Rogers / Period 1 Senator Chastain

S.R___

A BILL
To amend the Paycheck Fairness Act in order to make it more equitable for women and specify the penalties of failing to
adhere to the law. .
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Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE
This act may be cited as the Earnings Act of 2017.
SECTION 2. FINDINGS
Congress hereby finds and declares that,
1) Full- time working women earn 77% of what their male counterparts earn.
2) Female full-time workers make only 79 cents for every dollar earned by men, a gender wage gap of 21 percent.
3) Women make up nearly half of the U.S. labor force and are a growing number of breadwinners in their families.
4) (The Paycheck Fairness Act) Authorizes the Secretary to make grants to eligible entities for negotiation skills training
programs for girls and women.
5) African American women earned only approximately 64 cents and Latinas only 56 cents for each dollar earned by a
white male.
6) (Paycheck Fairness Act) The jobs need not be identical, but they must be substantially equal; Job content (not job titles)
determines whether jobs are substantially equal.
7) Decades of research shows that no matter how you evaluate the data, there remains a pay gap even after factoring in
the kind of work people do, or qualifications such as education and experience and there is good evidence that
discrimination contributes to the persistent pay disparity between men and women.
8) Connecticut, New Jersey, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Alaska had high median earnings for men, that
is, earnings above $50,000. No state had median earnings for women above $50,000.
9) But what can explain the residual portion of the gap that now remains?.. To some it is due to women's lower ability to
bargain and their lesser desire to compete.
10) Any employer who violates section 6(d) shall additionally be liable for such compensatory damages, or, where the
employee demonstrates that the employer acted with malice or reckless indifference, punitive damages as may be
appropriate, except that the United States shall not be liable for punitive damages (Paycheck Fairness Act).
11) A woman working full time, year-round earns $10,800 less per year than a man, based on median annual

earnings. This disparity can add up to nearly a half million dollars over a career.
12) Although the gender pay gap has narrowed over time, at the current rate of change, it will not close until
2059, according to the Institute for Womens Policy Research.
SECTION 3. STATUTORY LANGUAGE
A) The Earnings Act of 2017 shall amend the Paycheck Fairness Act in order to make it more equitable for women and
specify the penalties of failing to adhere to the law. Equitable is hereby defined as just and right; fair; reasonable. Adhere is
defined as to be devoted in support or allegiance; be attached as a follower or upholder. The Earnings Act shall revise
Sections 4 and 5 of the Paycheck Fairness Act of 2014 to make it illegal to pay employees of any kind different wages
based on their gender.
B) Requires the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the Office of Federal Contract Compliance
Programs to train EEOC employees and affected individuals and entities on matters involving wage discrimination. The
Secretary of Labor is required to seek additional compensatory or punitive damages in a sex discrimination action.
C) All establishments and businesses of whom have legal employees not following the procedures and protocols listed
above are fined 10% of their annual earnings and are liable in a civil action for either compensatory or punitive damages.
This act is to be enacted immediately upon official approvals by Congress or the President of the United States.