d)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 
U.S.C. 206(d)(1)) is amended— 
(1) by striking ‘‘No employer having’’ and in-
serting ‘‘(A) No employer having’’; 
(2) by striking ‘‘the opposite’’ and inserting 
‘‘another’’; 
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(3) by striking ‘‘any other factor other than 
sex’’ and inserting ‘‘a bona fide factor other than 
sex, such as education, training, or experience’’; and 
(4) by inserting at the end the following: 
‘‘(B) The bona fide factor defense described in 
subparagraph (A)(iv) shall apply only if the em-
ployer demonstrates that such factor (i) is not based 
upon or derived from a sex-based differential in com-
pensation; (ii) is job-related with respect to the posi-
tion in question; (iii) is consistent with business ne-
cessity; and (iv) accounts for the entire differential 
in compensation at issue. Such defense shall not 
apply where the employee demonstrates that an al-
ternative employment practice exists that would 
serve the same business purpose without producing 
such differential and that the employer has refused 
to adopt such alternative practice. 
‘‘(C) For purposes of subparagraph (A), em-
ployees shall be deemed to work in the same estab-
lishment if the employees work for the same em-
ployer at workplaces located in the same county or 
similar political subdivision of a State. The pre-
ceding sentence shall not be construed as limiting 
broader applications of the term ‘establishment’ con-
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sistent with rules prescribed or guidance issued by 
the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.’’. 
(c) NONRETALIATION PROVISION.—Section 15 of the 
Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 215) is 
amended— 
(1) in subsection (a)— 
(A) in paragraph (3), by striking ‘‘em-
ployee has filed’’ and all that follows and insert-
ing ‘‘employee— 
‘‘(A) has made a charge or filed any com-
plaint or instituted or caused to be instituted 
any investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action 
under or related to this Act, including an inves-
tigation conducted by the employer, or has tes-
tified or is planning to testify or has assisted or 
participated in any manner in any such inves-
tigation, proceeding, hearing or action, or has 
served or is planning to serve on an industry 
committee; 
‘‘(B) has opposed any practice made un-
lawful by this Act; or 
‘‘(C) has inquired about, discussed, or dis-
closed the wages of the employee or another 
employee (such as by inquiring or discussing 
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with the employer why the wages of the em-
ployee are set at a certain rate or salary);’’; 
(B) in paragraph (5), by striking the pe-
riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; or’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(6) to require an employee to sign a contract 
or waiver that would prohibit the employee from dis-
closing information about the employee’s wages.’’; 
and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(c) Subsection (a)(3)(C) shall not apply to instances 
in which an employee who has access to the wage informa-
tion of other employees as a part of such employee’s essen-
tial job functions discloses the wages of such other employ-
ees to individuals who do not otherwise have access to such 
information, unless such disclosure is in response to a 
complaint or charge or in furtherance of an investigation, 
proceeding, hearing, or action under section 6(d), includ-
ing an investigation conducted by the employer. Nothing 
in this subsection shall be construed to limit the rights 
of an employee provided under any other provision of 
law.’’. 
(d) ENHANCED PENALTIES.—Section 16(b) of the 
Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 216(b)) is 
amended— 
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(1) by inserting after the first sentence the fol-
lowing: ‘‘Any employer who violates section 6(d), or 
who violates the provisions of section 15(a)(3) in re-
lation to section 6(d), shall additionally be liable for 
such compensatory damages, or, where the employee 
demonstrates that the employer acted with malice or 
reckless indifference, punitive damages as may be 
appropriate, except that the United States shall not 
be liable for punitive damages.’’; 
(2) in the sentence beginning ‘‘An action to’’, 
by striking ‘‘the preceding sentences’’ and inserting 
‘‘any of the preceding sentences of this subsection’’; 
(3) in the sentence beginning ‘‘No employees 
shall’’, by striking ‘‘No employees’’ and inserting 
‘‘Except with respect to class actions brought to en-
force section 6(d), no employee’’; 
(4) by inserting after the sentence referred to 
in paragraph (3), the following: ‘‘Notwithstanding 
any other provision of Federal law, any action 
brought to enforce section 6(d) may be maintained 
as a class action as provided by the Federal Rules 
of Civil Procedure.’’; and 
(5) in the sentence beginning ‘‘The court in’’— 
(A) by striking ‘‘in such action’’ and in-
serting ‘‘in any action brought to recover the li-
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ability prescribed in any of the preceding sen-
tences of this subsection’’; and 
(B) by inserting before the period the fol-
lowing: ‘‘, including expert fees’’. 
(e) ACTION BY THE SECRETARY.—Section 16(c) of 
the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 216(c)) 
is amended— 
(1) in the first sentence— 
(A) by inserting ‘‘or, in the case of a viola-
tion of section 6(d), additional compensatory or 
punitive damages, as described in subsection 
(b),’’ before ‘‘and the agreement’’; and 
(B) by inserting before the period the fol-
lowing: ‘‘, or such compensatory or punitive 
damages, as appropriate’’; 
(2) in the second sentence, by inserting before 
the period the following: ‘‘and, in the case of a viola-
tion of section 6(d), additional compensatory or pu-
nitive damages, as described in subsection (b)’’; and 
(3) in the third sentence, by striking ‘‘the first 
sentence’’ and inserting ‘‘the first or second sen-
tence’’. 
