Paycheck Fairness Act vote scheduled for November 17

Story here. Excerpt:

'The Paycheck Fairness Act is poised to see action, following the re-introduction of the bill (S. 3772) in September by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV). The bill is scheduled for a lame-duck (post-election) vote in the Senate on November 17, 2010. The Senate will vote on whether to debate the bill. This is known as a cloture vote and 60 votes are needed to move the bill forward. With the balance of power in the Senate teetering, the election on November 2 of three new Senators (from West Virginia, Illinois and Delaware), who may be seated for the lame-duck session, could affect the cloture vote.

If passed, the Act would expose employers to far greater liability than now exists. Employers must act now to make sure their concerns are heard.
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The proposal would fundamentally change the Equal Pay Act of 1963 (EPA). The EPA prohibits employers from paying women less than men for performing the same or “substantially equal” work in the same “establishment,” except for specific reasons.

Under the proposed law, to defend against discrimination claims, employers must demonstrate that any pay differential is based on a “bona fide factor other than sex, such as education, training, or experience,” and is “consistent with business necessity,” among other requirements. Further, the legislation would expose businesses to unlimited compensatory and punitive damages and weaken the EPA’s procedural requirements for class action litigation. The bill also seeks to broaden the definition of “establishment.” (See Paycheck Fairness Act Would Negatively Impact Businesses, Jackson Lewis Partner Cautions.)'