Enacts the "New York State fair pay act"; provides that it shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer to discriminate between employees on the basis of sex, race and/or national origin by paying different wages.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A4696
SPONSOR: Titus TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the labor law, in relation to enacting the "New York
state fair pay act"
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
This bill would establish that paying different wages between employees
on the basis of sex, race, or national origin is discriminate and an
unlawful employment practice.
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Section 1: Creates a new Article 21 of the Labor Law.
§ 750 - Establishes that the bill shall be known as the "New York State
Fair Pay Act".
§ 751 - Proclaims that wage differentials persist between women and men
and minorities and non-minorities in both the public and private sector
despite the implementation of present laws that ban discrimination in
the workplace. It affirms that this bill would correct these discrimina-
tory practices and ensure pay equity.
§ 752 - Defines the following terms: employ, employee, employer, equiv-
alent jobs, person, labor organization, wages, and wage rates.
§ 753 - Establishes that it is an unlawful employment practice for an
employer to discriminate between employees on the basis of sex, race,
and or national origin in any of the following ways: engaging in differ-
ential pay between employees doing equivalent work but are of the oppo-
site sex, different race or national origin or paying different wages to
employees in a job dominated by a particular sex, race, or national
origin than employees in another job owned by the same employer and
doing equivalent work but are of the opposite sex or are of a different
race or national origin. This section also establishes that it shall not
be an unlawful employment practice for an employer to engage in differ-
ential pay if such payments are made pursuant to the following circum-
stances: a bona fide seniority or merit system; a bona fide system that
measures earnings by quantity or quality of production; or a bona fide
system based on geographic differentials. This section also establishes
an exception for bona fide factors other than sex, race or national
origin, such as education, training, or experience as long as such
factor is not based on a sex, race, or national origin based differen-
tial and such factor shall be job-related and be consistent with busi-
ness necessity; further, this exception does not apply if the employer
uses an employment practice that causes a disparate impact on the basis
of sex, race, or national origin and if an alternative employment prac-
tice that would serve the same business purpose but would not produce
such differential exists yet the employer fails to implement such alter-
native. Furthermore, this section prohibits employers from reducing an
employee's wages in order to comply with the provisions of this section
and ensures an employees' right to a cause of action regardless of any
agreement to work for less than their entitled compensation and clari-
fies that this section shall not be understood to impede against any
bona fide collective bargaining agreements. Lastly, this section
requires the Department of Labor to promulgate regulations specifying
the criteria for determining whether a job is dominated by employees of
a particular sex, race, or national origin and also requires regulations
that would specify the methodology for determining equivalent skill,
effort, responsibility, and working conditions.
§ 754 - Provides that it shall be an unlawful employment practice for an
employer to take adverse actions or discriminate against an individual
for seeking to enforce their rights under this article or for an employ-
er to discharge, coerce, intimidate, threaten, or interfere with any
employee or person who have discussed their wages with other employees
or have exercised any rights granted under this article.
§ 755 - Authorizes the Department of Labor to receive, investigate, and
attempt to resolve any complaints in violation of this article and
requires that any equitable and monetary relief awarded shall be paid
directly to the affected employee.
§ 756 - Authorizes the Department of Labor to promulgate any additional
regulations deemed necessary to effectively carry out the provisions of
this article.
Section 2: Effective Date
JUSTIFICATION:
Pay equity has not been universally achieved in our state. Legislative
hearings have consistently received testimony from women performing work
equal to their male counterparts and being paid less for their labor.
Present law does not adequately address the issue of pay inequity and
the need for state enforcement of a prohibition on such inequities. The
fact is that not only women but also minorities still earn less than
white men for jobs that require the same skills, responsibilities, and
working conditions which has resulted in a significant wage gap in earn-
ings amongst these demographics. This bill would enhance present law to
respond to the continuing pay inequity in our state and would ensure
that the workers of the state of New York are able to enforce their
right to equal pay without retaliation.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2014: A.5958 (Heastie) Advanced to Third Reading
2013: A.5958 (Heastie) Passed Assembly
2011-12: A.6130 (Wright) Passed Assembly
2009-10: A.3911 (John) Passed Assembly
2007-08: A.2712 (John) Passed Assembly
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None to the State.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect 120 days after enactment.
