Congressman Henry Cuellar (TX-28) voted in favor of H.R. 7, the Paycheck Fairness Act. This legislation, sponsored by Rep. Rosa DeLauro (CT-03), will help close the wage gap and ensure women receive equal pay for equal work. Congressman Cuellar joined all 239 members of the House Democratic Caucus as an on original co-sponsor of the bill for the 116^th Congress.

“Gender discrimination in the workforce is unacceptable and we must do everything to ensure that women receive equal pay for equal work,” said Congressman Cuellar. “I am an original co-sponsor of the Paycheck Fairness Act for this important reason— I am committed to ensuring that women have the opportunities and resources to thrive in the workplace. I will continue to support legislation that fights discrimination on the basis of sex, gender identity, and sexual orientation.”

Due to loopholes in the law and weak sanctions for violations, the Equal Pay Act of 1963 has not provided the tools to truly combat unequal pay. Full-time working women still earn just 80 cents, on average, for every dollar a man earns, amounting to a yearly gap of $10,169 between full-time working men and women. The Paycheck Fairness Act modernizes the Equal Pay Act by strengthening and closing loopholes through its provisions. 

Among its key provisions, the Paycheck Fairness Act:

• Requires employers to prove that pay disparities exist for legitimate, job-related reasons.  In doing so, it ensures that employers who try to justify paying a man more than a woman for the same job must show the disparity is not sex-based, but job-related and necessary.

• Bans retaliation against workers who voluntarily discuss or disclose their wages.

• Ensures women can receive the same robust remedies for sex-based pay discrimination that are currently available to those subjected to discrimination based on race and ethnicity.

• Removes obstacles in the Equal Pay Act to facilitate a wronged worker’s participation in class action lawsuits that challenge systemic pay discrimination.

• Makes improvements in the Department of Labor’s tools for enforcing the Equal Pay Act.

• Provides assistance to all businesses to help them with their equal pay practices, recognizes excellence in pay practices by businesses, and empowers women and girls by creating a negotiation skills training program.

• Prohibits employers from relying on salary history in determining future pay, so that pay discrimination does not follow women from job to job.