{"bills":[{"photos":{"featured":"https://assets.causes.com/bill/photo/hr1869-115/featured_paycheck-fairness-act-1492326164.jpg","featured_large":"https://assets.causes.com/bill/photo/hr1869-115/featured_large_paycheck-fairness-act-1492326164.jpg","shareable":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/bills/hr1869-115.png"},"introduced_on":"2017-04-04","title_override":"Should the Equal Pay Act be Strengthened to Reduce the Wage Gap?","summary_override":"

This bill would revise existing enforcement mechanisms to prevent wage discrimination based on gender. Exceptions in laws that prohibit wage differences between men and women would be limited to bona fide factors — like education, training, or experience.

Defenses based on bona fide factors can only apply if the employer demonstrates that the factor in question:

Is not based upon a gender-based differential for compensation;
Is job-related with respect to the position in question;
Is consistent with the needs of the business;
Accounts for the difference in compensation.

This defense wouldn't apply when the employee can demonstrate that an alternative employment practice exists that serves the same business purpose without leading to a pay difference and their employer refused to adopt that practice.

The prohibition against employer retaliation for complaints by employees would be revised to bar retaliation for inquiring about, discussing, or disclosing the wages of an employee in response to:

A complaint or accusation of gender discrimination;
An investigation, proceeding, hearing or other action;
An investigation conducted by the employer.

It would be illegal to require employees to sign a contract or waiver preventing them from disclosing information about their wages. Employers who violate gender discrimination rules would be liable for civil compensatory or punitive damages — although the federal government would be exempt from paying the punitive fines.

The Dept. of Labor would be authorized to seek additional compensatory or punitive damages in a gender discrimination action. All such actions could be pursued as class action suits without the written consent of individual plaintiffs.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Office of Compliance Programs would train EEOC employees, affected individuals and entities about wage discrimination. EEOC would issue regulations related to collecting compensation data from employers to analyze data regarding the gender, race and national origin of employees for use in the enforcement of federal laws prohibiting pay discrimination.

