served or is planning to serve on an industry 
committee; or 
‘‘(B) has inquired about, discussed, or dis-
closed the wages of the employee or another 
employee;’’; 
(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)(B) 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.’’. 
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(c) ENHANCED PENALTIES.—Section 16(b) of the 
Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 216(b)) is 
amended— 
(1) by inserting after the first sentence the fol-
lowing: ‘‘Any employer who violates section 6(d) 
shall additionally be liable for such compensatory 
damages, or, where the employee demonstrates that 
the employer acted with malice or reckless indiffer-
ence, punitive damages as may be appropriate, ex-
cept that the United States shall not be liable 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 
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 
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(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’’. 
(d) 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, 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)’’; 
(3) in the third sentence, by striking ‘‘the first 
sentence’’ and inserting ‘‘the first or second sen-
tence’’; and 
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(4) in the last sentence— 
(A) by striking ‘‘commenced in the case’’ 
and inserting ‘‘commenced— 
‘‘(1) in the case’’; 
(B) by striking the period and inserting ‘‘; 
or’’; and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(2) in the case of a class action brought to en-
force section 6(d), on the date on which the indi-
vidual becomes a party plaintiff to the class action.’’. 
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 11, shall provide training to Commission employees 
and affected individuals and entities on matters involving 
discrimination in the payment of wages. 
SEC. 5. NEGOTIATION SKILLS TRAINING FOR GIRLS AND 
WOMEN. 
(a) 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. 
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(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 girls and women. 
(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. 
(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 that empowers 
girls and women. The training provided through the 
program shall help girls and women strengthen their 
negotiation skills to allow the girls and women to ob-
tain higher salaries and rates of compensation that 
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are equal to those paid to similarly situated male 
employees. 
(b) 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 
(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. 
(c) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 
of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Sec-
retary of Labor and the Secretary of Education shall pre-
pare and submit to Congress a report describing the ac-
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tivities conducted under this section and evaluating the ef-
fectiveness of such activities in achieving the purposes of 
this Act. 
SEC. 6. 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 
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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. 7. ESTABLISHMENT OF THE NATIONAL AWARD FOR 
PAY EQUITY IN THE WORKPLACE. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—There is established the Secretary 
of Labor’s National Award for Pay Equity in the Work-
place, which shall be awarded, as appropriate, to encour-
age proactive efforts to comply with section 6(d) of the 
Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(d)). 
(b) CRITERIA FOR QUALIFICATION.—The Secretary 
of Labor shall set criteria for receipt of the award, includ-
ing a requirement that an employer has made substantial 
effort to eliminate pay disparities between men and 
women, and deserves special recognition as a consequence 
of such effort. The Secretary shall establish procedures for 
the application and presentation of the award. 
(c) BUSINESS.—In this section, the term ‘‘employer’’ 
includes— 
(1)(A) a corporation, including a nonprofit cor-
poration; 
(B) a partnership; 
(C) a professional association; 
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(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. COLLECTION OF PAY INFORMATION BY THE EQUAL 
EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION. 
Section 709 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 
U.S.C. 2000e–8) is amended by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(f)(1) Not later than 18 months after the date of 
enactment of this subsection, the Commission shall issue 
regulations to provide for the collection from employers 
of compensation data and other employment-related data 
(including hiring, termination, and promotion data) 
disaggregated by the sex, race, and national origin of em-
ployees. 
‘‘(2) In carrying out paragraph (1), the Commission 
shall have as its primary consideration the most effective 
and efficient means for enhancing the enforcement of Fed-
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eral laws prohibiting pay discrimination. For this purpose, 
the Commission shall consider factors including the impo-
sition of burdens on employers, the frequency of required 
reports (including which employers should be required to 
prepare reports), appropriate protections for maintaining 
data confidentiality, and the most effective format for re-
ports containing such data.’’. 
SEC. 9. REINSTATEMENT OF PAY EQUITY PROGRAMS AND 
PAY EQUITY DATA COLLECTION. 
(a) BUREAU OF LABOR STATISTICS DATA COLLEC-
TION.—The Commissioner of Labor Statistics shall con-
tinue to collect data on women workers in the Current 
Employment Statistics survey. 
