Creating the Katherine Johnson and Dorothy Vaughan Fair Pay Act
House Bill 5116 creates the "Katherine Johnson and Dorothy Vaughan Fair Pay Act" and establishes wage-transparency and pay-equity rules for employers in West Virginia. The bill requires employers, upon request, to provide applicants with the wage range, benefits, and other compensation for a position. It also bars employers from refusing to interview, hire, or employ an applicant because the applicant did not disclose prior wage history or asked for compensation information.
The bill further limits employer inquiries into an applicant’s past pay until after an initial offer of employment has been made, and only then allows an employer to use or confirm voluntarily provided wage history to support a higher offer. For current employees, the bill protects the right to ask about, discuss, disclose, or refuse to disclose wages, benefits, and other compensation, and prohibits employers from banning such discussions or retaliating against employees for exercising those rights. It also preserves confidentiality for proprietary, trade secret, privileged, or competitor-sensitive information.
If enacted, the bill would add a new article to the West Virginia Code governing hiring practices and workplace pay discussions, creating statutory rights for applicants and employees around wage transparency. It would restrict employer use of salary history in hiring decisions, require disclosure of compensation ranges on request, and authorize civil remedies including compensatory damages, attorney fees, and injunctive relief for violations. The bill would affect employers across the state and strengthen legal protections for job applicants and workers seeking pay information.
The available context suggests a generally supportive framing, with the bill presented as a fair-pay and transparency measure honoring Katherine Johnson and Dorothy Vaughan and addressing pay discrimination. There is no recorded committee debate or vote history in the provided materials, so no formal opposition or amendment activity is shown. The bill’s title and purpose indicate a policy emphasis on equity, openness, and worker rights.
The main potential points of contention are likely to be employer concerns about administrative burden, limits on hiring discretion, and restrictions on salary-history screening, which some employers may view as interfering with compensation negotiations. Another possible area of debate is the scope of employee discussion rights versus the bill’s carve-outs for proprietary, trade secret, privileged, or competitor-related information. Because no transcripts or votes are provided, specific supporters or opponents cannot be identified from the record.