SB 8609: Paycheck Fairness Act

[Sestak]

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2. Section 15 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 215)link is amended—
a) in subsection (a)—
i) in paragraph (3), by striking “employee has filed” and all that follows and inserting “employee—

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;
b) in paragraph (5), by striking the period at the end and inserting “; or”; and
c) by adding at the end the following:

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and
d) by adding at the end the following:

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3. Section 16(b) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 216(b))link is amended—
a) by inserting after the first sentence the following: “Any employer who violates section 6(d) shall additionally be liable for such compensatory damages, or, where the employee demonstrates that the employer acted with malice or reckless indifference, punitive damages as may be appropriate, except that the United States shall not be liable for punitive damages.”;
b) in the sentence beginning “An action to”, by striking “either of the preceding sentences” and inserting “any of the preceding sentences of this subsection”;
c) in the sentence beginning “No employees shall”, by striking “No employees” and inserting “Except with respect to class actions brought to enforce section 6(d), no employee”;
d) by inserting after the sentence referred to in paragraph (3), the following: “Notwithstanding any other provision of Federal law, any action brought to enforce section 6(d) may be maintained as a class action as provided by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.”; and
e) in the sentence beginning “The court in”—
i) by striking “in such action” and inserting “in any action brought to recover the liability prescribed in any of the preceding sentences of this subsection”; and
ii) by inserting before the period the following: “, including expert fees”.
4. Section 16(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 216(c))link is amended—
a) in the first sentence—
i) by inserting “or, in the case of a violation of section 6(d), additional compensatory or punitive damages, as described in subsection (b),” before “and the agreement”; and
ii) by inserting before the period the following: “, or such compensatory or punitive damages, as appropriate”;
b) in the second sentence, by inserting before the period the following: “and, in the case of a violation of section 6(d), additional compensatory or punitive damages, as described in subsection (b)”;
c) in the third sentence, by striking “the first sentence” and inserting “the first or second sentence”; and
d) in the last sentence—
i) by striking “commenced in the case” and inserting “commenced—
“(1) in the case”;
ii) by striking the period and inserting “; or”; and
iii) by adding at the end the following:
“(2) in the case of a class action brought to enforce section 6(d), on the date on which the individual becomes a party plaintiff to the class action.”.
Section 4; Training
1. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, subject to the availability of funds appropriated under section 11, shall provide training to Commission employees and affected individuals and entities on matters involving discrimination in the payment of wages.
Section 5; Negotiating Skills Training for Girls and Women
1. The Secretary of Internal Affairs is authorized to establish and carry out a grant program.
a) In carrying out the program, the Secretary of Internal Affairs may make grants on a competitive basis to eligible entities, to carry out negotiation skills training programs for girls and women.
b) To be eligible to receive a grant under this subsection, an entity shall be a public agency, such as a region, a local government in a metropolitan statistical area (as defined by the Office of Management and Budget), a regional educational agency, or a local educational agency, a private nonprofit organization, or a community-based organization.
c)To be eligible to receive a grant under this subsection, an entity shall submit an application to the Secretary of Internal Affairs at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary of Internal Affairs may require.
d) An entity that receives a grant under this subsection shall use the funds made available through the grant to carry out an effective negotiation skills training program that empowers girls and women. The training provided through the program shall help girls and women strengthen their negotiation skills to allow the girls and women to obtain higher salaries and rates of compensation that are equal to those paid to similarly situated male employees.
2. The Secretary of Internal Affairs shall issue regulations or policy guidance that provides for integrating the negotiation skills training, to the extent practicable, into programs authorized under—
a) the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.), the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2301 et seq.), the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.), and other programs carried out by the Department of Internal Affairs that the Secretary of Internal Affairs determines to be appropriate; and
b) the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3101 et seq.), and other programs carried out by the Department of Internal Affairs that the Secretary of Internal Affairs determines to be appropriate.
3.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of Internal Affairs shall prepare and submit to Congress a report describing the activities conducted under this section and evaluating the effectiveness of such activities in achieving the purposes of this Act.
Section 6; Research, Education and Outreach
1. The Secretary of Internal Affairs shall 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—
a) conducting and promoting research to develop the means to correct expeditiously the conditions leading to the pay disparities;
b) publishing and otherwise making available to employers, labor organizations, professional associations, educational institutions, the media, and the general public the findings resulting from studies and other materials, relating to eliminating the pay disparities;
c) sponsoring and assisting State and community informational and educational programs;
d) providing information to employers, labor organizations, professional associations, and other interested persons on the means of eliminating the pay disparities;
e) recognizing and promoting the achievements of employers, labor organizations, and professional associations that have worked to eliminate the pay disparities; and
f) convening a national summit to discuss, and consider approaches for rectifying, the pay disparities.
Section 7; Establishment of the National Award for pay equity in the workplace
1. There is established the Secretary of Internal Affairs’ National Award for Pay Equity in the Workplace, which shall be awarded, as appropriate, to encourage proactive efforts to comply with section 6(d) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(d)).
2. The Secretary of Internal Affairs shall set criteria for receipt of the award, including a requirement that an employer has made substantial effort to eliminate pay disparities between men and women, and deserves special recognition as a consequence of such effort. The Secretary shall establish procedures for the application and presentation of the award.
3. In this section, the term “employer” includes—
a) a corporation, including a nonprofit corporation;
b) a partnership;
c) a professional association;
d) a labor organization; and
e) a business entity similar to an entity described in any of subparagraphs (A) through (D);
i) an entity carrying out an education referral program, a training program, such as an apprenticeship or management training program, or a similar program; and
ii) an entity carrying out a joint program, formed by a combination of any entities described in paragraph (1) or (2).
Section 8; Collection of Pay Information
1. Section 709 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e–8) is amended by adding at the end the following:

