126th Morrison Congress

2nd Session

H.R. 126-051

Title of the Bill: Paycheck Fairness Act

Main Author(s): Rep. Hideaki Nakayama, Emily Chang, Anna Heath

Co-Sponsor(s): Sen. Joseph Chou

HOUSE FLOOR ACTION on 12/12/2017 passed by 10-6-6 vote

BE IT ENACTED BY THE MORRISON CONGRESS

1 SECTION 1: Findings
2 Congress makes the following findings:
3 1) Despite the enactment of the Equal Pay Act of 1963, many women still earn
4 less than men. The difference exists in both private and governmental
5 sectors. (II)
6 2) Today, women who work full time are paid 20% less on average compared to
7 men, totaling in a wage gap of approximately $10,500 per year. The gap
8 exists in almost every state, regardless of its characteristics (i.e. geography,
9 occupation, education, work patterns, etc.). (I)
10 3) Race also comes to play in the bias: an estimation shows that Asian women
11 are paid 15% less, White women are paid 25% less, Black women are paid
12 37% less, Latinas are paid 46% less, some ethnic subgroups fare worse. (I)
13 4) This crisis leads to overall struggle for women in a workspace (i.e. unfair
14 competition, unorderly and unfair marketing, labor disputes burdening,
15 obstructing commerce, prevents the optimum potential of the general
16 economy, opress the family of single-mother household, undermine womens
17 retirement security) (II)
18 5) Only 24% of CEOs in the US are women and earn only 74.5% as much as
19 male CEOs. (V)
20
21 SECTION 2: Purpose
22 The purpose of this bill is to amend the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and the Fair Labor
23 Standards Act of 1938 to include additional protections that would help close the
24 gender wage gap in the U.S and attempt to eliminate any loopholes in the Equal
25 Pay Act.
26
27 SECTION 3: General Provisions
28 Amend the Standards Act of 1938 and the Equal Pay Act of 1963 to ensure the
29 gender is not a factor when it comes to paying an employee:
30
31 (1) Survey multinational corporations and the salaries given to the employees of
 32 those corporations to document the income gaps between the female and male
33 employees by Department of Labor.
34 (2) Update work establishment definition: area of search for salary differences
35 may be broadened to any jobs similar to those compared in any county or
36 political subdivision for company that may have multiple operations in an area.
37 (3) Additional clarification of factors other than sex defense. (i.e. education,
38 training, or experience) Factors listed will be also taken into account for
39 employees defense in any claim against wage difference, and aid in closing
40 loopholes in the current Equal Pay Act
41 (4) Limiting wage history as a factor in the hiring process: discrimination will not
42 follow on to future jobs for women and people of color
43 (5) Protection of employees during pay discussion: no punishment for employees
44 sharing wage information with coworkers, thus having a better opportunity to
45 learn about their condition of wage disparities
46 (6) Improving the current Equal Pay Act remedies: stop pay discrimination before
47 it happens. Better and tougher remedies to those following and receiving the
48 Equal Pay Act benefits
49 (7) Allow class action claims
50 (8) Reinstatement and enforcement at the Department of Labor: Department aid
51 in identifying and targeting pay discrimination, data collection.
52
53 SECTION 4: Definitions
54 The Equal Pay Act of 1963: Is a United States labor law amending the Fair Labor
55 Standards Act, aimed at abolishing wage disparity based on sex.
56
57 The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938: Is a United States labor law that creates
58 the right to a minimum wage, and "time-and-a-half" overtime pay when people
59 work over forty hours a week
60
61 Remedies: Enforcement of a right, imposing a penalty, or making another court
62 order to impose its will. The legal means to recover a right or to prevent or obtain
63 redress for a wrong.
64
65 Class action claims: centralizes all claims into one venue where a court can
66 equitably divide the assets amongst all the plaintiffs if they win the case.
67

Works Cited:
I. http://www.nationalpartnership.org/research-library/workplace-fairness/fair-pay/the-paych
eck-fairness-act.pdf
II. https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/1869/text
III. https://www.bls.gov/cps/earnings.htm
IV. http://www.catalyst.org/knowledge/by-the-numbers
V. http://www.ilo.org/washington/areas/gender-equality-in-the-workplace/WCMS_159496/la
ng--en/index.htm