I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. R. 17 
To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to provide more effective 
remedies to victims of discrimination in the payment of wages on the 
basis of sex, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MARCH 25, 2025 
Ms. DELAURO (for herself, Mr. FIGURES, Ms. SEWELL, Ms. ANSARI, Mr. 
STANTON, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. THOMPSON of California, Mr. BERA, Ms. 
MATSUI, Mr. GARAMENDI, Mr. HARDER of California, Mr. DESAULNIER, 
Ms. PELOSI, Ms. SIMON, Mr. GRAY, Mr. SWALWELL, Mr. MULLIN, Mr. 
LICCARDO, Mr. KHANNA, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. COSTA, Mr. 
CARBAJAL, Mr. RUIZ, Ms. BROWNLEY, Mr. WHITESIDES, Ms. CHU, Ms. 
RIVAS, Ms. FRIEDMAN, Mr. CISNEROS, Mr. SHERMAN, Mr. AGUILAR, Mr. 
GOMEZ, Mrs. TORRES of California, Mr. LIEU, Ms. KAMLAGER-DOVE, 
Ms. SA´NCHEZ, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. GARCIA of California, Ms. WATERS, Ms. 
BARRAGA´N, Mr. TRAN, Mr. CORREA, Mr. MIN, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. PETERS, 
Ms. JACOBS, Mr. VARGAS, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. NEGUSE, Mr. CROW, Ms. 
PETTERSEN, Mr. LARSON of Connecticut, Mr. COURTNEY, Mr. HIMES, 
Mrs. HAYES, Ms. NORTON, Ms. MCBRIDE, Mr. SOTO, Mr. FROST, Ms. 
CASTOR of Florida, Mrs. CHERFILUS-MCCORMICK, Ms. LOIS FRANKEL of 
Florida, Mr. MOSKOWITZ, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Ms. WASSERMAN 
SCHULTZ, Mr. BISHOP, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. WILLIAMS of 
Georgia, Mrs. MCBATH, Mr. DAVID SCOTT of Georgia, Mr. CASE, Ms. 
TOKUDA, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Ms. KELLY of Illinois, Mrs. RAMIREZ, 
Mr. GARCI´A of Illinois, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. CASTEN, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, 
Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SCHNEIDER, Mr. FOS-
TER, Ms. BUDZINSKI, Ms. UNDERWOOD, Mr. SORENSEN, Mr. MRVAN, 
Mr. CARSON, Ms. DAVIDS of Kansas, Mr. MCGARVEY, Mr. CARTER of 
Louisiana, Mr. FIELDS, Mr. NEAL, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mrs. TRAHAN, Mr. 
AUCHINCLOSS, Ms. CLARK
of Massachusetts, Mr. MOULTON, Ms. 
PRESSLEY, Mr. LYNCH, Mr. KEATING, Mr. OLSZEWSKI, Ms. ELFRETH, 
Mr. IVEY, Mr. HOYER, Mrs. MCCLAIN DELANEY, Mr. MFUME, Mr. 
RASKIN, Ms. PINGREE, Mr. GOLDEN of Maine, Ms. SCHOLTEN, Mrs. 
DINGELL, Ms. MCDONALD RIVET, Ms. STEVENS, Ms. TLAIB, Mr. 
THANEDAR, Ms. CRAIG, Ms. MORRISON, Ms. MCCOLLUM, Ms. OMAR, Mr. 
BELL, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi, Mr. DAVIS of North 
Carolina, Ms. ROSS, Mrs. FOUSHEE, Ms. ADAMS, Mr. PAPPAS, Ms. 
GOODLANDER, Mr. NORCROSS, Mr. CONAWAY, Mr. GOTTHEIMER, Mr. 
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PALLONE, Mr. MENENDEZ, Ms. POU, Mrs. MCIVER, Ms. SHERRILL, Mrs. 
WATSON
COLEMAN, Ms. STANSBURY, Mr. VASQUEZ, Ms. LEGER 
FERNANDEZ, Ms. TITUS, Ms. LEE of Nevada, Mr. HORSFORD, Mr. 
SUOZZI, Ms. GILLEN, Mr. MEEKS, Ms. MENG, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, Mr. 
JEFFRIES, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. GOLDMAN of New York, Mr. 
