Bill Text: FL S2672 | 2010 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Helen Gordon Davis Equal Pay Protection Act [CPSC]

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Failed) 2010-04-30 - Died in Committee on Commerce [S2672 Detail]

Download: Florida-2010-S2672-Introduced.html

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Florida Senate - 2010                                    SB 2672 
 
By Senator Joyner 
18-00011-10                                           20102672__ 
1                        A bill to be entitled 
2         An act relating to employment discrimination; creating 
3         the Helen Gordon Davis Equal Pay Protection Act; 
4         making legislative findings relating to equal pay for 
5         equal work for women; recognizing the importance of 
6         the Agency for Workforce Innovation and the Commission 
7         on Human Relations in ensuring equal pay; requiring 
8         the Agency for Workforce Innovation to conduct studies 
9         and provide information to employers, labor 
10         organizations, and the public concerning the means 
11         available to eliminate pay disparities between men and 
12         women; creating the Governor’s Recognition Award for 
13         Pay Equity in the Workplace; requiring that the award 
14         be made annually to businesses in this state which 
15         have engaged in activities that eliminate the barriers 
16         to equal pay for equal work for women; requiring the 
17         director of the agency and the chairperson of the 
18         commission to work cooperatively with the Executive 
19         Office of the Governor to create eligibility criteria 
20         for employers to receive the award; providing an 
21         effective date. 
22 
23  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 
24 
25         Section 1. Equal pay recognition; awards.— 
26         (1) SHORT TITLE.—This section may be cited as the “Helen 
27  Gordon Davis Equal Pay Protection Act.” 
28         (2) LEGISLATIVE FINDINGS AND INTENT; DUTIES OF AGENCY FOR 
29  WORKFORCE INNOVATION AND COMMISSION ON HUMAN RELATIONS.— 
30         (a) The Legislature finds that women have entered the 
31  workforce in record numbers over the past 50 years. Yet, despite 
32  the enactment of the Equal Pay Act in 1963, many women continue 
33  to earn significantly lower salaries and pay than men for equal 
34  work. These pay disparities exist in both the private and 
35  governmental sectors. In many instances, the pay disparities are 
36  the result of continued intentional discrimination against women 
37  or the lingering effects of past discrimination against women. 
38         (b) The Legislature further finds that the existence of 
39  such pay disparities: 
40         1. Depresses the wages of working families who rely on the 
41  wages of all members of the family; 
42         2. Undermines the retirement security of women, which is 
43  based on wages women earn while in the workforce; 
44         3. Prevents the optimum use of available labor resources; 
45         4. Continues to spread and perpetuate, through commerce and 
46  the instrumentalities of commerce, among workers in all states; 
47         5. Burdens commerce and the free flow of goods in commerce; 
48         6. Constitutes an unfair method of competition in commerce; 
49         7. Leads to labor disputes that burden and obstruct 
50  commerce and the free flow of goods in commerce; 
51         8. Interferes with the orderly and fair marketing of goods 
52  in commerce; and 
53         9. Deprives female workers of equal protection on the basis 
54  of gender in violation of the Fifth and the Fourteenth 
55  Amendments to the United States Constitution. 
56         (c)1. The Legislature further finds that artificial 
57  barriers to the payment of equal wages continue to exist decades 
58  after the enactment of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, s. 
59  29 U.S.C. 201 et seq., and the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 
60  U.S.C. s. 2000a. These barriers have resulted, in large part, 
61  because the federal Equal Pay Act has not worked as Congress 
62  originally intended. Improvements and modifications to the law 
63  are necessary to ensure that the act provides effective 
64  protection to those subject to pay discrimination on the basis 
65  of their gender. 
66         2. The Legislature finds that eliminating such artificial 
67  barriers would have positive effects, including: 
68         a. Providing a solution to problems in the economy created 
69  by unfair pay disparities; 
70         b. Substantially reducing the number of working women 
