A state House panel has passed bills on party-line votes that would strengthen protections against workplace discrimination.
One bill would lower the threshold for state anti-discrimination enforcement to businesses with as few as two employees, down from the current threshold of four.
Another bill would tweak provisions covering gender-based wage discrimination. It would, for example, bar disparate wages for employees engaged in “comparable work,” as opposed to the existing standard of “equal work.” The measure also would boost penalties for violations from a range of $50 to $200 to a range of $2,000 to $5,000.
Both bills were approved March 27 on a vote of 14 to 11 in the House Labor and Industry Committee, with only Democratic support.
Why is this happening: Sponsors of the gender-pay legislation cite studies demonstrating that women are typically paid less than men for the same work.
“By backing policies like ours that promote gender equality in the workplace, we move closer to closing the gender pay gap,” state Rep. Jenn O’Mara, a Delaware County Democrat, said yesterday in a statement.
In addition to stiffer penalties, the legislation would create a commission to study the causes of pay disparity.
The anti-discrimination bill, meanwhile, addresses what its sponsors see as a high rate of discrimination complaints by Pennsylvania workers.
In 2022, Pennsylvania had the fifth-highest rate of complaints, according to figures from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
“While the Human Relations Act promotes equal opportunity for all Pennsylvanians, it is clear we must work to enhance its protections,” state Reps. Greg Scott and Maureen Madden wrote in a memo seeking support for the bill.
In addition to lowering the threshold for enforcement, their bill would expand coverage to workers in agriculture and domestic service.
A related bill, which also passed yesterday on a party-line vote, would require businesses to create written policies and procedures for preventing harassment, discrimination and retaliation.
Is there opposition: Yes
In advance of yesterday’s vote, the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry issued memos warning about the potentially negative consequences of the legislation.
The chamber said it supports equal pay for equal work, as required under federal law. But it warned that the proposed standard of “comparable work” would be vaguer and more subjective than the current standard.
The chamber also argued the bill would end exceptions under which pay disparities might be OK, such as a raise for an employee being wooed by a competitor.
“This legislation will expose honest, law-abiding employers to lawsuits and severe penalties, which may particularly harm small businesses,” chamber lobbyist Alex Halper wrote in the memo.
Startups and other small businesses, meanwhile, could be hurt by a lower threshold for applying anti-discrimination laws, Halper argued. They may lack the resources or extensive employment record to defend themselves.
“We don’t doubt the positive intentions behind this proposal, but we have concerns about the unintended consequences,” Halper wrote.
What’s next: While the bills are likely to keep moving through the Democratic-controlled state House, they may face stiffer headwinds in the GOP-controlled Senate.
