REPORT TITLE:
Pay Equity


DESCRIPTION:
Establishes a four-year pilot project in the executive branch to
promote equal pay for equal or equivalent work. (SB2061 HD1)

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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THE SENATE                              S.B. NO.           S.D. 1        
TWENTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2000                                H.D. 1
STATE OF HAWAII                                            
                                                             
________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________


                   A  BILL  FOR  AN  ACT

RELATING TO PUBLIC OFFICERS AND EMPLOYEES AND EMPLOYMENT
   PRACTICES.



BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 1      SECTION 1.  The legislature finds the following:
 
 2      (1)  Despite federal and state laws banning discrimination
 
 3           in employment and pay in both the private and public
 
 4           sectors of Hawaii's economy, wage differentials persist
 
 5           between women and men and between minorities and
 
 6           nonminorities in the same jobs and in jobs that are
 
 7           dissimilar, but require equivalent composites of skill,
 
 8           effort, responsibility, and working conditions;
 
 9      (2)  The existence of these wage differentials:
 
10           (A)  Depresses wages and living standards for employees
 
11                necessary for their health and efficiency;
 
12           (B)  Reduces family incomes and contributes to higher
 
13                poverty rates among female-headed and minority
 
14                households;
 
15           (C)  Prevents maximum use of available labor resources;
 
16           (D)  Tends to cause labor disputes calling for a living
 
17                wage, thereby burdening, affecting, and
 
18                obstructing commerce;
 
19           (E)  Constitutes an unfair method of compensation; and
 

 
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 1           (F)  Constitutes a discriminatory practice;
 
 2      (3)  Discrimination in wage-setting practices has played a
 
 3           role in depressing wages for women and minorities
 
 4           generally;
 
 5      (4)  Many individuals work in occupations that are dominated
 
 6           by individuals of their same sex, race, and national
 
 7           origin, and discrimination in hiring, job assignment,
 
 8           and promotion has played a role in establishing and
 
 9           maintaining segregated work forces; and
 
10      (5)  Eliminating discrimination in compensation based on
 
11           sex, race, and national origin would have positive
 
12           effects, including:
 
13           (A)  Providing a solution to problems in the economy
 
14                created by discriminatory wage differentials;
 
15           (B)  Reducing the number of working women and
 
16                minorities earning low wages, thereby lowering
 
17                their incidence of poverty during normal working
 
18                years and in retirement; and
 
19           (C)  Promoting stable families by raising family
 
20                incomes.
 
21      The purpose of this Act is to improve employment practices
 
22 by:
 

 
 
 
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 1      (1)  Establishing a mandatory reporting and record keeping
 
 2           system of employment statistics pertaining to all
 
 3           permanent, full-time public officers and employees
 
 4           covered by chapter 76 of the Hawaii Revised Statutes;
 
 5           and
 
 6      (2)  Implementing a pilot fair pay project for civil service
 
 7           employees.
 
 8      SECTION 2.  Chapter 76, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended
 
 9 by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to
 
10 read as follows:
 
11      "§76-     Wage disclosure; recordkeeping; and reporting
 
12 requirements.  (a)  Upon commencement of an individual's
 
13 employment as a civil service employee and at least annually
 
14 thereafter, the director of human resources development shall
 
15 cause each department to provide to each civil service employee
 
16 therein a written statement sufficient to inform the employee of
 
17 the employee's job title, wage rate, and the method of
 
18 calculating the wage.  The notice shall be supplemented whenever
 
19 an employee is promoted or reassigned to a different position
 
20 with the department; provided that the director is not required
 
21 to issue supplemental notifications for temporary reassignments
 
22 that are no greater than three months in duration.
 

