Federal

Salary Transparency Act

Source: Congress.gov · 825 words in original text

What This Bill Does

This bill amends the Fair Labor Standards Act to require employers to tell employees and job applicants what wages they will earn for a job. The bill creates penalties when employers fail to disclose wages or punish workers for asking about pay.

Who It Affects

Employers of all sizes, employees currently working for employers, applicants applying for jobs, and employees or applicants who believe they were treated unfairly because they asked about wages.

Key Provisions

• Employers must include the wage or wage range in any public or internal job posting (Sec. 2(a)(1)) • If no job posting was given to an applicant, the employer must tell the applicant the wage or wage range before talking about pay and anytime the applicant asks (Sec. 2(a)(2)) • Employers must tell employees their wage or wage range when they are hired, at least once per year after that, and anytime the employee asks (Sec. 2(a)(3)) • Employers cannot refuse to interview, hire, promote or employ someone, or punish them in any way, for asking about or discussing wages (Sec. 2(a)(4))

What Changes

Employers are required by law to share wage information with job applicants and employees. Employers who break these rules face civil penalties (money fines) of $5,000 for a first violation and up to $10,000 for later violations. People harmed by wage disclosure violations can sue employers for damages between $1,000 and $10,000 or for actual damages (whichever is more), plus attorney's fees.

Important Definitions

"Wage range" means the range of wages, salaries and other forms of compensation that an employer expects to pay for a job. This can be based on a pay scale, a previously set wage range for the position, what the employer currently pays people in the same job, or the amount budgeted for the position.

I 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 1599 To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act to require an employer providing an employment opportunity to disclose the wage range for such employ- ment opportunity to employees and applicants for employment, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 14, 2023 Ms. NORTON introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce A BILL To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act to require an employer providing an employment opportunity to dis- close the wage range for such employment opportunity to employees and applicants for employment, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Salary Transparency 4 Act’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Mar 29, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1599.IH H1599 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •HR 1599 IH SEC. 2. PROHIBITIONS RELATING TO WAGE DISCLOSURES. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Fair Labor Standards Act of 2 1938 (29 U.S.C. 201 et seq.) is amended by inserting 3 after section 7 the following new section: 4 ‘‘SEC. 8. REQUIREMENTS AND PROHIBITIONS RELATING TO 5 WAGE DISCLOSURES. 6 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—It shall be an unlawful practice 7 for an employer to— 8 ‘‘(1) fail or refuse to disclose, in any public or 9 internal posting for an employment opportunity, the 10 wage or wage range for such employment oppor- 11 tunity; 12 ‘‘(2) in any case in which a public or internal 13 posting for an employment opportunity has not been 14 made available to an applicant for such employment 15 opportunity, fail or refuse to disclose to such appli- 16 cant the wage or wage range for such employment 17 opportunity prior to discussing compensation with 18 the applicant and at any time upon the applicant’s 19 request; 20 ‘‘(3) fail or refuse to disclose to an employee 21 the wage or wage range for the employee’s position 22 upon hire and at least annually thereafter and at 23 any time upon the employee’s request; or 24 ‘‘(4) refuse to interview, hire, promote, or em- 25 ploy an employee or applicant for employment, or in 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Mar 29, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1599.IH H1599 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •HR 1599 IH any other manner retaliate against an employee or 1 applicant for employment, for exercising any rights 2 under this section. 3 ‘‘(b) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘wage 4 range’, with respect to an employment opportunity, means 5 the range of wages, or salaries and other forms of com- 6 pensation, that the employer providing such employment 7 opportunity anticipates in good faith relying on in setting 8 the pay for such employment opportunity. Such term may 9 include reference to any applicable pay scale, previously 10 determined wage range for the position, the actual wage 11 range for those currently holding equivalent positions, or 12 the budgeted amount for the position, as applicable. For 13 the purposes of subsection (a)(3), such term may include 14 reference to any applicable pay scale, previously deter- 15 mined wage range for the position, or the wage range for 16 incumbents in equivalent positions, as applicable.’’. 17 (b) PENALTIES.—Section 16 of such Act (29 U.S.C. 18 216) is amended by adding at the end the following new 19 subsection: 20 ‘‘(f)(1) Any person who violates the provisions of sec- 21 tion 8 shall— 22 ‘‘(A) be subject to a civil penalty of $5,000 for 23 a first violation, increased by an additional $1,000 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Mar 29, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H1599.IH H1599 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •HR 1599 IH for each subsequent violation, not to exceed $10,000; 1 and 2 ‘‘(B) be liable to each employee or applicant for 3 employment who was the subject of the violation for 4 statutory damages between $1,000 and $10,000, or 5 actual damages, whichever is greater, plus reason- 6 able attorneys’ fees, and shall be subject to such in- 7 junctive relief as may be appropriate. 8 ‘‘(2) An action to recover the liability described in 9 paragraph (1)(B) may be maintained against any em- 10 ployer (including a public agency) in any Federal or State 11 court of competent jurisdiction by any one or more em- 12 ployees or applicants for employment for and on behalf 13 of— 14 ‘‘(A) the employees or applicants for employ- 15 ment; and 16 ‘‘(B) other employees or applicants for employ- 17 ment similarly situated.’’. 18 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:31 Mar 29, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H1599.IH H1599 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB

Important: This plain English summary was generated by AI and is provided for informational purposes only. It is not legal advice. Always consult the official bill text on Congress.gov or a qualified attorney for legal matters.