The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee chaired by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has passed three labor/employment bills: Protecting the Right to Organize Act (S. 567) (“PRO Act”); the Paycheck Fairness Act (S. 728) (“PFA”); and the Healthy Families Act (S. 1664) (“HFA”). All three bills passed out of committee by a party-line vote of 11 to 10.
HR Policy Association has long advocated against the PRO Act and the Paycheck Fairness Act. With respect to the Healthy Families Act, we have historically advised lawmakers that multi-jurisdictional employers want a federal, national standard for paid leave, under which an employer would be exempted from certain state and local requirements.
Prior to the Senate HELP vote, the Association sent a letter of opposition to the three bills and urged lawmakers to vote “no.” With respect to the PRO Act, the letter stated the Act is “not a balanced and sincere attempt to update federal labor law to meet the needs of the modern workplace; it is merely a handout to organized labor.” The letter also outlines that while the Association supports the objectives of the Paycheck Fairness Act – addressing gender pay disparity issues in the workplace –the Association opposes three provisions within the bill that we do not believe address the underlying issue. The provisions include the removal of nondiscriminatory defenses, the recovery of unlimited damages, and the significant increases to pay data reporting.
Outlook: Even though the committee passed all three bills, it is uncertain if the proposals will receive a floor vote anytime soon as the number of legislative days is winding down ahead of the August recess. If the bills are considered and passed in the Senate chamber, they will not receive support in the Republican-majority House of Representatives. The bills are expected to serve as messaging vehicles heading into the 2024 election season.
