I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 2151 
To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to prohibit discrimination 
in the payment of wages on account of sex, race, or national origin, 
and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
APRIL 28, 2009 
Ms. NORTON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the 
Committee on Education and Labor 
A BILL 
To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to prohibit 
discrimination in the payment of wages on account of 
sex, race, or national origin, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Fair Pay Act of 2009’’. 
(b) REFERENCE.—Except as provided in section 8, 
whenever in this Act an amendment or repeal is expressed 
in terms of an amendment to, or repeal of, a section or 
other provision, the reference shall be considered to be 
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made to a section or other provision of the Fair Labor 
Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.). 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
(1) Wage rate differentials exist between equiv-
alent jobs segregated by sex, race, and national ori-
gin in Government employment and in industries en-
gaged in commerce or in the production of goods for 
commerce. 
(2) The existence of such wage rate differen-
tials— 
(A) depresses wages and living standards 
for employees necessary for their health and ef-
ficiency; 
(B) prevents the maximum utilization of 
the available labor resources; 
(C) tends to cause labor disputes, thereby 
burdening, affecting, and obstructing com-
merce; 
(D) burdens commerce and the free flow of 
goods in commerce; and 
(E) constitutes an unfair method of com-
petition. 
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(3) Discrimination in hiring and promotion has 
played a role in maintaining a segregated work 
force. 
(4) Many women and people of color work in 
occupations dominated by individuals of their same 
sex, race, and national origin. 
(5)(A) United States Census Bureau data 
shows that in 2007, women in the United States 
working full-time, year-round earned roughly 78 
cents for every dollar earned by a man working full- 
time, year-round. 
(B) A 2003 study by the General Accountability 
Office found that even when accounting for key fac-
tors generally known to influence earnings such as 
race, marital status, age and number of children as 
well as hours worked and time out of the workforce, 
a 20 percent gap in pay remains which cannot be ac-
counted for but may be partially explained by women 
make less who work in traditionally female domi-
nated careers as well as other discrimination in the 
workplace. 
(6) Section 6(d) of the Fair Labor Standards 
Act of 1938 prohibits discrimination in compensa-
tion for ‘‘equal work’’ on the basis of sex. 
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(7) Artificial barriers to the elimination of dis-
crimination in compensation based upon sex, race, 
and national origin continue to exist more than 4 
decades after the passage of section 6(d) of the Fair 
Labor Standards Act of 1938, the Equal Pay Act of 
1963, and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 
2000a et seq.). Elimination of such barriers would 
have positive effects, including— 
(A) providing a solution to problems in the 
economy created by discrimination through 
wage rate differentials; 
(B) substantially reducing the number of 
working women and people of color earning low 
wages, thereby reducing the dependence on pub-
lic assistance; and 
(C) promoting stable families by enabling 
working family members to earn a fair rate of 
pay. 
SEC. 3. EQUAL PAY FOR EQUIVALENT JOBS. 
(a) AMENDMENT.—Section 6 (29 U.S.C. 206) is 
amended by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(h)(1)(A) Except as provided in subparagraph (B), 
no employer having employees subject to any provision of 
this section shall discriminate, within any establishment 
in which such employees are employed, between employees 
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on the basis of sex, race, or national origin by paying 
wages to employees in such establishment in a job that 
is dominated by employees of a particular sex, race, or 
national origin at a rate less than the rate at which the 
employer pays wages to employees in such establishment 
in another job that is dominated by employees of the oppo-
site sex or of a different race or national origin, respec-
tively, for work on equivalent jobs. 
‘‘(B) Nothing in subparagraph (A) shall prohibit the 
payment of different wage rates to employees where such 
payment is made pursuant to— 
‘‘(i) a seniority system; 
‘‘(ii) a merit system; 
‘‘(iii) a system that measures earnings by quan-
tity or quality of production; or 
‘‘(iv) a differential based on a bona fide factor 
other than sex, race, or national origin, such as edu-
cation, training, or experience, except that this 
clause shall apply only if— 
‘‘(I) the employer demonstrates that— 
‘‘(aa) such factor— 
‘‘(AA) is job-related with respect 
to the position in question; or 
‘‘(BB) furthers a legitimate busi-
ness purpose, except that this item 
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shall not apply if the employee dem-
onstrates that an alternative employ-
ment practice exists that would serve 
the same business purpose without 
producing such differential and that 
the employer has refused to adopt 
such alternative practice; and 
‘‘(bb) such factor was actually applied 
and used reasonably in light of the as-
serted justification; and 
‘‘(II) upon the employer succeeding under 
subclause (I), the employee fails to demonstrate 
that the differential produced by the reliance of 
the employer on such factor is itself the result 
of discrimination on the basis of sex, race, or 
national origin by the employer. 