","official_title":"To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to provide more effective remedies to victims of discrimination in the payment of wages on the basis of sex, and for other purposes.","short_title":"Paycheck Fairness Act","popular_title":null,"short_summary":"Paycheck Fairness Act\n\nThis bill amends equal pay provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to: (1) restrict the use of the bona fide factor defense to wage discrimination claims, (2) enhance nonretaliation prohibitions, (3) make it unlawful to require an employee to sign a contract or waiver prohibiting the employee from disclosing information about the employee's wages, and (4) increase civil penalties for violations of equal pay provisions.\n\nThe Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs shall train EEOC employees and other affected parties on wage discrimination. The bill directs the Department of Labor to: (1) establish and carry out a grant program for negotiation skills training for girls and women, (2) conduct studies to eliminate pay disparities between men and women, and (3) make available information on wage discrimination to assist the public in understanding and addressing such discrimination. The Secretary...","summarized":true,"cost":null,"cost_commentary":"A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.","impact":"Women in the workforce, anyone who suspects they have been subjected to pay discrimination based on their gender, businesses that are practice or have been accused of pay discrimination, and relevant federal agencies — especially the EEOC and Bureau of Labor Statistics.","argument_for":"Women should receive equal pay for equal work, but in too many cases they get paid significantly less than their male peers do in the same role. The federal government needs to crack down on employers who pay women less.","argument_against":"There are plenty of reasons that one employee might make more money than another — including education, experience, and training. Wage disparities are often the result of differences in people’s abilities, not gender discrimination. 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I here by declare we are not a Democracy we are a Republic ! A Democracy is a 3/4ths majority rules , we do not have democracy in the USA we have Constitutionality, which ensures everyones right to have a say in any and all things that their government does through the redress of grievances. If we were a Democracy and had democracy in the United states we would have limits on our freedoms put in place by the founding fathers through our Constitution for the United States of America! Life ,liberty ,and the Persuit of Happiness to all American citizens!😀","twitter_id":null,"facebook_id":null,"youtube_id":null,"google_plus_id":null,"website":null,"slug":null,"issue_count":0,"is_following":null,"influence_score":260,"influence_level":20,"follower_count":7,"following_count":10,"position_count":25,"id":"0Z7jPkLW","partner_id":null},{"name":"operaman","vote_count":1709,"photos":{"large":"https://graph.facebook.com/1027148173971007/picture?width=150&height=150","small":"https://graph.facebook.com/1027148173971007/picture?width=75&height=75","tiny":"https://graph.facebook.com/1027148173971007/picture?width=20&height=20","facebook":"https://graph.facebook.com/1027148173971007/picture"},"links":{"following":"/api/users/5mbagjNZ/following","followers":"/api/users/5mbagjNZ/followers"},"about_me":"Christian-Husband(51yr)-Father-Retired Pharmacist-2A-Conservative #KAG #RedNationRising #Faith #anti-illegal immigration #Opera","twitter_id":null,"facebook_id":null,"youtube_id":null,"google_plus_id":null,"website":null,"slug":"operaman","issue_count":11,"is_following":null,"influence_score":62615,"influence_level":40,"follower_count":605,"following_count":928,"position_count":1236,"id":"5mbagjNZ","partner_id":null},{"name":"Loraki","vote_count":1215,"photos":{"large":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/8mrgkD9d/large_8mrgkd9d-1485722796.jpg","small":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/8mrgkD9d/small_8mrgkd9d-1485722796.jpg","tiny":"https://assets.causes.com/user/avatar/8mrgkD9d/tiny_8mrgkd9d-1485722796.jpg","facebook":"https://graph.facebook.com/100000827158540/picture"},"links":{"following":"/api/users/8mrgkD9d/following","followers":"/api/users/8mrgkD9d/followers"},"about_me":"I'm a member of the Church of Christ (non-institutional). God gave us a pattern to follow for the Church and for how we should live. He DIDN'T say that following it is OPTIONAL! Nor did He say we could make changes to His pattern! I believe that there will be an eternal home of the soul - Heaven or Hell - and that Christ will judge us on the last day. I believe that Jesus is the Son of God!\n\nI am NOT\n• a Catholic\n• a Protestant\n• a Baptist\n• a Methodist\n• a Mormon\n• an Episcopalian\n• a Pentacostal\nor member of any other denomination.\n\n• I AM A CHRISTIAN, PERIOD!\n• I AM A MEMBER OF THE CHURCH OF CHRIST, PERIOD! \n• I ACKNOWLEDGE NO HEAD OF THE CHURCH EXCEPT CHRIST JESUS, THE SON OF GOD, PERIOD! \n• I FOLLOW NO MANMADE CREED, BUT THE BIBLE ONLY, WHICH IS THE INSPIRED WORD OF GOD, PERIOD!