I
106TH CONGRESS
1ST SESSION
H. R. 1271
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
MARCH 24, 1999
Ms. NORTON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the
Committee on Education and the Workforce
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 AND REFERENCE.
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the
‘‘Fair Pay Act of 1999’’.
(b) REFERENCE.—Whenever in this Act an amend-
ment or repeal is expressed in terms of an amendment
to, or repeal of, a section or other provision, the reference
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shall be considered to be made to a section or other provi-
sion of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
The Congress finds the following:
(1) Wage differentials exist between equivalent
jobs segregated by sex, race, and national origin in
Government employment and in industries engaged
in commerce or in the production of goods for com-
merce:
(2) The existence of such wage differentials—
(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.
(3) Discrimination in hiring and promotion has
played a role in maintaining a segregated work
force.
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(4) Many women and people of color work in
occupations dominated by individuals of their same
sex, race, and national origin.
(5)(A) A General Accounting Office analysis of
wages in the civil service of the State of Washington
found that in 1985 of the 44 jobs studied that paid
less than the average of all equivalent jobs, approxi-
mately 39 percent were female-dominated and ap-
proximately 16 percent were male dominated.
(B) A study of wages in Minnesota using 1990
Decennial Census data found that 75 percent of the
wage differential between white and non-white work-
ers was unexplained and may be a result of discrimi-
nation.
(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.
(7) Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
prohibits discrimination in compensation because of
race, color, religion, national origin, and sex. The
United States Supreme Court, in its decision in
County of Washington v. Gunther, 452 U.S. 161
(1981), held that title VII’s prohibition against dis-
crimination in compensation also applies to jobs
which do not constitute ‘‘equal work’’ as defined in
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section 6(d) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of
1938. Decisions of lower courts, however, have dem-
onstrated that further clarification of existing legis-
lation is necessary in order effectively to carry out
the intent of Congress to implement the Supreme
Court’s holding in its Gunther decision.
(8) Artificial barriers to the elimination of dis-
crimination in compensation based upon sex, race,
and national origin continue to exist more than 3
decades after the passage of section 6(d) of the Fair
Labor Standards Act of 1938 and the Civil Rights
Act of 1964. Elimination of such barriers would
have positive effects, including—
(A) providing a solution to problems in the
economy created by discriminating wage dif-
ferentials;
(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.
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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:
‘‘(g)(1)(A) No employer having employees subject to
any provisions of this section shall discriminate between
its employees on the basis of sex, race, or national origin
by paying wages to employees or groups of employees at
a rate less than the rate at which the employer pays wages
to employees or groups of employees of the opposite sex
or different race or national origin for work in equivalent
jobs, except where such payment is made pursuant to a
seniority system, a merit system, or a system which meas-
ures earnings by quantity or quality of production.
‘‘(B) An employer who is paying a wage rate differen-
tial in violation of subparagraph (A) shall not, in order
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
which have been withheld in violation of paragraph (1)(A)
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shall be deemed to be unpaid minimum wages or unpaid
overtime compensation under this section or section 7.
‘‘(4) As used 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 which 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.’’.
(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 6(g)’’.
SEC. 4. PROHIBITED ACTS.
Section 15(a) (29 U.S.C. 215(a)) is amended by
striking the period at the end of paragraph (5) and insert-
ing a semicolon and by adding after paragraph (5) the
following:
‘‘(6) to discriminate against any individual be-
cause such individual has opposed any act or prac-
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tice made unlawful by section 6(g) or because such
individual made a charge, testified, assisted, or par-
ticipated in any manner in an investigation, pro-
ceeding, or hearing under section 6(g); 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(g).’’.
SEC. 5. REMEDIES.
Section 16 (29 U.S.C. 216) is amended—
(1) by adding at the end the following:
‘‘(f) In any action brought under this section for vio-
lation of section 6(g), the court shall, in addition to any
other remedies awarded to the prevailing plaintiff or plain-
tiffs, allow expert fees as part of the costs. Any such action
may be maintained as a class action as provided by the
Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.’’;
(2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘section
15(a)(3)’’ each place it occurs and inserting ‘‘para-
graphs (3), (6), and (7) of section 15(a)’’; and
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(3) in the fourth sentence of subsection (b), by
striking ‘‘No employees’’ and inserting ‘‘Except with
respect to class actions brought under subsection (f),
no employees’’.
SEC. 6. RECORDS.
Section 11(c) (29 U.S.C. 211(c)) is amended by in-
serting ‘‘(1)’’ after ‘‘(c)’’ and by adding at the end the
following:
‘‘(2)(A) Every employer subject to section 6(g) shall
preserve records which document and support the method,
system, calculations, and other bases used by the employer
in establishing, adjusting, and determining the wages paid
to the employees of the employer. Every employer subject
to section 6(g) shall preserve such records for such periods
of time and shall make such reports therefrom to the
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission as shall be
prescribed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Com-
mission by regulation or order as necessary or appropriate
for the enforcement of the provisions of section 6(g) or
any regulations promulgated thereunder.
‘‘(B) Every employer subject to section 6(g) shall file
annually with the Equal Employment Opportunity Com-
mission a report signed by its president, treasurer, or cor-
responding principal officer containing information in
such detail as may be necessary accurately to disclose the
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wage or salary rates paid to each classification, position,
job title, or other wage or salary group of employees em-
ployed by the employer, as well as the sex, race, and na-
tional origin of employees at each wage or salary level in
each classification, position, job title, or other wage or sal-
ary group. The report shall not contain the name of any
individual employee.
‘‘(C) In order to carry out the purposes of this Act,
the contents of the reports filed with the Equal Employ-
ment Opportunity Commission pursuant to subparagraph
(B) shall be public information, and the Equal Employ-
ment Opportunity Commission may publish any informa-
tion and data which it obtains pursuant to the provisions
of subparagraph (B). The Equal Employment Oppor-
tunity Commission may use the information and data for
statistical and research purposes, and compile and publish
such studies, analyses, reports, and surveys based thereon
as it may deem appropriate.
‘‘(D) In order to carry out the purposes of this Act
the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission shall by
regulation make reasonable provision for the inspection
and examination by any person of the information and
data contained in any report filed with it pursuant to sub-
paragraph (B).