NADLER, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Mr. TORRES of New 
York, Mr. LATIMER, Mr. RYAN, Mr. RILEY of New York, Mr. TONKO, 
Mr. MANNION, Mr. MORELLE, Mr. KENNEDY of New York, Mr. 
LANDSMAN, Mrs. BEATTY, Ms. KAPTUR, Ms. BROWN, Mrs. SYKES, Ms. 
BONAMICI, Ms. DEXTER, Ms. HOYLE of Oregon, Ms. BYNUM, Ms. SALI-
NAS, Mr. FITZPATRICK, Mr. BOYLE of Pennsylvania, Mr. EVANS of Penn-
sylvania, Ms. DEAN of Pennsylvania, Ms. SCANLON, Ms. HOULAHAN, Ms. 
LEE of Pennsylvania, Mr. DELUZIO, Mr. HERNA´NDEZ, Mr. AMO, Mr. 
MAGAZINER, Mr. CLYBURN, Mr. COHEN, Mrs. FLETCHER, Mr. GREEN 
of Texas, Ms. ESCOBAR, Mr. CASTRO of Texas, Mr. CUELLAR, Ms. GAR-
CIA of Texas, Ms. CROCKETT, Ms. JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. VEASEY, Mr. 
VICENTE GONZALEZ of Texas, Mr. CASAR, Mr. DOGGETT, Mr. SCOTT of 
Virginia, 
Ms. 
MCCLELLAN, 
Mr. 
VINDMAN, 
Mr. 
BEYER, 
Mr. 
SUBRAMANYAM, Mr. CONNOLLY, Ms. PLASKETT, Ms. BALINT, Ms. 
DELBENE, Mr. LARSEN of Washington, Ms. PEREZ, Ms. RANDALL, Ms. 
JAYAPAL, Ms. SCHRIER, Mr. SMITH of Washington, Ms. STRICKLAND, 
Mr. POCAN, and Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin) introduced the following bill; 
which was referred to the Committee on Education and Workforce, and 
in addition to the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, for 
a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for 
consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the com-
mittee concerned 
A BILL 
To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to provide 
more effective remedies to victims of discrimination in 
the payment of wages on the basis of sex, 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. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Paycheck Fairness 
Act’’. 
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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 adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(B) The bona fide factor defense described in sub-
paragraph (A)(iv) shall apply only if the employer dem-
onstrates that such factor (i) is not based upon or derived 
from a sex-based differential in compensation; (ii) is job- 
related with respect to the position in question; (iii) is con-
sistent with business necessity; and (iv) accounts for the 
entire differential in compensation at issue. Such defense 
shall not apply where the employee demonstrates that an 
alternative employment practice exists that would serve 
the same business purpose without producing such dif-
ferential and that the employer has refused to adopt such 
alternative practice. 
‘‘(C) For purposes of subparagraph (A), employees 
shall be deemed to work in the same establishment if the 
employees work for the same employer at workplaces lo-
cated in the same county or similar political subdivision 
of a State. The preceding sentence shall not be construed 
as limiting broader applications of the term ‘establish-
ment’ consistent with rules prescribed or guidance issued 
by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.’’. 
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(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 
with the employer why the wages of the em-
ployee involved are set at a certain rate or sal-
ary);’’; 
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SEC. 9. PROHIBITIONS RELATING TO PROSPECTIVE EM-
PLOYEES’ SALARY AND BENEFIT HISTORY. 
(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. REQUIREMENTS AND PROHIBITIONS RELATING TO 
WAGE, SALARY, AND BENEFIT HISTORY. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—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 in a position as an employee who in any 
workweek is engaged in commerce or in the produc-
tion of goods for commerce, or is employed in an en-
terprise engaged in commerce or in the production 
of goods for commerce, including requiring that a 
prospective employee’s prior wages satisfy minimum 
or maximum criteria as a condition of being consid-
ered for such employment; 
‘‘(2) rely on the wage history of a prospective 
employee in determining the wages for such prospec-
tive employee for a position described in paragraph 
(1) of the employer, except that an employer may 
rely on wage history if it is voluntarily provided by 
a prospective employee, after the employer makes an 
offer of employment in such a position with an offer 
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