Client Alerts & Insights
Third State This Month Passes Pay Equity Legislation
May 31, 2019
Authored By:
On May 30, 2019, the Alabama state legislature passed a bill that would prohibit wage differentials for similar work on the basis or sex or race. The legislation must still be signed into law by Governor Kay Ivey (R). If enacted, Alabama will leave Mississippi as the only state in the nation that does not have a wage discrimination law on the books.
While most states already prohibit wage discrimination in some fashion, a string of recent legislation has aimed to place additional restriction on employers, focusing primarily on wage and salary history information. As with Washington and Colorado, the Alabama legislation would prohibit employers from discriminating or retaliating against job applicants who refuse to provide their wage and salary history. Unlike Washington and Colorado, however, the Alabama legislation does not include an outright prohibition on employer inquiries about salary histories. Instead, the bill only prohibits employers from refusing to interview, hire, promote, or employ an applicant who refuses to provide such information.
For current employees, the law prohibits employers from paying different wages for similar work based on race or sex. Most employers will also be required to keep records of wages, wage rates, job classifications, and other terms and conditions of employment for all employees for a period of three years.
The legislation authorizes employees and applicants to sue employers in state court for lost wages and interest, but requires employee-plaintiffs to specifically plead that they were paid less than someone else for equal work despite possessing equal skill, effort, education, experience, and responsibility, and that the wage disparity is not attributable to any of the following: (1) a seniority system; (2) a merit system; (3) a system that measures earnings by quantity or quality of production; or (4) any factor other than sex or race. The legislation is silent regarding the pleading requirements for applicants alleging violations of the salary history provisions.
If signed by the Governor, the legislation will take effect on the first day of the third month after its signing. In the interim, employers should consider reviewing job applications and applicable pay scales for compliance with the legislation.
For more information on this topic, please contact a member of the firm’s Labor & Employment Practice Group.
Margo Wolf O’Donnell at modonnell@beneschlaw.com or 312.212.4982.
Latest News
Nobody—Not Even Einstein—Has Figured Out What Causes Gravity, but You Need to if You Are Facing a Putative Consumer Class Action in the 9th Circuit
The common argument made by plaintiffs that differences in alleged misrepresentations are transcended by the center of the gravity of the alleged fraud should not be addressed through the typical approach of just comparing the level of variance of the representations in the case at issue with that in the relevant precedent.
The Faster Labor Contracts Act Would Permit Federal Government to Impose Union Contract Terms on Employers
The federal government may soon be able to impose the terms of first collective bargaining agreements (“CBAs”) on private sector employers and unions.
Going Back to the “Well”: Plaintiffs Target Wellness Branding by Attacking Ingredients
Plaintiffs are increasingly targeting food and beverage companies’ “wellness” and “free-from” marketing claims, focusing on ingredient-level details that allegedly contradict broad statements on the labels.
The CFTC’s New Cooperation Playbook: What Practitioners Need to Know About Letter No. 26-15
In a recent Staff Advisory to the Enforcement Division , the Commodities and Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) released guidance on how companies can avoid enforcement actions—or receive substantial penalty reductions—through early and full disclosure of potential misconduct.