Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that requires men and women receive equal pay for equal work.

Highlights:

• Requires the bona fide factor defense to apply only if the employer demonstrates that such factor (Sec. 3):

• Is not based upon or derived from a sex-based differential in compensation;

• Is job-related with respect to the position in question;

• Is consistent with business necessity; and 

• Accounts for the entire differential in compensation at issue.

• Prohibits the bona fide factor defense from applying if the employee demonstrates that an alternative employment practice exists that would serve the same business purpose without producing such differential, and that the employer has refused to adopt such alternative practice (Sec. 3).

• Requires the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs to provide training to Commission employees and affected individuals and entities on matters involving discrimination in the payment of wages (Sec. 4).

• Requires the Secretary of Labor to conduct studies and provide information to employers, labor organizations, and the general public concerning the means available to eliminate pay disparities between men and women, including women who are people of color and white Americans, within 18 months after the enactment of this act (Sec. 6).

• Specifies that the studies and information provided to employers will include (Sec. 6):

• Conducting and promoting research to develop the means to correct the conditions leading to pay disparities, with specific attention on women and girls from historically underrepresented minority groups;

• Publishing and otherwise making available to employers, labor organizations, professional associations, education institutions, the media, and the general public, fundings from studies, and other materials relating to eliminating the pay disparities;

• Sponsoring and assisting State, local, and community informational and educational programs;

• Providing information to employers, labor organizations, professional associations, and other interest persons on the means of eliminating pay disparities; and 

• Recognizing and promoting the achievements of employers, labor organizations, and professional associations that have worked to eliminate the pay disparities.

• Requires the Secretary of Labor to submit to Congress a report on the gender pay gap in the teenage labor force, and make the report available on a publicly accessible website of the Department of Labor no later than one year after the enactment of this act (Sec. 6).

• Establishes the Secretary of Labor’s National Award for Equity in the Workplace, which will be awarded on an annual basis to an employer to encourage proactive efforts in complying with the Fair Labor Standards Act (Sec. 7).

• Requires the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to provide for the collection from employers of compensation data and other employment-related data disaggregated by the sex, race, and ethnic identity of employees, within 18 months after the date of enactment (Sec. 8).

• Requires the Commissioner of Labor Statistics to continue to collect data on women workers in the Current Employment Statistics survey (Sec. 9).

• Authorizes the appropriation of the necessary funds needed to carry out this act (Sec. 11).

• Requires that this act takes effect six months after the date of enactment (Sec. 12).

• Requires the Secretary of Labor and the Commissioner of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to jointly develop technical assistance material to assist small enterprises in complying with the requirements of this Act (Sec. 12). 

Full Bill Text

Full Bill Text