\n\nI'm a 4th. generation Texan & the mother of 2 sons. I'm retired. I love the mountains and I like Oberhasli dairy goats, organic gardening, science fiction, astronomy, camping, and hunting. I'm very fond of my OESheepdog and my Norwegian Forest cat, too.\n\n• I'm a Constitutional Conservative and a patriot. \n•. I support the Tea Party. \n• I'm for limited government and free market capitalism. \n• I'm also for school choice and school prayer. \n• I'm against abortion and same-sex \"marriage\". \n• I'm TOTALLY AGAINST the implementation of Shariah law at any level in the United States! \n• I'm for SECURE BORDERS and reduced immigration, especially of Muslims! \n• I believe ALL illegal aliens should be deported. Those who enter our country illegally should not be given special privileges at the taxpayers' expense! \n• I believe that Congress should balance the budget and Uncle Sam should live within his means - without raising taxes! \n• I also believe in \"peace through strength\" - keep our military strong and keep out the transgenders! Freedom of religion applies to the military as well as civilians! I'm AGAINST allowing foreigners to join our military! That includes Obama's Dreamers! \n• I want to see a ban on GMOs! \n• I want to see the federal government OUT OF education! \n• Audit the Fed! \n• Abolish the IRS! \n• Just say \"NO\" to political correctness and race-baiting!\n\nThis is not a complete description of what I stand for. If you have specific questions about me, it can't hurt to ask! I might even answer! :-D #MakeDCListen\n\nTHIS IS MY COUNTRY!\n\nI AM TIRED OF AND FED UP WITH MUSLIM JIHADISTS AND ILLEGAL ALIENS IN MY COUNTRY, WHO ARE BRINGING DRUGS, DISEASE, AND CRIME, WHILE BEING CODDLED BY MY GOVERNMENT AT THE EXPENSE OF THE AMERICAN CITIZENS! IT'S NOT RIGHT FOR US TO HAVE TO SUFFER THIS INVASION BY PEOPLE WHO DON'T RESPECT OUR LAWS, OUR PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE, OUR FLAG, OUR LANGUAGE (That's ENGLISH!), OR OUR CULTURE! AND I'M TIRED OF AND FED UP WITH HAVING TO \"PRESS 1 FOR ENGLISH\"! WE NEED A MORATORIUM ON MUSLIM IMMIGRATION AND WE NEED TO KICK OUT ALL OF THE ILLEGAL ALIENS WHO BY DEFINITION ARE CRIMINALS! WE NEED TO MAKE OUR GOVERNMENT UNDERSTAND THAT WE DON'T WANT AMERICA TURNED INTO A THIRD WORLD CESSPOOL!\n\nI AM NOT ANTI-IMMIGRANT. I AM FOR THE RULE OF LAW. I DON'T CARE WHAT COLOR YOUR SKIN IS OR WHAT YOUR NATIVE LANGUAGE IS. BUT IF YOU COME TO MY COUNTRY TO LIVE, I EXPECT YOU TO LEARN AND SPEAK ENGLISH AND TO OBEY OUR LAWS! NONE OF THAT SHARIAH STUFF! WE HAVE FREEDOM OF RELIGION HERE IN AMERICA, AND ISLAM IS A CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER TO THAT FREEDOM! SPARE ME YOUR TAQIYYA AND HUDNA! YOU WANT TO BELIEVE MUHAMMAD IS A PROPHET OF GOD? THAT IS YOUR RIGHT, BUT IT IS OUR RIGHT TO DISAGREE WITH YOUR BELIEFS. IT IS NOT YOUR RIGHT TO KILL US FOR DISAGREEING! IF YOU DON'T LIKE OUR LAWS, YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO TRY TO CHANGE THEM THROUGH LEGAL AND PEACEFUL MEANS, BUT MANY OF US WILL PEACEFULLY AND RESPECTFULLY (insofar as it is possible) DO OUR UTMOST TO PREVENT YOU FROM SUCCEEDING, IF YOUR GOAL IS CULTURAL AND POLITICAL JIHAD.\n\nTHIS IS THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, AND WE HAVE A HERITAGE OF HONOR, PRIDE AND COURAGE. OUR NATION, MOREOVER, WAS FOUNDED ON CHRISTIAN PRINCIPLES! OUR REVERENCE FOR GOD AND HIS CHRIST AND THE HOLY BIBLE IS WHAT ENABLED AMERICA TO BECOME GREATLY BLESSED BY GOD. WE HAVE OUR PROBLEMS; WE ARE NOT PERFECT, BUT WE WILL FIGHT THE POWERS OF DARKNESS AND EVIL, SO HELP US, GOD!\n\nTHIS IS AMERICA! LOVE IT OR LEAVE IT!!!","twitter_id":null,"facebook_id":"lafigarus","youtube_id":"LauraroseofTexas","google_plus_id":null,"website":null,"slug":"loraki","issue_count":120,"is_following":null,"influence_score":47090,"influence_level":40,"follower_count":535,"following_count":3688,"position_count":920,"id":"8mrgkD9d","partner_id":null}],"bill_position":{"flagged":false,"id":"65088543-2643-4706-9314-dea8b3172f22","argument_for":null,"argument_against":"This is such nonsense! There is no such thing as a wage Gap! I am a woman and I Know first hand that the wage Gap is crap, I used to make a lot more than my husband before my health went to hell!","show_argument_for":false,"show_argument_against":true,"upvote_count":2,"upvotes_for_count":null,"upvotes_against_count":2,"has_upvoted":false,"endorsement_count":2,"links":{"self":"https://www.causes.com/positions/65088543-2643-4706-9314-dea8b3172f22"},"body":"This is such nonsense! There is no such thing as a wage Gap! I am a woman and I Know first hand that the wage Gap is crap, I used to make a lot more than my husband before my health went to hell!","stance":"nay","created_at":"2017-04-19T05:06:07.657Z","shareable_image_url":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/positions/65088543-2643-4706-9314-dea8b3172f22.png","note_color":null,"note_text":null,"bill_id":"hr1869-115","user_id":"0Z7jPkLW","endorser_ids":["5mbagjNZ","8mrgkD9d"]}}

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Should the Equal Pay Act be Strengthened to Reduce the Wage Gap?