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-
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’’.
(c) ACTION BY 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,’’ before ‘‘and the agree-
ment’’; 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’’;
(3) in the third sentence, by striking ‘‘the first
sentence’’ and inserting ‘‘the first or second sen-
tence’’; and
(4) in the last sentence, by inserting after ‘‘in
the complaint’’ the following: ‘‘or becomes a party
plaintiff in a class action brought to enforce section
6(d)’’.
SEC. 4. TRAINING.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs,
subject to the availability of funds appropriated under sec-
tion 9(b), shall provide training to Commission employees
and affected individuals and entities on matters involving
discrimination in the payment of wages.
SEC. 5. RESEARCH, EDUCATION, AND OUTREACH.
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—
(1) conducting and promoting research to de-
velop the means to correct expeditiously the condi-
tions leading to the pay disparities;
(2) publishing and otherwise making available
to employers, labor organizations, professional asso-
ciations, educational institutions, the media, and the
general public the findings resulting from studies
and other materials, relating to eliminating the pay
disparities;
(3) sponsoring and assisting State and commu-
nity informational and educational programs;
(4) providing information to employers, labor
organizations, professional associations, and other
interested persons on the means of eliminating the
pay disparities;
(5) recognizing and promoting the achievements
of employers, labor organizations, and professional
associations that have worked to eliminate the pay
disparities; and
(6) convening a national summit to discuss, and
consider approaches for rectifying, the pay dispari-
ties.
SEC. 6. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND EMPLOYER RECOGNI-
TION PROGRAM.
(a) GUIDELINES.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Labor shall
develop guidelines to enable employers to evaluate
job categories based on objective criteria such as
educational requirements, skill requirements, inde-
pendence, working conditions, and responsibility, in-
cluding decisionmaking responsibility and de facto
supervisory responsibility.
(2) USE.—The guidelines developed under
paragraph (1) shall be designed to enable employers
voluntarily to compare wages paid for different jobs
to determine if the pay scales involved adequately
and fairly reflect the educational requirements, skill
requirements, independence, working conditions, and
responsibility for each such job with the goal of
eliminating unfair pay disparities between occupa-
tions traditionally dominated by men or women.
(3) PUBLICATION.—The guidelines shall be de-
veloped under paragraph (1) and published in the
Federal Register not later than 180 days after the
date of enactment of this Act.
(b) EMPLOYER RECOGNITION.—
(1) PURPOSE.—It is the purpose of this sub-
section to emphasize the importance of, encourage
the improvement of, and recognize the excellence of
employer efforts to pay wages to women that reflect
the real value of the contributions of such women to
the workplace.
(2) IN GENERAL.—To carry out the purpose of
this subsection, the Secretary of Labor shall estab-
lish a program under which the Secretary shall pro-
vide for the recognition of employers who, pursuant
to a voluntary job evaluation conducted by the em-
ployer, adjust their wage scales (such adjustments
shall not include the lowering of wages paid to men)
using the guidelines developed under subsection (a)
to ensure that women are paid fairly in comparison
to men.
(3) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary of
Labor may provide technical assistance to assist an
employer in carrying out an evaluation under para-
graph (2).
(c) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary of Labor shall
promulgate such rules and regulations as may be nec-
essary to carry out this section.
SEC. 7. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NATIONAL AWARD FOR
PAY EQUITY IN THE WORKPLACE.
(a) IN GENERAL.—There is established the Robert
Reich National Award for Pay Equity in the Workplace,
which shall be evidenced by a medal bearing the inscrip-
tion ‘‘Robert Reich National Award for Pay Equity in the
Workplace’’. The medal shall be of such design and mate-
rials, and bear such additional inscriptions, as the Sec-
retary of Labor may prescribe.
(b) CRITERIA FOR QUALIFICATION.—To qualify to
receive an award under this section a business shall—
(1) submit a written application to the Sec-
retary of Labor, at such time, in such manner, and
containing such information as the Secretary may
require, including at a minimum information that
demonstrates that the business has made substantial
effort to eliminate pay disparities between men and
women, and deserves special recognition as a con-
sequence; and
(2) meet such additional requirements and
specifications as the Secretary of Labor determines
to be appropriate.
(c) MAKING AND PRESENTATION OF AWARD.—
(1) AWARD.—After receiving recommendations
from the Secretary of Labor, the President or the
designated representative of the President shall an-
nually present the award described in subsection (a)
to businesses that meet the qualifications described
in subsection (b).
(2) PRESENTATION.—The President or the des-
ignated representative of the President shall present
the award under this section with such ceremonies
as the President or the designated representative of
the President may determine to be appropriate.
(d) BUSINESS.—In this section, the term ‘‘business’’
includes—
(1)(A) a corporation, including a nonprofit cor-
poration;
(B) a partnership;
(C) a professional association;
(D) a labor organization; and
(E) a business entity similar to an entity de-
scribed in any of subparagraphs (A) through (D);
(2) an entity carrying out an education referral
program, a training program, such as an apprentice-
ship or management training program, or a similar
program; and
(3) an entity carrying out a joint program,
formed by a combination of any entities described in
paragraph (1) or (2).
SEC. 8. SENSE OF THE SENATE REGARDING INCREASED IN-
FORMATION ON PAY DISPARITIES.
It is the sense of the Senate that the President should
take appropriate steps to increase the amount of informa-
tion available with respect to wage disparities. In so doing,
the President, or the designees of the President, should
consider ways of collecting this data that—
(1) maximize the utility of the information for
both the government and the public; while
(2) protecting individuals’ privacy and minimiz-
ing the burdens on reporting entities.
SEC. 9. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.
There are authorized to be appropriated such sums
as may be necessary to carry out this Act.
Æ