Loading...
§ 9-1129. Severability. 1146
   (1)   If any clause, sentence, paragraph or part of this ordinance, or the application thereof to any person or circumstance, shall for any reason be adjudged by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect, impair or invalidate the remainder of this ordinance nor the application of such clause, sentence, paragraph or part to other persons or circumstances but shall be confined in its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph or part thereof and to the persons or circumstances directly involved in the controversy in which such judgment shall have been rendered. It is hereby declared to be the legislative intent that this ordinance would have been adopted had such provisions not been included or such persons or circumstances been expressly excluded from their coverage.

 

Notes

1146
   Added, 1967 Ordinances, p. 1332; renumbered, Bill No. 130224 (approved May 8, 2013); renumbered, Bill No. 130687 (approved January 20, 2014).
§ 9-1130. Unlawful Credit Screening Practices in Employment. 1147
   (1)   Except as provided in subsection (2), it shall be an unlawful discriminatory practice for an employer to procure, to seek a person's cooperation or consent to procure, or to use credit information regarding an employee or applicant in connection with hiring, discharge, tenure, promotion, discipline or consideration of any other term, condition or privilege of employment with respect to such employee or applicant.
   (2)   Subsection (1) shall not apply:
      (a)   reserved; 1148
      (b)   to the City of Philadelphia with respect to efforts to obtain information regarding taxes or other debts owed to the City;
      (c)   if such information must be obtained pursuant to state or federal law;
      (d)   if the job requires an employee to be bonded under City, state, or federal law;
      (e)   if the job is supervisory or managerial in nature and involves setting the direction or policies of a business or a division, unit or similar part of a business;
      (f)   if the job involves significant financial responsibility to the employer, including the authority to make payments, transfer money, collect debts, or enter into contracts, but not including handling transactions in a retail setting;
      (g)   if the job requires access to financial information pertaining to customers, other employees, or the employer, other than information customarily provided in a retail transaction; or
      (h)   if the job requires access to confidential or proprietary information that derives substantial value from secrecy.
   (3)   An employer that intends to take an adverse employment action with respect to any person, based in whole or in part on credit information, shall, pursuant to 15 U.S.C. § 1681b(b)(3), provide such person, before taking any adverse action, with a written copy of the information relied, the right to obtain and dispute such information, and such other information as may be required by law. 1149

 

Notes

1147
   Added, Bill No. 160072 (approved June 7, 2016), effective July 7, 2016.
1148
   Amended, Bill No. 200413 (approved January 20, 2021).
1149
   Amended, Bill No. 200614 (approved January 20, 2021).
§ 9-1131. Wage Equity. 1150
   (1)   Findings. The City Council of the City of Philadelphia finds that:
      (a)   In Pennsylvania, women are paid 79 cents for every dollar a man makes, according to a United States Census Bureau 2015 report. Women of color are paid even less. African American women are paid only sixty-eight cents ($0.68) to the dollar paid to a man, Latinas are paid only fifty-six cents ($0.56) to the dollar paid to men, and Asian women are paid eighty-one cents ($0.81) to the dollar paid to men.
      (b)   The gender wage gap has narrowed by less than one-half a penny per year in the United States since 1963, when the Congress passed the Equal Pay Act, the first law aimed at prohibiting gender-based pay discrimination, according to the National Committee on Pay Equity.
      (c)   In August of 2016, Massachusetts became the first state to enact a law prohibiting employers from seeking or requiring a prospective employee's wage history.
      (d)   Since women are paid on average lower wages than men, basing wages upon a worker's wage at a previous job only serves to perpetuate gender wage inequalities and leave families with less money to spend on food, housing, and other essential goods and services.
      (e)   Salary offers should be based upon the job responsibilities of the position sought and not based upon the prior wages earned by the applicant.
   (2)   Prohibition on Inquiries into Wage History.
      (a)   It is an unlawful employment practice for an employer, employment agency, or employee or agent thereof:
         (.1)   To inquire about a prospective employee's wage history, require disclosure of wage history, or condition employment or consideration for an interview or employment on disclosure of wage history, or retaliate against a prospective employee for failing to comply with any wage history inquiry or for otherwise opposing any act made unlawful by this Chapter.
         (.2)   To rely on the wage history of a prospective employee from any current or former employer of the individual in determining the wages for such individual at any stage in the employment process, including the negotiation or drafting of any employment contract, unless such applicant knowingly and willingly disclosed his or her wage history to the employer, employment agency, employee or agent thereof.
      (b)   This subsection (2) shall not apply to any actions taken by an employer, employment agency, or employee or agent thereof, pursuant to any federal, state or local law that specifically authorizes the disclosure or verification of wage history for employment purposes.
      (c)   For purposes of this Section 9-1131, "to inquire" shall mean to ask a job applicant in writing or otherwise, and "wages" shall mean all earnings of an employee, regardless of whether determined on time, task, piece, commission or other method of calculation and including fringe benefits, wage supplements, or other compensation whether payable by the employer from employer funds or from amounts withheld from the employee's pay by the employer.

