HB 1355 - Senator Helen Gordon Davis Fair Pay Protection Act

• Prohibits employers from providing less favorable employment opportunities or paying wages at lower rates to employees based on sex for substantially similar work requiring equal skill, effort, and responsibility performed under similar working conditions.

• Establishes affirmative defenses including seniority systems, merit systems, production-based systems, and bona fide factors related to job performance or business operations, with requirements that employers demonstrate factors are not sex-based and consistent with business necessity.

• Allows employees to recover unpaid wages plus liquidated damages within 3 years after the date of alleged violation or 6 months after termination of employment, with courts authorized to award attorney's fees and costs to prevailing parties.

• Creates civil penalties of up to $2,500 for first violation, $3,000 for second violation, and $5,000 for third or subsequent violations, with courts considering violation severity in determining penalty amounts.

• Prohibits employers from relying on or requesting wage or salary history, from retaliating based on wage history or wage disclosure, and from prohibiting employees from discussing their own wages or inquiring about other employees' wages; exempts minority business enterprises from these requirements.

• Becomes effective July 1, 2019.