Pay Equity for All Act of 2021
Bill: H.R.2242 | Sponsor: Del. Norton, Eleanor Holmes (D-DC)
Policy area: Labor and Employment

Summary:
Pay Equity for All Act of 2021
This bill generally prohibits employers from relying on the wage history of prospective employees when considering them for employment or determining their wages.
However, an employer may rely on wage history voluntarily offered by a prospective employee to support a higher wage than was initially offered. An employer also may seek to confirm voluntarily supplied wage history with a prospective employee's current or former employer.
An employer may not retaliate against an employee or prospective employee who opposes a practice made unlawful by this bill.
The bill provides for enforcement of these prohibitions through civil penalties and other remedies.

To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to prohibit certain 
   practices by employers relating to restrictions on discussion of 
 employees' and prospective employees' salary and benefit history, and 
                          for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Pay Equity for All Act of 2021''.

SEC. 2. PROHIBITIONS RELATING TO PROSPECTIVE EMPLOYEES' 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 maximum criteria as a condition of being considered 
        for employment;
            ``(2) rely on the wage history of a prospective employee in 
        determining the wages for such prospective employee, 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 with an offer of compensation to the 
        prospective employee, to support a wage higher than the wage 
        offered by the employer;
            ``(3) seek from a prospective employee or any current or 
        former employer the wage history of the prospective employee, 
        except that an employer may seek to confirm prior wage 
        information only after an offer of employment with compensation 
        has been made to the prospective employee and the prospective 
        employee responds to the offer by providing prior wage 
        information to support a wage higher than that offered by the 
        employer; or
            ``(4) discharge or in any other manner retaliate against 
        any employee or prospective employee because the employee or 
        prospective employee--
                    ``(A) opposed any act or practice made unlawful by 
                this section; or
                    ``(B) took an action for which discrimination is 
                forbidden under section 15(a)(3).
    ``(b) Definition.--In this section, the term `wage history' means 
the wages paid to the prospective employee by the prospective 
employee's current employer or previous 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 section 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 attorneys' fees, and shall be subject to 
        such injunctive relief as may be appropriate.
    ``(2) An action to recover the liability described in paragraph 
(1)(B) may be maintained against any employer (including a public 
agency) in any Federal or State court of competent jurisdiction by any 
one or more employees or prospective employees for and on behalf of--
            ``(A) the employees or prospective employees; and
            ``(B) other employees or prospective employees similarly 
        situated.''.
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