‘‘(C) The Equal Employment Opportunity Commis-
sion shall issue guidelines specifying criteria for deter-
mining whether a job is dominated by employees of a par-
ticular sex, race, or national origin for purposes of sub-
paragraph (B)(iv). Such guidelines shall not include a list 
of such jobs. 
‘‘(D) An employer who is paying a wage rate differen-
tial in violation of subparagraph (A) shall not, in order 
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to comply with the provisions of such subparagraph, re-
duce the wage rate of any employee. 
‘‘(2) No labor organization or its agents representing 
employees of an employer having employees subject to any 
provision of this section shall cause or attempt to cause 
such an employer to discriminate against an employee in 
violation of paragraph (1)(A). 
‘‘(3) For purposes of administration and enforcement 
of this subsection, any amounts owing to any employee 
that have been withheld in violation of paragraph (1)(A) 
shall be deemed to be unpaid minimum wages or unpaid 
overtime compensation under this section or section 7. 
‘‘(4) In this subsection: 
‘‘(A) The term ‘labor organization’ means any 
organization of any kind, or any agency or employee 
representation committee or plan, in which employ-
ees participate and that exists for the purpose, in 
whole or in part, of dealing with employers con-
cerning grievances, labor disputes, wages, rates of 
pay, hours of employment, or conditions of work. 
‘‘(B) The term ‘equivalent jobs’ means jobs that 
may be dissimilar, but whose requirements are 
equivalent, when viewed as a composite of skills, ef-
fort, responsibility, and working conditions.’’. 
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(b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 13(a) (29 
U.S.C. 213(a)) is amended in the matter before paragraph 
(1) by striking ‘‘section 6(d)’’ and inserting ‘‘sections 6 
(d) and (h)’’. 
SEC. 4. PROHIBITED ACTS. 
Section 15(a) (29 U.S.C. 215(a)) is amended— 
(1) by striking the period at the end of para-
graph (5) and inserting a semicolon; and 
(2) by adding after paragraph (5) the following: 
‘‘(6) to discriminate against any individual be-
cause such individual has opposed any act or prac-
tice made unlawful by section 6(h) or because such 
individual made a charge, testified, assisted, or par-
ticipated in any manner in an investigation, pro-
ceeding, or hearing to enforce section 6(h); or 
‘‘(7) to discharge or in any other manner dis-
criminate against, coerce, intimidate, threaten, or 
interfere with any employee or any other person be-
cause the employee inquired about, disclosed, com-
pared, or otherwise discussed the employee’s wages 
or the wages of any other employee, or because the 
employee exercised, enjoyed, aided, or encouraged 
any other person to exercise or enjoy any right 
granted or protected by section 6(h).’’. 
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SEC. 5. REMEDIES. 
(a) ENHANCED
PENALTIES.—Section 16(b) (29 
U.S.C. 216(b)) is amended— 
(1) by inserting after the first sentence the fol-
lowing: ‘‘Any employer who violates subsection (d) or 
(h) of section 6 shall additionally be liable for such 
compensatory or punitive damages as may be appro-
priate, except that the United States shall not be lia-
ble for punitive damages.’’; 
(2) in the sentence beginning ‘‘An action to’’, 
by striking ‘‘either of the preceding sentences’’ and 
inserting ‘‘any of the preceding sentences of this 
subsection’’; 
(3) in the sentence beginning ‘‘No employees’’, 
by striking ‘‘No employees’’ and inserting ‘‘Except 
with respect to class actions brought under sub-
section (f), no employee’’; 
(4) in the sentence beginning ‘‘The court in’’, 
by striking ‘‘in such action’’ and inserting ‘‘in any 
action brought to recover the liability prescribed in 
any of the preceding sentences of this subsection’’; 
and 
(5) by striking ‘‘section 15(a)(3)’’ each place it 
occurs and inserting ‘‘paragraphs (3), (6), and (7) 
of section 15(a)’’. 
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