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Section 9; Reinstatement of Pay Equity Programs and Pay Equity Data Collection
1. The Commissioner of Labor Statistics shall continue to collect data on women workers in the Current Employment Statistics survey.
2. The Director of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs shall ensure that employees of the Office—
a) shall use the full range of investigatory tools at the Office's disposal, including pay grade methodology;
b) in considering evidence of possible compensation discrimination—
(i) shall not limit its consideration to a small number of types of evidence; and
(ii) shall not limit its evaluation of the evidence to a small number of methods of evaluating the evidence; and
c) shall not require a multiple regression analysis or anecdotal evidence for a compensation discrimination case;
i) for purposes of its investigative, compliance, and enforcement activities, shall define “similarly situated employees” in a way that is consistent with and not more stringent than the definition provided in item 1 of subsection A of section 10–III of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Compliance Manual (2000), and shall consider only factors that the Office's investigation reveals were used in making compensation decisions; and
ii) shall implement a survey to collect compensation data and other employment-related data (including hiring, termination, and promotion data) and designate not less than half of all nonconstruction contractor establishments each year to prepare and file such survey, and shall review and utilize the responses to such survey to identify contractor establishments for further evaluation and for other enforcement purposes as appropriate.
3. The Secretary of Internal Affairs shall make readily available (in print, on the Department of Labor website, and through any other forum that the Department may use to distribute compensation discrimination information), accurate information on compensation discrimination, including statistics, explanations of employee rights, historical analyses of such discrimination, instructions for employers on compliance, and any other information that will assist the public in understanding and addressing such discrimination.
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CONTINUED IN FIRST REPLY

[Sestak]

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Section 11; Funding
1. There are authorized to be appropriated $15,000,000 to carry out this Act.
2. The level of the top marginal rate of estate tax is raised from 45% to 47% in order to fund the provisions of this Act.
Section 12; Implementation
1. All provisions that do not have a specified date of implementation in this Act shall be implemented 6 months after the passage of this legislation into law.
2. The Secretary of Internal Affairs and the Commissioner of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission shall jointly develop technical assistance material to assist small businesses in complying with the requirements of this Act and the amendments made by this Act.
3. A small business shall be exempt from the provisions of this Act, and the amendments made by this Act, to the same extent that such business is exempt from the requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 pursuant to clauses (i) and (ii) of section 3(s)(1)(A) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 203(s)(1)(A)).
Section 13; Rule of Construction
1. Nothing in this Act, or in any amendments made by this Act, shall affect the obligation of employers and employees to fully comply with all applicable immigration laws, including any penalties, fines, or other sanctions.
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Sponsor: Pericles

[Sestak]

Right; Senator Lechasseur, before we go to a vote on this, could you explain your reasoning for it? 24 hours.

[Sestak]

Right, ok. A vote is now open on the amendment. Senators, please vote Aye, Nay, or Abstain.

[Sestak]

Hang on, what's the objection to Section 10?

[Sestak]

Well, yes, but I can't do that until I'm reelected as PPT.

[Sestak]

Nay on the amendment, seeing as the vote is still open.

The vote closed 72 hrs after it opened.

...with no quorum.

[Sestak]

Before we go to a final vote on this, does the sponsor have anything (statements or amendments) to respond to the Deputy GM's concern regarding playability?

[Sestak]

Amendment adopted without objection.

[Sestak]

24 hours.

[Sestak]

A final vote is now open. Members, please vote Aye, Nay, or Abstain.

