HR 2491 117th Congress House Labor and Employment Accounting and auditing Civil actions and liability Congressional oversight Education programs funding Elementary and secondary education Employee hiring Employment and training programs Employment discrimination and employee rights Government studies and investigations Higher education Labor standards Labor-management relations Personnel records Sex, gender, sexual orientation discrimination Vocational and technical education Wages and earnings Women's education Women's employment

Wage Equity Act of 2021

Introduced: April 13, 2021 Introduced by: Stefanik, Elise M. Republican · New York See on congress.gov

Everywhere this bill has been 2 steps

Introduced

In committee

Reported out

Passed House

Passed Senate

To President

Became law

Apr 13, 2021

Introduced in House

Apr 13, 2021

Referred to the House Committee on Education and Labor.

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Plain-English summary Congressional Research Service

Wage Equity Act of 2021

This bill addresses workplace wage discrimination based on sex.

Specifically, it limits the acceptable reasons for wage disparities based on sex to legitimate business-related factors unrelated to sex. It also protects from liability for such discrimination those employers who conduct a job and wage analysis audit to identify wage disparities and take reasonable steps to remedy any such disparities.

Further, the bill prohibits employers from relying on, or requesting, the wage history of a prospective employee for hiring and wage determination purposes unless it is voluntarily provided by the prospective employee. Employers generally may not prohibit employees from inquiring about, or discussing, wage information concerning another employee or from requesting information from an employer about wage differentials.

Finally, the bill permits the Department of Labor to establish a grant program for negotiation skills education for women and girls. It also requires the Government Accountability Office to study and report on the causes and effects of sex-based wage disparities.