 
 
 
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 1      (b)  The director of human resources development shall make
 
 2 and preserve records that document the following as to each
 
 3 department:
 
 4      (1)  The positions available;
 
 5      (2)  The wages paid to each employee holding each position;
 
 6      (3)  The method, system, calculations, and other bases used
 
 7           to establish, adjust, and determine the wage rates paid
 
 8           for each position;
 
 9      (4)  The demographic composition (i.e., sex, race, age) of
 
10           the employees who are employed in each position; and
 
11      (5)  To the extent the information is available without
 
12           making specific inquiry of any individual employee,
 
13           whether there is a history of discrimination against
 
14           women or minority groups with regard to wages,
 
15           assignment, or access to the position.
 
16 Every department subject to this chapter shall preserve the
 
17 records and make reports for periods determined by the director
 
18 of human resources development.
 
19      (c)  The rules adopted under this section shall provide for
 
20 the protection of confidentiality of employees, and shall
 
21 expressly require that reports shall not include the names or
 
22 other identifying information from which the identities of
 
23 employees can be revealed.  The rules may also identify
 

 
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 1 circumstances that warrant a prohibition on disclosing reports or
 
 2 information identifying the employer.
 
 3      (d)  The director of human resources development may use the
 
 4 information and data collected pursuant to this section for
 
 5 statistical and research purposes, and may compile and publish
 
 6 studies, analyses, reports, and surveys based on the information
 
 7 and data that the director of human resources development deems
 
 8 appropriate."
 
 9      SECTION 3.  (a)  There is established a four-year fair pay
 
10 project to be conducted by the Hawaii state commission on the
 
11 status of women beginning in fiscal year 2001-2002 and continuing
 
12 through fiscal year 2004-2005.  This pilot project shall be
 
13 implemented by each department with civil service employees
 
14 pursuant to plans, procedures, and guidelines developed by the
 
15 director of human resources development.
 
16      (b)  The following shall constitute general requirements of
 
17 the fair pay project and shall be followed in the implementation
 
18 of this Act:
 
19      (1)  There shall be implemented a fair pay project that
 
20           shall be conducted pursuant to plans, procedures, and
 
21           guidelines to be developed consistent with this Act.
 
22           Plans, procedures, and guidelines to implement the
 
23           phases of this Act as described below shall be made
 

 
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 1           beginning in fiscal year 2000-2001 by the Hawaii state
 
 2           commission on the status of women and the director of
 
 3           human resources development;
 
 4      (2)  Pursuant to the plans, procedures, and guidelines, the
 
 5           first phase (reporting) of the fair pay project shall
 
 6           consist of an analysis conducted by the Hawaii state
 
 7           commission on the status of women and the director of
 
 8           human resources development of the information
 
 9           collected pursuant to the foregoing mandatory reporting
 
10           and recordkeeping provisions of chapter 76, Hawaii
 
11           Revised Statutes.  All positions occupied by each
 
12           executive branch department's civil service employees
 
13           in fiscal year 1999-2000, shall be examined to
 
14           determine:
 
15           (A)  Equivalent positions, with the term "equivalent
 
16                positions" meaning jobs or occupations that are
 
17                equal within the meaning of the Federal Equal Pay
 
18                Act of 1963, 29 U.S.C. section 206(d), or jobs or
 
19                occupations that are dissimilar but whose
 
20                requirements are equivalent, when viewed as a
 
21                composite of skills, effort, responsibility, and
 
22                working conditions;
 

 
 
 
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 1           (B)  What numbers of each gender, race, and national
 
 2                origin occupy which positions; with the objective
 
 3                of determining whether certain types of positions
 
 4                are dominated by individuals of one gender, race,
 
 5                or national origin as opposed to others; and
 
 6           (C)  What levels of compensation are paid to persons
 
 7                occupying each job or position;
 
 8           and
 
 9      (3)  The first phase (reporting) shall culminate in a report
 
10           to be prepared in fiscal year 2001-2002 by the Hawaii
 
11           state commission on the status of women and the
 
12           director of human resources development, which shall
 
13           identify the following for implementation in the second
 
14           phase (action) of the fair pay project:
 
15           (A)  Each job or position shall be identified, together
 
16                with title, wage rate, and the method of
 
17                calculating the wage;
 
18           (B)  Rules shall be proposed for the purpose of
 
19                specifying criteria for determining whether a job
 
20                or position is dominated by employees of a
 
21                particular gender, race, or national origin.
 
