Senate Committee Discusses Paycheck Fairness Act

In advance of an expected floor vote, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions held a hearing on April 1 to discuss the merits of the Paycheck Fairness Act (S. 84). Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski (MD), chief sponsor of the legislation, said the Senate needs to "finish the job started by the Lily Ledbetter" Fair Pay Act.  The bill, which has been introduced several times in the last few years but has failed to advance, would make the following changes to current wage law: 

• Expand damages under the Equal Pay Act (EPA) to include potentially unlimited compensatory and punitive awards for wage discrimination.
• Weaken an employer's ability to raise the "factor other than sex" affirmative defense in a wage discrimination case. Under the more stringent standard, an employer would have to prove that a pay differential was based on a "bona fide factor other than sex, such as education, training, or experience," and that this other factor is job-related