STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
5248--B
Cal. No. 641
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
April 18, 2019
___________
Introduced by Sen. BIAGGI -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Labor -- reported favora-
bly from said committee, ordered to first and second report, ordered
to a third reading, amended and ordered reprinted, retaining its place
in the order of third reading -- again amended and ordered reprinted,
retaining its place in the order of third reading
AN ACT to amend the labor law, in relation to prohibiting wage differen-
tials based on protected class status
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The section heading and subdivisions 1 and 2 of section 194
2 of the labor law, the section heading as added by chapter 548 of the
3 laws of 1966, subdivision 1 as amended and subdivision 2 as added by
4 chapter 362 of the laws of 2015, are amended to read as follows:
5 Differential in rate of pay because of [sex] protected class status
6 prohibited. 1. No employee with status within one or more protected
7 class or classes shall be paid a wage at a rate less than the rate at
8 which an employee [of the opposite sex] without status within the same
9 protected class or classes in the same establishment is paid for: (a)
10 equal work on a job the performance of which requires equal skill,
11 effort and responsibility, and which is performed under similar working
12 conditions, or (b) substantially similar work, when viewed as a compos-
13 ite of skill, effort, and responsibility, and performed under similar
14 working conditions; except where payment is made pursuant to a differen-
15 tial based on:
16 [a.] (i) a seniority system;
17 [b.] (ii) a merit system;
18 [c.] (iii) a system which measures earnings by quantity or quality of
19 production; or
20 [d.] (iv) a bona fide factor other than [sex] status within one or
21 more protected class or classes, such as education, training, or experi-
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10298-06-9
S. 5248--B 2
1 ence. Such factor: [(i)] (A) shall not be based upon or derived from a
2 [sex-based] differential in compensation based on status within one or
3 more protected class or classes and [(ii)] (B) shall be job-related with
4 respect to the position in question and shall be consistent with busi-
5 ness necessity. Such exception under this paragraph shall not apply when
6 the employee demonstrates [(A)] (1) that an employer uses a particular
7 employment practice that causes a disparate impact on the basis of [sex]
8 status within one or more protected class or classes, [(B)] (2) that an
9 alternative employment practice exists that would serve the same busi-
10 ness purpose and not produce such differential, and [(C)] (3) that the
11 employer has refused to adopt such alternative practice.
12 2. For the purpose of subdivision one of this section[,]: (a) "busi-
13 ness necessity" shall be defined as a factor that bears a manifest
14 relationship to the employment in question, and (b) "protected class"
15 shall include age, race, creed, color, national origin, sexual orien-
16 tation, gender identity or expression, military status, sex, disability,
17 predisposing genetic characteristics, familial status, marital status,
18 or domestic violence victim status, and any employee protected from
19 discrimination pursuant to paragraphs (a), (b), and (c) of subdivision
20 one of section two hundred ninety-six and any intern protected from
21 discrimination pursuant to section two hundred ninety-six-c of the exec-
22 utive law.
23 § 2. Section 197 of the labor law, as amended by chapter 564 of the
24 laws of 2010, is amended to read as follows:
25 § 197. Civil penalty. Any employer who fails to pay the wages of his
26 employees or shall differentiate in rate of pay because of [sex]
27 protected class status, as provided in this article, shall forfeit to
28 the people of the state the sum of five hundred dollars for each such
29 failure, to be recovered by the commissioner in any legal action neces-
30 sary, including administrative action or a civil action.
31 § 3. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall
32 have become a law.
