HCS HB 769 -- MISSOURI EQUAL PAY ACT

SPONSOR:  Hickey (Bray)

COMMITTEE ACTION:  Voted "do pass" by the Committee on Labor by
a vote of 13 to 5.

This substitute enacts the Missouri Equal Pay Act.  In its main
provisions, the substitute:

(1)  Makes it an unlawful employment practice for employers to
discriminate between employees on the basis of sex or race in
the payment of wages;

(2)  Makes it an unlawful employment practice for employers to
retaliate against employees that utilize the protections of this
act;

(3)  Clarifies wage payment differentials that will not be
considered an unlawful employment practice;

(4)  Prohibits employers from reducing wages to comply with this
act;

(5)  Requires employers to maintain records on their wage rate
calculations;

(6)  Lists the remedies available to employees for violations of
this act; and

(7)  Requires that actions be instituted within 2 years of the
last violation.

FISCAL NOTE:  Cost to General Revenue of Unknown in FY 2000, FY
2001, and FY 2002.  Costs could exceed $100,000 in any given
year.

PROPONENTS:  Supporters say that federal wage discrimination
laws are not being enforced, that discriminatory discrepancies
in wages need to be addressed, and that this bill would provide
local control and better enforcement.

Testifying for the bill were Representative Bray; and Missouri
AFL-CIO.

OPPONENTS:  Those who oppose the bill say that the federal law
is sufficient and that this bill unfairly shifts the burden of
proof to the employer to prove that wages are not discriminatory.

Testifying against the bill were Associated Industries of
Missouri; and Missouri Chamber of Commerce.

Julie Jinkens McNitt, Legislative Analyst

HB 769 -- Missouri Equal Pay Act

Co-Sponsors:  Bray, Hickey, Green, McLuckie, Hilgemann,
Franklin, Van Zandt, Williams (121)

This bill enacts the Missouri Equal Pay Act.  In its main
provisions, the bill:

(1)  Makes it an unlawful employment practice for employers to
discriminate between employees on the basis of sex or race in
the payment of wages;

(2)  Makes it an unlawful employment practice for employers to
retaliate against employees that utilize the protections of this
act;

(3)  Clarifies wage payment differentials that will not be
considered an unlawful employment practice;

(4)  Prohibits employers from reducing wages to comply with this
act;

(5)  Requires employers to maintain records on their wage rate
calculations and to disclose this information to employees and
the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations;

(6)  Lists the remedies available to employees for violations of
this act; and

(7)  Requires that actions be instituted within 2 years of the
last violation.