[Sestak]

Abstain. I don’t exactly like the way the playability aspect has been handled; it feels a somewhat lazy fix and I don’t want to set a precedent of doing this.

[Sestak]

Will compile and certify when I get home tonight.

[Sestak]

Passes 3-2-1.

Aye: Zaybay, Pericles, MAINEiac
Nay: Lechasseur, NC Yankee
Abstain: Sestak

[Sestak]

You must be logged in to read this quote.

2. Section 15 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 215)link is amended—
a) in subsection (a)—
i) in paragraph (3), by striking “employee has filed” and all that follows and inserting “employee—

You must be logged in to read this quote.

;
b) in paragraph (5), by striking the period at the end and inserting “; or”; and
c) by adding at the end the following:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

and
d) by adding at the end the following:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

3. Section 16(b) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 216(b))link is amended—
a) by inserting after the first sentence the following: “Any employer who violates section 6(d) shall additionally be liable for such compensatory damages, or, where the employee demonstrates that the employer acted with malice or reckless indifference, punitive damages as may be appropriate, except that the United States shall not be liable for punitive damages.”;
b) in the sentence beginning “An action to”, by striking “either of the preceding sentences” and inserting “any of the preceding sentences of this subsection”;
c) in the sentence beginning “No employees shall”, by striking “No employees” and inserting “Except with respect to class actions brought to enforce section 6(d), no employee”;
d) by inserting after the sentence referred to in paragraph (3), the following: “Notwithstanding any other provision of Federal law, any action brought to enforce section 6(d) may be maintained as a class action as provided by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.”; and
e) in the sentence beginning “The court in”—
i) by striking “in such action” and inserting “in any action brought to recover the liability prescribed in any of the preceding sentences of this subsection”; and
ii) by inserting before the period the following: “, including expert fees”.
4. Section 16(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 216(c))link is amended—
a) in the first sentence—
i) by inserting “or, in the case of a violation of section 6(d), additional compensatory or punitive damages, as described in subsection (b),” before “and the agreement”; and
ii) by inserting before the period the following: “, or such compensatory or punitive damages, as appropriate”;
b) in the second sentence, by inserting before the period the following: “and, in the case of a violation of section 6(d), additional compensatory or punitive damages, as described in subsection (b)”;
c) in the third sentence, by striking “the first sentence” and inserting “the first or second sentence”; and
d) in the last sentence—
i) by striking “commenced in the case” and inserting “commenced—
“(1) in the case”;
ii) by striking the period and inserting “; or”; and
iii) by adding at the end the following:
“(2) in the case of a class action brought to enforce section 6(d), on the date on which the individual becomes a party plaintiff to the class action.”.
Section 4; Training
1. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs, subject to the availability of funds appropriated under section 11, shall provide training to Commission employees and affected individuals and entities on matters involving discrimination in the payment of wages.
Section 5; Negotiating Skills Training for Girls and Women
1. The Secretary of Internal Affairs is authorized to establish and carry out a grant program.
a) In carrying out the program, the Secretary of Internal Affairs may make grants on a competitive basis to eligible entities, to carry out negotiation skills training programs for girls and women.
b) To be eligible to receive a grant under this subsection, an entity shall be a public agency, such as a region, a local government in a metropolitan statistical area (as defined by the Office of Management and Budget), a regional educational agency, or a local educational agency, a private nonprofit organization, or a community-based organization.
c)To be eligible to receive a grant under this subsection, an entity shall submit an application to the Secretary of Internal Affairs at such time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary of Internal Affairs may require.
d) An entity that receives a grant under this subsection shall use the funds made available through the grant to carry out an effective negotiation skills training program that empowers girls and women. The training provided through the program shall help girls and women strengthen their negotiation skills to allow the girls and women to obtain higher salaries and rates of compensation that are equal to those paid to similarly situated male employees.
2. The Secretary of Internal Affairs shall issue regulations or policy guidance that provides for integrating the negotiation skills training, to the extent practicable, into programs authorized under—
a) the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 6301 et seq.), the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006 (20 U.S.C. 2301 et seq.), the Higher Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.), and other programs carried out by the Department of Internal Affairs that the Secretary of Internal Affairs determines to be appropriate; and
b) the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (29 U.S.C. 3101 et seq.), and other programs carried out by the Department of Internal Affairs that the Secretary of Internal Affairs determines to be appropriate.
3.—Not later than 1 year after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Secretary of Internal Affairs shall prepare and submit to Congress a report describing the activities conducted under this section and evaluating the effectiveness of such activities in achieving the purposes of this Act.
Section 6; Research, Education and Outreach
1. The Secretary of Internal Affairs shall 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—
a) conducting and promoting research to develop the means to correct expeditiously the conditions leading to the pay disparities;
b) publishing and otherwise making available to employers, labor organizations, professional associations, educational institutions, the media, and the general public the findings resulting from studies and other materials, relating to eliminating the pay disparities;
c) sponsoring and assisting State and community informational and educational programs;
d) providing information to employers, labor organizations, professional associations, and other interested persons on the means of eliminating the pay disparities;
e) recognizing and promoting the achievements of employers, labor organizations, and professional associations that have worked to eliminate the pay disparities; and
f) convening a national summit to discuss, and consider approaches for rectifying, the pay disparities.
Section 7; Establishment of the National Award for pay equity in the workplace
1. There is established the Secretary of Internal Affairs’ National Award for Pay Equity in the Workplace, which shall be awarded, as appropriate, to encourage proactive efforts to comply with section 6(d) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(d)).
2. The Secretary of Internal Affairs shall set criteria for receipt of the award, including a requirement that an employer has made substantial effort to eliminate pay disparities between men and women, and deserves special recognition as a consequence of such effort. The Secretary shall establish procedures for the application and presentation of the award.
3. In this section, the term “employer” includes—
a) a corporation, including a nonprofit corporation;
b) a partnership;
c) a professional association;
d) a labor organization; and
e) a business entity similar to an entity described in any of subparagraphs (A) through (D);
i) an entity carrying out an education referral program, a training program, such as an apprenticeship or management training program, or a similar program; and
ii) an entity carrying out a joint program, formed by a combination of any entities described in paragraph (1) or (2).
Section 8; Collection of Pay Information
1. Section 709 of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e–8) is amended by adding at the end the following:

You must be logged in to read this quote.

Section 9; Reinstatement of Pay Equity Programs and Pay Equity Data Collection
1. The Commissioner of Labor Statistics shall continue to collect data on women workers in the Current Employment Statistics survey.
2. The Director of the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs shall ensure that employees of the Office—
a) shall use the full range of investigatory tools at the Office's disposal, including pay grade methodology;
b) in considering evidence of possible compensation discrimination—
(i) shall not limit its consideration to a small number of types of evidence; and
(ii) shall not limit its evaluation of the evidence to a small number of methods of evaluating the evidence; and
c) shall not require a multiple regression analysis or anecdotal evidence for a compensation discrimination case;
i) for purposes of its investigative, compliance, and enforcement activities, shall define “similarly situated employees” in a way that is consistent with and not more stringent than the definition provided in item 1 of subsection A of section 10–III of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Compliance Manual (2000), and shall consider only factors that the Office's investigation reveals were used in making compensation decisions; and
ii) shall implement a survey to collect compensation data and other employment-related data (including hiring, termination, and promotion data) and designate not less than half of all nonconstruction contractor establishments each year to prepare and file such survey, and shall review and utilize the responses to such survey to identify contractor establishments for further evaluation and for other enforcement purposes as appropriate.
3. The Secretary of Internal Affairs shall make readily available (in print, on the Department of Labor website, and through any other forum that the Department may use to distribute compensation discrimination information), accurate information on compensation discrimination, including statistics, explanations of employee rights, historical analyses of such discrimination, instructions for employers on compliance, and any other information that will assist the public in understanding and addressing such discrimination.
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CONTINUED IN NEXT REPLY

[Sestak]

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Section 11; Funding
1. There are authorized to be appropriated $15,000,000 to carry out this Act.
2. The level of the top marginal rate of estate tax is raised from 45% to 47% in order to fund the provisions of this Act.
Section 12; Implementation
1. All provisions that do not have a specified date of implementation in this Act shall be implemented 6 months after the passage of this legislation into law.
2. The Secretary of Internal Affairs and the Commissioner of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission shall jointly develop technical assistance material to assist small businesses in complying with the requirements of this Act and the amendments made by this Act.
3. A small business shall be exempt from the provisions of this Act, and the amendments made by this Act, to the same extent that such business is exempt from the requirements of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 pursuant to clauses (i) and (ii) of section 3(s)(1)(A) of such Act (29 U.S.C. 203(s)(1)(A)).
4. For gameplay purposes, all instructions to cabinet officers in this bill shall be taken as implemented even without playable action unless it is officially stated in game by either those officers or the Game Moderator department that those instructions were not implemented.
Section 13; Rule of Construction
1. Nothing in this Act, or in any amendments made by this Act, shall affect the obligation of employers and employees to fully comply with all applicable immigration laws, including any penalties, fines, or other sanctions.
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