(b) OFFICE OF FEDERAL CONTRACT COMPLIANCE 
PROGRAMS INITIATIVES.—The Director of the Office of 
Federal Contract Compliance Programs shall ensure that 
employees of the Office— 
(1)(A) shall use the full range of investigatory 
tools at the Office’s disposal, including pay grade 
methodology; 
(B) in considering evidence of possible com-
pensation discrimination— 
(i) shall not limit its consideration to a 
small number of types of evidence; and 
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(ii) shall not limit its evaluation of the evi-
dence to a small number of methods of evalu-
ating the evidence; and 
(C) shall not require a multiple regression anal-
ysis or anecdotal evidence for a compensation dis-
crimination case; 
(2) for purposes of its investigative, compliance, 
and enforcement activities, shall define ‘‘similarly 
situated employees’’ in a way that is consistent with 
and not more stringent than the definition provided 
in item 1 of subsection A of section 10–III of the 
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Com-
pliance Manual (2000), and shall consider only fac-
tors that the Office’s investigation reveals were used 
in making compensation decisions; and 
(3) shall implement a survey to collect com-
pensation data and other employment-related data 
(including hiring, termination, and promotion data) 
and designate not less than half of all nonconstruc-
tion contractor establishments each year to prepare 
and file such survey, and shall review and utilize the 
responses to such survey to identify contractor es-
tablishments for further evaluation and for other en-
forcement purposes as appropriate. 
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(c) DEPARTMENT
OF LABOR DISTRIBUTION
OF 
WAGE DISCRIMINATION INFORMATION.—The Secretary of 
Labor shall make readily available (in print, on the De-
partment of Labor website, and through any other forum 
that the Department may use to distribute compensation 
discrimination information), accurate information on com-
pensation discrimination, including statistics, explanations 
of employee rights, historical analyses of such discrimina-
tion, instructions for employers on compliance, and any 
other information that will assist the public in under-
standing and addressing such discrimination. 
SEC. 10. 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, including requiring that a prospective 
employee’s prior wages satisfy minimum or max-
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‘‘(B) took an action for which discrimina-
tion is forbidden under section 15(3). 
‘‘(b) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 
‘‘(1) 
WAGES; 
COMPENSATION.—The 
term 
‘wages’ or ‘compensation’ has the meaning given the 
term ‘wages’ in section 6(d). 
‘‘(2) WAGE HISTORY.—The term ‘wage history’ 
means the wages paid to the prospective employee by 
the prospective employee’s current employer or pre-
vious employer.’’. 
(b) PENALTIES.—Section 16 of such Act (29 U.S.C. 
216) is amended by adding at the end the following new 
subsection: 
‘‘(f)(1) Any person who violates the provisions of sec-
tion 8 shall— 
‘‘(A) be subject to a civil penalty of $5,000 for 
a first offense, increased by an additional $1,000 for 
each subsequent offense, not to exceed $10,000; and 
‘‘(B) be liable to each employee or prospective 
employee who was the subject of the violation for 
special damages not to exceed $10,000 plus attor-
neys’ fees, and shall be subject to such injunctive re-
lief as may be appropriate. 
‘‘(2) An action to recover the liability described in 
paragraph (1)(B) may be maintained against any em-
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ployer (including a public agency) in any Federal or State 
court of competent jurisdiction by any one or more em-
ployees or prospective employees for and on behalf of— 
‘‘(A) the employees or prospective employees; 
and 
‘‘(B) other employees or prospective employees 
similarly situated.’’. 
SEC. 11. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS. 
(a) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 
are authorized to be appropriated $15,000,000 to carry 
out this Act. 
(b) PROHIBITION ON EARMARKS.—None of the funds 
appropriated pursuant to subsection (a) for purposes of 
the grant program in section 5 of this Act may be used 
for a congressional earmark as defined in clause 9(e) of 
rule XXI of the Rules of the House of Representatives. 
SEC. 12. SMALL BUSINESS ASSISTANCE. 
(a) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This Act and the amend-
ments made by this Act shall take effect on the date that 
is 6 months after the date of enactment of this Act. 
(b) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE MATERIALS.—The Sec-
retary of Labor and the Commissioner of the Equal Em-
ployment Opportunity Commission shall jointly develop 
technical assistance material to assist small businesses in 
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complying with the requirements of this Act and the 
amendments made by this Act. 
(c) SMALL BUSINESSES.—A small business shall be 
exempt from the provisions of this Act, and the amend-
ments made by this Act, to the same extent that such busi-
ness is exempt from the requirements of the Fair Labor 
Standards Act of 1938 pursuant to clauses (i) and (ii) 
of 
section 
3(s)(1)(A) 
of 
such 
Act 
(29 
U.S.C. 
203(s)(1)(A)). 
SEC. 13. RULE OF CONSTRUCTION. 
Nothing in this Act, or in any amendments made by 
this Act, shall affect the obligation of employers and em-
ployees to fully comply with all applicable immigration 
laws, including any penalties, fines, or other sanctions. 
Æ 
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