 

Notes

1150
   Added, Bill No. 160840 (approved January 23, 2017), effective May 23, 2017.
§ 9-1132. Cashless Retail Prohibition. 1151
   (1)   A person selling or offering for sale consumer goods or services at retail is prohibited from refusing to accept cash as a form of payment to purchase goods or services. A person selling or offering for sale goods or services at retail shall not:
      (a)   Refuse to accept cash as a form of payment;
      (b)   Post signs on the premises that cash payment is not accepted;
      (c)   Charge a higher price to customers who pay cash than they would pay using any other form of payment.
   (2)   For purposes of this Section 9-1132, "at retail" shall include any retail transaction conducted in person and shall exclude:
      (a)   any telephone, mail, or internet transactions;
      (b)   parking lots and parking garages;
      (c)   transactions at wholesale clubs that sell consumer goods and services through a membership model;
      (d)   transactions at retail stores selling consumer goods exclusively through a membership model that requires payment by means of an affiliated mobile device application;
      (e)   transactions for the rental of consumers goods, services, or accommodations for which posting of collateral or security is typically required;
      (f)   consumer goods or services provided exclusively to employees and others authorized to be on the employer's premises; and  1152
      (g)   member transactions at fitness centers, including payment of membership fees.  1153
   (3)   Violations of this Section shall be subject to penalties set forth in subsection 9-1121(1).
   (4)   The Commission is authorized to promulgate and issue such regulations as are necessary or appropriate to implement the provisions of this Section.

 

Notes

1151
   Added, Bill No. 180943 (approved February 27, 2019), effective July 1, 2019.
1152
   Amended, Bill No. 230152 (approved June 7, 2023).
1153
   Added, Bill No. 230152 (approved June 7, 2023).
§ 9-1133. Uniform Policy of Non-Discrimination as to Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Youth. 1154
   (1)   Definitions. For purposes of this Section 9-1133, the following definitions shall apply:
      Gender Nonconforming. A term describing individuals whose gender expression or gender identity falls outside the traditional male-female definitions.
      Institutions Serving Youth. Entities or organizations that provide educational, recreational, residential, or similar services to youth, in a setting in which the institution is responsible for the care of a youth population and for adopting and enforcing general rules of conduct.
      Transgender. Individuals whose self-determined gender identity is different from the sex classification assigned to them at birth.
      Youth. A collective term applied to individuals who are less than 18 years of age.
   (2)   Policy Requirements.
      (a)   Sections three (3) through five (5) of the School District of Philadelphia Policy No. 252, entitled "Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Students", shall apply as a uniform policy of non-discrimination to institutions serving youth within the City with the following modifications:
         (.1)   The terms "gender nonconforming" and "transgender" shall be defined as set forth in subsection 9-1133(1).
         (.2)   The terms "school", "School District", and "District" shall be replaced by the term "institution serving youth".
         (.3)   The term "student" shall be replaced by the term "youth".
   Provided that the Commission may itself adopt by regulation a superseding uniform policy of non- discrimination which meets or exceeds the protections provided to transgender and gender non-conforming youth provided by the School District of Philadelphia Policy No. 252 and which shall serve as the controlling uniform policy of non-discrimination under this Section 9-1133.
   (b)   Each institution serving youth shall regularly provide appropriate training for its staff in the administration of the uniform policy of non-discrimination, and shall also make the uniform policy of non-discrimination known to its staff and to the youth population served by the institution in English and the primary languages of youth who commonly access the institution, by posting the written policy in a location accessible to all and on any organizational website, and by such other notification measures as the institution determines will reasonably provide notice of the policy; all of which in such manner and by such means that the Commission shall require by regulation.
   (c)   The uniform policy of non-discrimination established by this Section 9-1133, as modified by any subsequent Commission regulation, shall inform the Commission's enforcement of the Fair Practices Ordinance as applied to alleged discrimination against transgender and gender non-conforming youth.
   (d)   The Commission shall promulgate regulations implementing its administration of this Section 9-1133 which shall take into account the varied institutions serving youth in the City and which shall provide for a religious exemption from this Section 9-1133, as otherwise required by law.

 

Notes

1154
   Added, Bill No. 190558 (approved October 16, 2019). Section 2 of Bill No. 190558 provides: "This Ordinance shall be effective upon the promulgation of implementing regulations by the Commission, but no earlier than June 1, 2020."
§ 9-1134. Interpretation. 1155
   This Chapter shall be interpreted consistently with the United States and Pennsylvania Constitutions, and the Pennsylvania Religious Freedom Protection Act. Nothing set forth in this Chapter shall infringe on the constitutional rights of those regulated or violate Pennsylvania law.

 

Notes

1155
   Added, Bill No. 220664 (approved January 16, 2023).