71  earning unfairly low wages, thereby reducing the dependence on 
72  public assistance; 
73         c. Promoting stable families by enabling all family members 
74  to earn a fair rate of pay; 
75         d. Remedying the effects of past discrimination on the 
76  basis of gender and ensuring that in the future female workers 
77  are afforded equal protection; and 
78         e. Ensuring equal protection under s. 2, Article I of the 
79  State Constitution. 
80         (d)1. The Legislature finds that the Agency for Workforce 
81  Innovation and the Commission on Human Relations have important 
82  and unique responsibilities to help ensure that women receive 
83  equal pay for equal work. 
84         2. The Agency for Workforce Innovation shall: 
85         a. Collect and make publicly available information about 
86  women’s pay; 
87         b. Ensure that companies receiving state contracts comply 
88  with antidiscrimination and affirmative action requirements of 
89  this state relating to equal employment opportunity; 
90         c. Disseminate information about women’s rights in the 
91  workplace; 
92         d. Help women who have been victims of pay discrimination 
93  obtain a remedy; and 
94         e. Be proactive in investigating and prosecuting violations 
95  of laws requiring equal pay, especially systemic violations, and 
96  in enforcing all mandates of those laws. 
97         3. The Commission on Human Relations is the primary 
98  enforcement agency for claims made under the Equal Pay Act, and 
99  shall issue regulations and guidance on appropriate 
100  interpretations of the law. 
101         4. As a result of a stronger commitment by the Agency for 
102  Workforce Innovation and the Commission on Human Relations to 
103  their responsibilities, more effective remedies, and increased 
104  information about the provisions added to the Equal Pay Act of 
105  1963, this section, and wage data, women will be better able to 
106  recognize and enforce their rights. 
107         (e) The Legislature recognizes that certain employers have 
108  already made great strides in eradicating unfair pay disparities 
109  in the workplace and their achievements should be recognized. 
110         (3) RESEARCH, EDUCATION, AND OUTREACH.—The director of the 
111  Agency for Workforce Innovation shall conduct studies and 
112  provide information to employers, labor organizations, and the 
113  public concerning the means that are available to eliminate pay 
114  disparities between men and women. These efforts shall include: 
115         (a) Conducting and promoting research to develop the means 
116  to expeditiously correct the conditions leading to pay 
117  disparities; 
118         (b) Publishing and otherwise making available to employers, 
119  labor organizations, professional associations, educational 
120  institutions, the media, and the public findings resulting from 
121  studies and other materials relating to eliminating pay 
122  disparities; 
123         (c) Sponsoring and assisting state and community 
124  informational and educational programs; 
125         (d) Providing information to employers, labor 
126  organizations, professional associations, and other interested 
127  persons on the means of eliminating pay disparities; and 
128         (e) Recognizing and promoting the achievements of 
129  employers, labor organizations, and professional associations 
130  that have worked to eliminate pay disparities. 
131         (4) THE GOVERNOR’S RECOGNITION AWARD FOR PAY EQUITY IN THE 
132  WORKPLACE.— 
133         (a) The Legislature establishes the Governor’s Recognition 
134  Award for Pay Equity in the Workplace, which shall be awarded 
135  annually to businesses in this state which have engaged in 
136  activities that eliminate the barriers to equal pay for equal 
137  work. The ceremony to recognize the employers shall be organized 
138  in such a way so as to encourage proactive efforts by other 
139  employers to equalize pay between men and women performing the 
140  same work. 
141         (b) The director of the Agency for Workforce Innovation and 
142  the chairperson of the Commission on Human Relations, in 
143  cooperation with the Executive Office of the Governor, shall 
144  create criteria for employers to be eligible to receive the 
145  award. The criteria shall include a requirement that an employer 
146  must have made substantial efforts to eliminate pay disparities 
147  between men and women and deserves special recognition as a 
148  consequence of such efforts. The director shall establish 
149  procedures for applications, regional ceremonies, and 
150  presentations of the award. 
151         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2010.