HR 7 · 116th Congress 2019–2021, ended

Paycheck Fairness Act

Introduced Jan 30, 2019 Originated House Sponsor Rosa L. DeLauro D-CT

Fact sheet

Latest action · Apr 3, 2019 Read the second time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 53.

Progress

Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.

  1. IntroducedJan 30, 2019
  2. Passed HouseMar 27, 2019
  3. Passed SenateNot reached
  4. To the PresidentNot reached
  5. Became lawNot reached

Summary

Paycheck Fairness Act

This bill addresses wage discrimination on the basis of sex. It 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.

The 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 programs to address pay disparities, including through outreach to women and girls; (2) conduct studies to eliminate pay disparities between men and women; (3) report on the gender pay gap in the teenage labor workforce; and (4) make available information on wage discrimination to assist the public in understanding and addressing such discrimination.

The Secretary of Labor's National Award for Pay Equity in the Workplace is established for an employer who has made a substantial effort to eliminate pay disparities between men and women.

The bill requires the EEOC to issue regulations for collecting from employers compensation and other employment data according to the sex, race, and ethnic identity of employees for use in enforcing laws prohibiting pay discrimination.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics shall continue collecting data on women workers in the Current Employment Statistics survey.

The bill sets forth prohibitions and requirements regarding the wage history of prospective employees.

Recorded votes 3

Newest first. Open one to see how every member voted.

Roll callQuestionResultDate
House 134Passed242–187Mar 27, 2019
House 133Failed191–236Mar 27, 2019
House 132Agreed to406–24Mar 27, 2019

Cosponsors 239

Members who signed on, in the order they did. All signed on Jan 30, 2019.

SeatCosponsorSigned on
D-VAA. Donald McEachinOriginalJan 30, 2019
D-IAAbby FinkenauerOriginalJan 30, 2019
D-VAAbigail Davis SpanbergerOriginalJan 30, 2019
D-CAAdam B. SchiffOriginalJan 30, 2019
D-WAAdam SmithOriginalJan 30, 2019
D-NYAdriano EspaillatOriginalJan 30, 2019
D-TXAl GreenOriginalJan 30, 2019
D-FLAl Lawson, Jr.OriginalJan 30, 2019
D-CAAlan S. LowenthalOriginalJan 30, 2019
D-NJAlbio SiresOriginalJan 30, 2019
D-FLAlcee L. HastingsOriginalJan 30, 2019
D-NYAlexandria Ocasio-CortezOriginalJan 30, 2019
D-NCAlma S. AdamsOriginalJan 30, 2019
D-CAAmi BeraOriginalJan 30, 2019
D-INAndré CarsonOriginalJan 30, 2019
Show all 239 cosponsors

Actions 35

Everything that happened, newest first.

