HR17-119

What This Bill Does

The Paycheck Fairness Act is a broad rewrite of federal pay-discrimination enforcement. It narrows the Equal Pay Act defense so employers must show pay differences are based on a bona fide factor such as education, training, or experience that is job-related, consistent with business necessity, not derived from sex-based pay differences, and accounts for the whole differential. It expands sex-related definitions to include pregnancy, childbirth, sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics. It funds EEOC and Labor Department training, creates negotiation and structural-pay-practice grants for employers, establishes a National Award for Pay Equity, and requires annual EEOC compensation data collection by sex, race, and national origin. It reinstates pay-equity programs, bans employer reliance on wage history for hiring and pay setting except limited voluntary post-offer use, creates a National Equal Pay Enforcement Task Force, authorizes appropriations, gives small business technical assistance and exemptions tied to FLSA coverage, and requires workplace and electronic notices.

Who Benefits and How

Women workers benefit because employers face stronger limits on sex-based pay differentials and salary-history practices. LGBTQ workers benefit because the bill's sex definitions include sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics. Workers of color benefit from compensation-data collection that is disaggregated by race and national origin as well as sex. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission staff benefit from pay-data authority and participation in a national enforcement task force. Department of Labor officials benefit from grant, training, public education, and Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs data tools.

Who Bears the Burden and How

Covered employers must justify pay differences under a tighter bona fide factor defense and update hiring, wage-history, notice, and audit practices. Federal contractors must submit demographic compensation and employment data for OFCCP review. Human resources departments must stop prohibited salary-history inquiries and maintain posted and electronic notices. Small business employers near FLSA coverage thresholds must determine whether exemptions apply and use compliance materials. Federal taxpayers bear the cost of grants, training, data collection, awards, and enforcement coordination.

Key Provisions

• Tightens the bona fide factor defense for employer pay differentials.
• Expands protected sex-related definitions to include pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics.
• Requires EEOC compensation-data collection by sex, race, and national origin.
• Bars employers from relying on or seeking salary history in covered hiring and pay decisions.
• Creates a National Equal Pay Enforcement Task Force and authorizes appropriations for implementation.