• "(The Society for Human Resource Management) strongly opposes the Paycheck Fairness Act as currently written because the bill would: 1) make employers liable for unlimited punitive damages under the FLSA for even unintentional pay disparities. 2) Facilitate class action lawsuits against employers by repealing the requirement that employees must give their written consent to become a party in an Equal Pay Act class action. The Paycheck Fairness Act would automatically include all relevant employees in a class, a provision that would inevitably and dramatically increase the number of plaintiffs in class actions. 3) Restrict an employer’s flexibility to compensate its employees based on current law criteria, such as cost-of-living differences among geographic locations, different work responsibilities within similar job categories or prior salary history." Source: The Society for Human Recourse Managment
• "The (Paycheck Fairness Act) misses the mark with the following provisions: 1) requir[ing] the EEOC, for the first time, to collect compensation data from employers disaggregated by the sex, race, and national origin of employees, including hiring, termination, and promotion data. This would be an action that could impose compliance costs of $700 million annually. 2) Expand[ing] class action lawsuits by deeming all potential class members to be plaintiffs, requiring those who may not wish to pursue a claim to affirmatively opt-out. 3) Open[ing] claims unlimited compensatory or punitive damages, even if there is no finding of intentional discrimination. 4) Establish[ing] a higher burden on employers to prove that “a factor other than sex” is a “bona fide factor other than sex” which would only apply if the employer can show a “business necessity” for the disparity." Source: Rep. Elise Stefanik> (Republican, New York, District 21)