  1. Apr 3, 2019Read the second time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under General Orders. Calendar No. 53.
  2. Apr 2, 2019Read the first time. Placed on Senate Legislative Calendar under Read the First Time.
  3. Mar 28, 2019Received in the Senate.
  4. Mar 27, 2019Considered under the provisions of rule H. Res. 252. (consideration: CR H2848-2875)
  5. Mar 27, 2019DEBATE - Pursuant to the provisions of H. Res. 252, the Committee of the Whole proceeded with 10 minutes of debate on the Beyer amendment No. 7.
  6. Mar 27, 2019DEBATE - Pursuant to the provisions of H. Res. 252, the Committee of the Whole proceeded with 10 minutes of debate on the Brown (MD) amendment No. 9.
  7. Mar 27, 2019DEBATE - Pursuant to the provisions of H. Res. 252, the Committee of the Whole proceeded with 10 minutes of debate on the Byrne amendment No. 4.
  8. Mar 27, 2019DEBATE - Pursuant to the provisions of H. Res. 252, the Committee of the Whole proceeded with 10 minutes of debate on the Foxx amendment No. 1.
  9. Mar 27, 2019DEBATE - Pursuant to the provisions of H. Res. 252, the Committee of the Whole proceeded with 10 minutes of debate on the Jayapal amendment No. 5.
  10. Mar 27, 2019DEBATE - Pursuant to the provisions of H. Res. 252, the Committee of the Whole proceeded with 10 minutes of debate on the Lawrence amendment No. 8.
  11. Mar 27, 2019DEBATE - Pursuant to the provisions of H. Res. 252, the Committee of the Whole proceeded with 10 minutes of debate on the Torres amendment No. 2.
  12. Mar 27, 2019DEBATE - Pursuant to the provisions of H. Res. 252, the Committee of the Whole proceeded with 10 minutes of debate on the Torres amendment No. 3.
  13. Mar 27, 2019DEBATE - The House proceeded with 10 minutes of debate on the Foxx motion to recommit with instructions. Pending the reservation of a point of order. The instructions contained in the motion seek to require the bill to be reported back to the House with an amendment to limit any contingent attorney's fees to 49% of any judgement awarded to the plaintiff or plaintiffs. Subsequently, the point of order was withdrawn.
  14. Mar 27, 2019GENERAL DEBATE - The Committee of the Whole proceeded with one hour of general debate on H.R. 7.
  15. Mar 27, 2019House resolved itself into the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union pursuant to H. Res. 252 and Rule XVIII.
  16. Mar 27, 2019Motion to reconsider laid on the table Agreed to without objection.
  17. Mar 27, 2019Ms. Foxx (NC) moved to recommit with instructions to the Committee on Education and Labor. (text: CR H2872-2874)
  18. Mar 27, 2019On motion to recommit with instructions Failed by recorded vote: 191 - 236 (Roll no. 133).
  19. Mar 27, 2019On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 242 - 187 (Roll no. 134). (text: CR H2860-2863)
  20. Mar 27, 2019Passed/agreed to in House: On passage Passed by the Yeas and Nays: 242 - 187 (Roll no. 134).(text: CR H2860-2863)
  21. Mar 27, 2019POSTPONED PROCEEDINGS - At the conclusion of debate on the Beyer amendment, the Chair put the question on the amendment and by voice vote, announced that the ayes had prevailed. Mr. Beyer demanded a recorded vote and the Chair postponed further proceedings on agreeing to the amendment until a time to be announced.
  22. Mar 27, 2019The House adopted the amendment in the nature of a substitute as agreed to by the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union.
  23. Mar 27, 2019The House rose from the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union to report H.R. 7.
  24. Mar 27, 2019The previous question on the motion to recommit with instructions was ordered without objection.
  25. Mar 27, 2019The previous question was ordered pursuant to the rule.
  26. Mar 27, 2019The resolution provides for one hour debate on H.R. 7 and H.Res. 124.
  27. Mar 27, 2019The Speaker designated the Honorable Eleanor Holmes Norton to act as Chairwoman of the Committee.
  28. Mar 27, 2019UNFINISHED BUSINESS - The Chair announced that the unfinished business was on adoption of amendment number 7, which was debated earlier and on which further proceedings had been postponed.
  29. Mar 25, 2019Rules Committee Resolution H. Res. 252 Reported to House. The resolution provides for one hour debate on H.R. 7 and H.Res. 124.
  30. Mar 18, 2019Placed on the Union Calendar, Calendar No. 6.
  31. Mar 18, 2019Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Education and Labor. H. Rept. 116-18.
  32. Feb 26, 2019Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held.
  33. Feb 26, 2019Ordered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute by the Yeas and Nays: 27 - 20.
  34. Jan 30, 2019Introduced in House
  35. Jan 30, 2019Referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor.

Amendments 8

Amendments offered to this bill.

AmendmentDescriptionOffered byStatus
HAmdt 109An amendment numbered 1 printed in Part B of House Report 116-19 to strike Section 8 relating to the collection by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission of pay information and other employment-related data (including hiring, termination, and promotion data) disaggregated by the sex, race, and national origin of employees.Virginia Foxx R-NCOn agreeing to the Foxx (NC) amendment (A001) Failed by voice vote.
HAmdt 110An amendment numbered 2 printed in Part B of House Report 116-19 to recognize the severity of the gender wage gap for girls and women of color.Norma J. Torres D-CAOn agreeing to the Torres (CA) amendment (A002) Agreed to by voice vote.
HAmdt 111An amendment numbered 3 printed in Part B of House Report 116-19 to highlight the gender pay gaps impact on women and girls of color during research and education efforts conducted by the Secretary of Labor.Norma J. Torres D-CAOn agreeing to the Torres (CA) amendment (A003) Agreed to by voice vote.
HAmdt 112An amendment numbered 4 printed in Part B of House Report 116-19 to clarify that the "any other factor other than sex" defense in the Equal Pay Act means a bona fide business-related reason other than sex, and to strike Section 3(a)(B) relating to the application of the factor other than sex defense to an Equal Pay Act claim.Bradley Byrne R-ALOn agreeing to the Byrne amendment (A004) Failed by voice vote.
HAmdt 113An amendment numbered 5 printed in Part B of House Report 116-19 to clarify that the studies conducted by the Department of Labor concerning the elimination of pay disparities between men and women must include information about, and an analysis of, women of all racial and ethnic backgrounds.Pramila Jayapal D-WAOn agreeing to the Jayapal amendment (A005) Agreed to by voice vote.
Show all 8 amendments

Related bills 2

Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.

BillTitleRelationshipLatest action
HRES 252Providing for consideration of the bill (H.R. 7) 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, and providing for consideraRelated billMar 27, 2019
S 270Paycheck Fairness ActIdentical billJan 30, 2019

Subjects

Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Labor and Employment.

Text 4

Each version as it was printed, newest first.

  1. Apr 3, 2019Placed on Calendar Senate
  2. Mar 27, 2019Engrossed in House
  3. Mar 18, 2019Reported in House
  4. Jan 30, 2019Introduced in House

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Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov.