Title: Workplace Advancement Act
Policy area: Labor and Employment

Summary:
Workplace Advancement Act
This bill amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to prohibit discharging or retaliating against any employee because such employee has inquired about, discussed, or disclosed comparative compensation information for the purpose of determining whether the employer is compensating an employee in a manner that provides equal pay for equal work.
The prohibition does not apply to instances in which an employee who has access to the wage information of other employees as a part of the employee's job functions discloses such wages to an individual who has no access to them, except in response to a charge or complaint or in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, hearing, or action with respect to prohibited sex discrimination, including an investigation conducted by the employer.
It is the sense of Congress that: (1) gender-based discrimination in wages or compensation violates existing law, and (2) Congress recommits itself to the principles of equal pay for equal work.

[Congressional Bills 115th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 345 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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115th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 345

 To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to strengthen equal pay 
                             requirements.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

             February 8 (legislative day, February 6), 2017

Mrs. Fischer (for herself, Mrs. Ernst, and Mrs. Capito) introduced the 
 following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 
                 Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to strengthen equal pay 
                             requirements.

    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 ``Workplace Advancement Act''.

SEC. 2. ENHANCED ENFORCEMENT OF EQUAL PAY ACT REQUIREMENTS.

    Section 15(a) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 
215(a)) is amended--
            (1) in paragraph (5), by striking the period and inserting 
        ``; or''; and
            (2) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(6) to discharge or in any other manner retaliate against 
        any employee because such employee has inquired about, 
        discussed, or disclosed comparative compensation information 
        for the purpose of determining whether the employer is 
        compensating an employee in a manner that provides equal pay 
        for equal work, except that this paragraph shall not apply to 
        instances in which an employee who has access to the wage 
        information of other employees as a part of such employee's job 
        functions discloses the wages of such other employees to an 
        individual who does not otherwise have access to such 
        information, unless such disclosure is in response to a charge 
        or complaint or in furtherance of an investigation, proceeding, 
        hearing, or action under section 6(d), including an 
        investigation conducted by the employer.
Nothing in paragraph (6) shall be construed to limit the rights of an 
employee provided under any other provision of law.''.

SEC. 3. SENSE OF CONGRESS.

    It is the sense of Congress that--
            (1) gender-based discrimination in wages or compensation 
        violates existing law; and
            (2) Congress recommits itself to the principles of equal 
        pay for equal work as enshrined in section 6(d) of the Fair 
        Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(d); commonly 
        referred to as the ``Equal Pay Act of 1963'') and title VII of 
        the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq.).
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