As Introduced
135th General Assembly
Regular Session H. B. No. 115
2023-2024
Representatives Miranda, Brent
Cosponsors: Representatives Russo, Brennan, Brown, Dell'Aquila, Denson, Grim,
Lightbody, Skindell, Somani, Sweeney, Weinstein, Humphrey, Blackshear,
Jarrells, Forhan, Miller, A., Baker, Miller, J., Brewer, Galonski, Isaacsohn, McNally,
Mohamed, Robinson, Thomas, C., Upchurch, Liston
A BILL
To amend sections 4112.04 and 4117.08 and to enact 1
sections 142.01, 142.02, 142.03, 142.04, 142.05, 2
142.06, 142.07, 142.08, 142.09, 142.10, 4113.12, 3
4113.43, 4117.141, 4145.01, 4145.02, 4145.03, 4
4145.04, 4145.05, 4145.06, 4145.07, 4145.08, and 5
4145.09 of the Revised Code to address wage 6
disparities in public and private employment and 7
to name this act the Ohio Equal Pay Act. 8
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That sections 4112.04 and 4117.08 be amended 9
and sections 142.01, 142.02, 142.03, 142.04, 142.05, 142.06, 10
142.07, 142.08, 142.09, 142.10, 4113.12, 4113.43, 4117.141, 11
4145.01, 4145.02, 4145.03, 4145.04, 4145.05, 4145.06, 4145.07, 12
4145.08, and 4145.09 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as 13
follows: 14
Sec. 142.01. As used in this chapter: 15
(A) "Balanced class" means any class in which both of the 16
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following conditions apply: 17
(1) Not more than eighty per cent of the members are male. 18
(2) Not more than seventy per cent of the members are 19
female. 20
(B) "Comparable work value" means the value of work 21
measured by skill, effort, responsibility, and working 22
conditions normally required in the performance of the work. 23
(C) "Class" means one or more positions in public 24
employment that have similar duties, responsibilities, and 25
general qualifications necessary to perform the duties, with 26
comparable selection procedures used to recruit employees, and 27
use of the same compensation schedule. 28
(D) "Equitable compensation relationship" means that the 29
compensation for female-dominated classes is not consistently 30
below the compensation for male-dominated classes of comparable 31
work value, as determined under section 142.04 of the Revised 32
Code, for each public employer. 33
(E) "Exclusive representative" has the same meaning as in 34
section 4117.01 of the Revised Code. 35
(F) "Female-dominated class" means any class in which 36
seventy per cent or more of the members are female. 37
(G) "Male-dominated class" means any class in which eighty 38
per cent or more of the members are male. 39
(H) "Position" means a group of current duties and 40
responsibilities assigned or delegated by a supervisor to an 41
employee. 42
(I) "Political subdivision" means a county, township, 43
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As Introduced
municipal corporation, or any other body corporate and politic 44
that is responsible for government activities in a geographic 45
area smaller than that of the state. 46
(J) "Public employer" means either of the following: 47
(1) A state agency; 48
(2) A political subdivision. 49
(K) "State agency" means any organized body, office, 50
agency, institution, or other entity established by the laws of 51
the state for the exercise of any function of state government. 52
Sec. 142.02. Subject to Chapter 4117. and sections 4115.03 53
to 4115.21 and 4115.99 of the Revised Code, but notwithstanding 54
any other law to the contrary, every public employer shall 55
establish equitable compensation relationships between female- 56
dominated, male-dominated, and balanced classes of employees to 57
eliminate sex-based wage disparities in public employment in 58
this state. A public employer shall make the comparable work 59
value of a position in relationship to other employee positions 60
a primary consideration in negotiating, establishing, 61
recommending, and approving compensation. 62
Nothing in this chapter limits the ability of the parties 63
to collectively bargain in good faith. 64
Sec. 142.03. (A) The director of administrative services, 65
in establishing the job classification plan and assigning pay 66
ranges pursuant to section 124.14 of the Revised Code, and any 67
other public employer with the authority to determine 68
compensation for the employees of the public employer, shall 69
assure all of the following, as applicable: 70
(1) That compensation for positions in the classified 71
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As Introduced
civil service and unclassified civil service bear reasonable 72
relationship to one another; 73
(2) That compensation for positions bears a reasonable 74
relationship to similar positions outside of that particular 75
public employer; 76
(3) That compensation for positions within the public 77
employer's workforce bears a reasonable relationship among 78
various classes and among various levels within the same 79
occupation group. 80
(B) For purposes of division (A) of this section, 81
compensation for a position bears a "reasonable relationship" to 82
another position if both of the following conditions are 83
satisfied: 84
(1) Compensation for positions that require comparable 85
skill, effort, responsibility, working conditions, and other 86
relevant work-related criteria is comparable. 87
(2) Compensation for positions that require differing 88
skill, effort, responsibility, working conditions, and other 89
relevant work-related criteria is proportional to the skill, 90
effort, responsibility, working conditions, and other relevant 91
work-related criteria required. 92
Sec. 142.04. (A) Every public employer shall establish a 93
job evaluation system and use that system to determine the 94
comparable work value of the work performed by each class of the 95
public employer's employees. A public employer may adopt the job 96
evaluation system established by any other public employer. 97
A public employer shall meet and confer with the exclusive 98
representative of the public employer's employees on the 99
development or selection of a job evaluation system. 100
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As Introduced
(B)(1) A public employer shall maintain and update a job 101
evaluation system established by the public employer to account 102