(f) ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITY.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Equal Opportunity Em-
ployment Commission shall carry out the functions 
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SEC. 3. TRAINING. 
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission 
and the Secretary of Labor, acting through the Office of 
Federal Contract Compliance Programs, subject to the 
availability of funds appropriated under section 11, shall 
provide training to employees of the Commission and the 
Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs and to 
affected individuals and entities on matters involving dis-
crimination in the payment of wages. 
SEC. 4. NEGOTIATION SKILLS TRAINING. 
(a) NEGOTIATION BIAS TRAINING.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Labor shall 
establish a program to award contracts and grants 
for the purpose of training employers about the role 
that salary negotiation and other inconsistent wage 
setting practices can have on allowing bias to enter 
compensation. 
(2) TRAINING TOPICS.—Each training program 
established using funds under section (a) shall in-
clude an overview of how structural issues may 
cause inequitable earning and advancement opportu-
nities for women and people of color and assist em-
ployers in examining the impact of a range of prac-
tices on such opportunities, including— 
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(A) self-auditing to identify structural 
issues that allow bias and inequity to enter 
compensation; 
(B) recruitment of candidates to ensure di-
verse pools of applicants; 
(C) salary negotiations that result in simi-
larly qualified workers entering at different 
rates of pay; 
(D) internal equity among workers with 
similar skills, effort, responsibility and working 
conditions; 
(E) consistent use of market rates and in-
centives driven by industry competitiveness; 
(F) evaluation of the rate of employee 
progress and advancement to higher paid posi-
tions; 
(G) work assignments that result in great-
er opportunity for advancement; 
(H) training, development and promotion 
opportunities; 
(I) impact of mid-level or senior level hir-
ing in comparison to wage rates of incumbent 
workers; 
(J) opportunities to win commissions and 
bonuses; 
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(K) performance reviews and raises; 
(L) processes for adjusting pay to address 
inconsistency and inequity in compensation; and 
(M) other topics that research identifies as 
a common area for assumptions, bias and in-
equity to impact compensation. 
(b) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.— 
(1) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary of Labor, 
after consultation with the Secretary of Education, 
is authorized to establish and carry out a grant pro-
gram. 
(2) GRANTS.—In carrying out the program, the 
Secretary of Labor may make grants on a competi-
tive basis to eligible entities to carry out negotiation 
skills training programs for the purposes of address-
ing pay disparities, including through outreach to 
women and girls. 
(3) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—To be eligible to re-
ceive a grant under this subsection, an entity shall 
be a public agency, such as a State, a local govern-
ment in a metropolitan statistical area (as defined 
by the Office of Management and Budget), a State 
educational agency, or a local educational agency, a 
private nonprofit organization, or a community- 
based organization. 
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(4) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a 
grant under this subsection, an entity shall submit 
an application to the Secretary of Labor at such 
time, in such manner, and containing such informa-
tion as the Secretary of Labor may require. 
(5) USE OF FUNDS.—An entity that receives a 
grant under this subsection shall use the funds made 
available through the grant to carry out an effective 
negotiation skills training program for the purposes 
described in paragraph (2). 
(c) INCORPORATING TRAINING INTO EXISTING PRO-
GRAMS.—The Secretary of Labor and the Secretary of 
Education shall issue regulations or policy guidance that 
provides for integrating the negotiation skills training, to 
the extent practicable, into programs authorized under— 
(1) in the case of the Secretary of Education, 
the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.), the Carl D. Perkins 
Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 (20 
U.S.C. 2301 et seq.), the Higher Education Act of 
1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.), and other programs 
carried out by the Department of Education that the 
Secretary of Education determines to be appro-
priate; and 
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(2) in the case of the Secretary of Labor, the 
Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 
U.S.C. 3101 et seq.), and other programs carried 
out by the Department of Labor that the Secretary 
of Labor determines to be appropriate. 
(d) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after the 
date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, 
the Secretary of Labor, in consultation with the Secretary 
of Education, shall prepare and submit to Congress a re-
port describing the activities conducted under this section 
and evaluating the effectiveness of such activities in 
achieving the purposes of this section. 
SEC. 5. RESEARCH, EDUCATION, AND OUTREACH. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 18 months after 
the date of enactment of this Act, and periodically there-
after, the Secretary of Labor shall conduct studies and 
provide information to employers, labor organizations, and 
the general public concerning the means available to elimi-
nate pay disparities between men and women (including 
women who are Asian American, Black or African-Amer-
ican, Hispanic American or Latino, Native American or 
Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander, and 
White American), including— 
(1) conducting and promoting research to de-
velop the means to correct expeditiously the condi-
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