Fair Pay Act of 2026

Key Points

• The bill would make it illegal for employers to pay workers less based on sex, race, or national origin when they perform equivalent jobs. "Equivalent jobs" means jobs that may look different but require similar skills, effort, responsibility, and working conditions.
• Employers can still pay different wages based on seniority, merit, production quality or quantity, or other legitimate business factors like education and experience. But they must prove that those factors are job-related and not just a cover for discrimination.
• Companies with 25 or more employees in the first two years (and 15 or more after that) would have to submit reports to the EEOC showing pay rates broken down by job title, sex, race, and national origin. Individual employee names would be kept confidential.
• Workers would be protected from retaliation for discussing their pay with coworkers or for reporting discrimination. Employers could not fire, threaten, or intimidate employees who raise pay concerns.
• Employers found guilty of pay discrimination could face compensatory and punitive damages on top of back pay. Workers could also bring class action lawsuits, and courts could award expert fees as part of the costs.
• The law would not allow employers to cut anyone's pay to close a wage gap. Instead, lower-paid workers in equivalent jobs would need to be brought up to the higher rate. All changes would take effect one year after enactment.