for both of the following: 103
(a) New employee classes; 104
(b) Changes in factors affecting the comparable work value 105
of existing classes. 106
(2) A public employer that substantially modifies the 107
public employer's job evaluation system or adopts a new job 108
evaluation system shall notify the director of budget and 109
management. 110
Sec. 142.05. Every public employer shall submit a report 111
containing the results of the job evaluation system conducted 112
under section 142.04 of the Revised Code to the exclusive 113
representative selected by the public employer's employees under 114
section 4117.05 of the Revised Code to be used by both parties 115
in negotiations for collective bargaining agreements. The report 116
shall contain the following information: 117
(A) The female-dominated classes of a public employer for 118
which compensation inequity exists, based on the comparable work 119
value; 120
(B) All data not on individuals used to support the 121
findings in division (A) of this section. 122
Sec. 142.06. (A)(1) Each public employer shall submit an 123
implementation report to the director of budget and management 124
that contains all of the following information, as of the 125
thirty-first day of December of the preceding year: 126
(a) A list of all job classes of the public employer; 127
(b) The number of employees in each class listed in 128
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division (A)(1)(a) of this section; 129
(c) The number of female employees in each class listed in 130
division (A)(1)(a) of this section; 131
(d) An identification of each class listed in division (A) 132
(1)(a) of this section as male-dominated, female-dominated, or 133
balanced; 134
(e) The comparable work value of each class listed in 135
division (A)(1)(a) of this section as determined by the job 136
evaluation system used by the public employer under section 137
142.04 of the Revised Code; 138
(f) The minimum and maximum salary for each class listed 139
in division (A)(1)(a) of this section, if salary ranges have 140
been established, and the amount of time in employment required 141
to qualify for the maximum salary; 142
(g) Any additional cash compensation paid to members of a 143
class listed in division (A)(1)(a) of this section; 144
(h) Any additional information requested by the director. 145
(2) The director shall adopt rules in accordance with 146
Chapter 119. of the Revised Code to establish a schedule to 147
stagger the submission of the implementation reports required by 148
division (A)(1) of this section. Each public employer shall 149
submit a report every three years, with the first set of reports 150
due to the director not later than the thirty-first day of 151
January immediately following the effective date of this 152
section. 153
(3) Notwithstanding any provision of section 121.95 of the 154
Revised Code to the contrary, a regulatory restriction contained 155
in a rule adopted under this section is not subject to sections 156
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121.95 to 121.953 of the Revised Code. 157
(B) A state agency that fails to submit an implementation 158
report is subject to the penalty described in section 142.07 of 159
the Revised Code. 160
Sec. 142.07. (A) The director of budget and management 161
shall review the implementation reports the director receives 162
under section 142.06 of the Revised Code to determine whether a 163
public employer has established equitable compensation 164
relationships as required under section 142.02 of the Revised 165
Code. The director shall notify a public employer in writing if 166
the director determines that the public employer has complied 167
with the requirement of that section. 168
(B) If the director finds that a public employer did not 169
comply with that section, the director shall issue a statement 170
to the public employer in writing containing the following 171
information: 172
(1) A detailed description of the basis of the finding of 173
noncompliance; 174
(2) Specific recommended actions the public employer is 175
required to take to comply with that section; 176
(3) An estimate of the cost to the public employer to 177
comply with that section. 178
(C)(1) A public employer shall notify the director in 179
writing of a disagreement with a finding of the director under 180
division (B) of this section. The director shall provide the 181
public employer a specified time period in which to submit 182
additional evidence to support the employer's claim of 183
compliance with the requirements of section 142.02 of the 184
Revised Code. That evidence may include any of the following: 185
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(a) Recruitment difficulties; 186
(b) Retention difficulties; 187
(c) Recent conciliation awards made under section 4117.14 188
of the Revised Code that are inconsistent with equitable 189
compensation relationships under section 142.02 of the Revised 190
Code; 191
(d) Information that demonstrates that the employer made a 192
good faith effort to comply with section 142.02 of the Revised 193
Code, including constraints faced by the employer; 194
(e) A plan for the employer to comply with that section. 195
(2) The public employer shall specify with the evidence a 196
date for additional review by the director. 197
(D)(1) If a state agency does not make changes to comply 198
with the requirements of section 142.02 of the Revised Code 199
within a reasonable time period established by the director, the 200
director shall assess a fine of one hundred dollars for each day 201
the state agency remains noncompliant. The penalty remains in 202
effect until the state agency demonstrates that the state agency 203
has complied with section 142.02 of the Revised Code. 204
(2) The director may suspend the penalty imposed on a 205
state agency under division (D)(1) of this section for any of 206
the following reasons: 207
(a) The state agency's failure to comply was attributable 208
to circumstances beyond the control of the state agency. 209
(b) The state agency's failure to comply was attributable 210
to severe hardship of the state agency. 211
(c) The noncompliance is a result of factors unrelated to 212
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