Gender pay gap gets some White House help - Women's Agenda

Gender pay gap gets some White House help

Today is equal pay day in the US and in keeping with his promise to advocate for women’s rights at work, President Barack Obama has signed two executive orders to help combat pay discrimination and strengthen equal gender pay laws.

Almost 50 years after the Equal Pay Act became law, the gender pay gap in the US is still wide, with women on average earning 77 cents to every dollar earned by men. For women of colour, the pay gap figures get even wider, with African-American women earning 64 cents and Latino women earning 56 cents for every dollar earned by white men, according to the National Women’s Law Center.

Other figures suggest that while women are the primary breadwinners in 40% of American homes, they are earning 23% less than their male counterparts.

Calling the figures “embarrassing” and “wrong”, President Obama signed into order mandates to help narrow the gender pay among federal contractors.

The executive order will encourage contractors to publish wage data and establish new regulations requiring federal contractors to submit pay data to ensure compliance with equal pay laws. The order will also prohibit contractors from retaliating against employees who compare salaries.

“Restoring opportunity for all has to be our priority, making sure the economy rewardshard work for every single American. Because when women succeed, America succeeds,” Obama said on Tuesday in a speech to mark the executive order.

“Pay secrecy fosters discrimination and we shouldn’t tolerate it … We are going to work to make sure that our daughters have the same chance to pursue their dreams as our sons.”

He also urged businesses and the government to do more to hire women, allocate more resources to child care, college tuition and retirement savings and help lift women out of poverty.

Obama has already taken steps to reduce the gender pay gap, working to increase the national minimum wage to $10.10 for federal contract workers through the Paycheck Fairness Act, which is slated for a senate vote later this week and would extend the order’s requirements to other employers.

The bill seeks to close loopholes in the 1963 Equal Pay Act  and the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 — the first law Obama signed after taking office. However, the bill has already faced tough opposition from Republicans and has already failed to pass a senate vote twice.

Before Obama’s announcement on Tuesday, a number of Republicans dismissed his executive action as a “desperate political ploy”, that pay discrimination was already illegal and that this latest move would merely encourage “frivolous” law suits.

“First, it is already illegal to discriminate on the basis of gender. It’s been against the law to pay a woman less than a man with comparable experience in the same job since the Equal Pay Act of 1963,” GOP officials said in a press release.

“The ‘fix’ that Democrats propose, then, won’t change that. It would, however, tightly regulate how employers can pay their employees. This law will not create “equal” pay, but it will make it nearly impossible for employers to tie compensation to work quality, productivity and experience, reduce flexibility in the workplace, and make it far easier to file frivolous lawsuits that line the pockets of trial lawyers.”

Others have also taken aim at the Census Bereau figures that Obama has quoted, saying that the figures, when measured by hourly earnings, actually narrows to 86%m according to the Federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The White House said Obama’s executive order would encourage transparency by allowing employees of federal contractors to compare notes on their pay, discover violations and seek corrective action.

Pointing to evidence that suggests that where pay rates are publicly available, the gender pay gap is smaller, White House Senior Adviser Valerie Jarnett refuted the GOP claims, saying it was important that women and all employees feel they can seek information about pay from colleagues without the threat of being fired.

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