22                Criteria shall include factors such as whether the
 
23                job has ever been formally classified as or
 

 
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 1                traditionally considered to be a "male" or
 
 2                "female" job, whether there is a history of
 
 3                discrimination on the basis of gender, race, or
 
 4                national origin with regard to wages, assignment,
 
 5                or access to jobs, or other terms and conditions
 
 6                of employment, and the demographic composition of
 
 7                the work force in equivalent jobs;
 
 8           (C)  Rules and recommendations shall be proposed
 
 9                identifying equivalent jobs or positions, and
 
10                specifying which jobs or positions require
 
11                additional compensation, and in what amounts, to
 
12                be paid to reduce or extinguish any unequal wage
 
13                differential that may exist between equivalent
 
14                jobs or positions;
 
15           (D)  The director of human resources development shall
 
16                submit an interim report of the fair pay project
 
17                to the legislature not later than twenty days
 
18                prior to the regular session of 2002, describing
 
19                the progress of the planning phase;
 
20           (E)  The director of human resources development shall
 
21                submit the final report of the fair pay project
 
22                report to the legislature not later than twenty
 
23                days prior to the convening of the regular session
 

 
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 1                of 2003, together with a proposed budget for
 
 2                appropriations to implement the report's rules and
 
 3                recommendations beginning in fiscal year 2003-
 
 4                2004; and
 
 5           (F)  The legislature will review the report of the fair
 
 6                pay project during the regular sessions of 2002
 
 7                and 2003, and will give its utmost consideration
 
 8                to a grant of appropriations to implement the
 
 9                report's rules and recommendations consistent with
 
10                the intent of this Act;
 
11      (4)  The action phase of the fair pay project shall consist
 
12           of the following:
 
13           (A)  The full implementation of the action phase of the
 
14                fair pay project is scheduled to commence in
 
15                fiscal year 2003-2004, wherein state employees of
 
16                the participating departments will receive the
 
17                initial increments of their fair pay.  Full
 
18                increments of their fair pay will be made by the
 
19                end of fiscal year 2004-2005; and
 
20           (B)  The auditor shall monitor and evaluate the
 
21                efficacy of the fair pay project, and evaluate the
 
22                information gathered pursuant thereto, including
 
23                any additional demographic information (such as
 

 
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 1                ethnicity, age, and other pertinent data) as may
 
 2                be gathered pursuant to the plans, procedures, and
 
 3                guidelines established pursuant to this Act, for
 
 4                further consideration by the legislature in the
 
 5                regular session of 2005;
 
 6           and
 
 7      (5)  Information regarding the fair pay project shall be
 
 8           forwarded to the Hawaii civil rights commission and the
 
 9           exclusive representatives of employees involved.
 
10      SECTION 5.  By evidencing the legislature's purpose of
 
11 reporting data and investigating the efficacy of equalizing
 
12 compensation between and among substantially equivalent jobs or
 
13 positions, this Act does not permit any individual to bring an
 
14 action for monetary or injunctive relief in reliance hereon; nor
 
15 does this Act create any legal or equitable right in any person
 
16 to seek back pay or benefits for equivalent work.
 
17      SECTION 6.  There is appropriated out of the general
 
18 revenues of the State of Hawaii the sum of $1 or so much thereof
 
19 as may be necessary for fiscal year 2001-2002 for the Hawaii
 
20 state commission on the status of women to establish and operate
 
21 the fair pay project to gather information and effect changes
 
22 that will equalize pay for women and minorities.
 

 
 
 
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 1      The sum appropriated shall be expended by the office of the
 
 2 lieutenant governor for the purposes of this Act.
 
 3      SECTION 7.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval,
 
 4 except that section 6 shall take effect on July 1, 2000.