SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be referred to as the ‘‘Wage Equity 
Act of 2019’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
(1) In 1963, Congress passed on a bipartisan 
basis the Equal Pay Act of 1963 to prohibit dis-
crimination on account of sex in the payment of 
wages for equal work performed by employees for 
employers engaged in commerce or in the production 
of goods for commerce. 
(2) Following the passage of such Act, in 1964, 
Congress passed on a bipartisan basis the Civil 
Rights Act of 1964. Since the passage of both the 
Equal Pay Act of 1963 and the Civil Rights Act of 
1964, women have made significant strides, both in 
the workforce and in their educational pursuits. 
(3) Currently, there are nearly 75,000,000 
women in the workforce, the most in American his-
tory. Of the 2,800,000 jobs created in 2018, 58 per-
cent went to women. This follows a trend that has 
been rising for some time. Women are graduating 
from college at a higher rate than their male counter 
parts, making up over 58 percent of all college de-
grees conferred in 2017. Additionally, according to a 
recent survey of working women, 49 percent of em-
ployed women are their family’s primary bread-
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winner. Women hold the majority of positions in the 
five fastest growing fields. 
(4) Despite these advances there is still concern 
among the American public that gender-based pay 
discrimination has not been eliminated. 
SEC. 3. FLEXIBLE WORK ARRANGEMENT PLAN. 
Section 6(d) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 
1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(d)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘or’’ after ‘‘a system which 
measures earnings by quantity or quality or 
production’’; 
(B) inserting ‘‘; or (v) a flexible work ar-
rangement plan’’ after ‘‘any other factor other 
than sex’’; and 
(C) by inserting ‘‘job-related’’ before ‘‘fac-
tor other than sex’’; and 
(2) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(5) In this subsection, the term ‘flexible work 
arrangement plan’ means a plan offered by an em-
ployer that an employee may opt into in which the 
employee agrees to certain scheduling benefits, in-
cluding— 
‘‘(A) flexible scheduling. 
‘‘(B) a telework program; or 
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‘‘(C) a compressed work schedule program 
that allows the employee to work the equivalent 
of full-time employment over a fewer number of 
days by increasing the number of daily hours 
worked.’’. 
SEC. 4. PAY ANALYSIS. 
Section 16 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 
(29 U.S.C. 216) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(f)(1) If an employer conducts a pay analysis audit 
and such audit reveals unlawful differentials in pay be-
tween equal jobs and such employer takes reasonable steps 
to address such differentials consistent with federal laws 
prohibiting pay discrimination, such employer shall not be 
liable for liquidated damages in an action brought against 
the employer for a violation of section 6(d) if such audit 
is conducted— 
‘‘(A) in good faith to investigate such dif-
ferentials; and 
‘‘(B) not earlier than the date that is 3 
years before the date on which the action is 
brought and not later than the date that is 1 
day before the action is brought. 
‘‘(2) An audit under this section and remedial 
action taken in response to the findings of such 
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audit may not be discoverable or admissible for any 
purpose in any claim against the employer. 
‘‘(3) An employer who has not completed an 
audit under this subsection shall not be subject to a 
negative or adverse inference as a result of not hav-
ing completed such audit.’’. 
SEC. 5. WAGE, SALARY, AND BENEFIT HISTORY; DISCUS-
SION OF WAGES. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Fair Labor Standards Act of 
1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.) is amended by inserting 
after section 7 the following new section: 
‘‘SEC. 8. PROVISIONS RELATING TO WAGE, SALARY, AND 
BENEFIT 
HISTORY 
AND 
DISCUSSION 
OF 
WAGES. 
‘‘(a) REQUIREMENTS AND PROHIBITIONS RELATING 
TO WAGE, SALARY, AND BENEFIT HISTORY.—It shall be 
an unlawful practice for an employer to— 
‘‘(1) rely on the wage history of a prospective 
employee in considering the prospective employee for 
employment, including requiring that a prospective 
employee’s prior wages satisfy minimum or max-
imum criteria as a condition of being considered for 
employment, except that an employer may rely on 
wage history if it is voluntarily provided by a pro-
spective employee; 
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‘‘(2) rely on the wage history of a prospective 
employee in determining the wages for such prospec-
tive employee, except that an employer may rely on 
wage history if it is voluntarily provided by a pro-
spective employee; 
‘‘(3) require a prospective employee to disclose 
the wage history of such prospective employee; or 
‘‘(4) discharge or in any other manner retaliate 
against any employee or prospective employee be-
cause the employee or prospective employee— 
‘‘(A) opposed any act or practice made un-
lawful by this section; or 
‘‘(B) took an action for which discrimina-
tion is forbidden under section 15(a)(3). 
‘‘(b) PROHIBITIONS RELATING TO DISCUSSION OF 
WAGES.—Subject to subsection (c), it shall be an unlawful 
practice for an employer to— 
‘‘(1) prohibit an employee from inquiring about, 
discussing, or disclosing the wages of the employee 
or another employee, if such employee has volun-
tarily disclosed the wages of such employee; 
‘‘(2) prohibit an employee from requesting from 
the employer an explanation of differentials in com-
pensation among employees; or 
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