Paycheck Fairness Act promotes Equal Pay for Women

  

  

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The Obama administration is trying to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act.  The goal is to make it easier for woman to sue for equal pay.  Senior White House Advisor Valereie Jarrett says that woman currently earn 77 cents for every dollar men earn. 

The Ohio Employer's Blog has a nice summary of the key changes contemplated by the Paycheck Fairness Act.   Here they are:

1.  Modified defense. Paycheck Fairness would impede the ability of employers to defend against sex discrimination wage payment claims. An employer can currently defend against an Equal Pay Act claim by showing that the pay difference between men and women was caused by “any factor other than sex.” Paycheck Fairness would alter this standard by requiring employers to show “a bona fide factor other than sex, such as education, training, or experience,” that is not sex-based, but is job-related to the position and consistent with business necessity. Moreover, even if an employer makes this showing, the employee could still prevail by showing that the employer refused to adopt an alternative employment practice that would serve the same business purpose without producing the same wage differential.

2.  Enhanced damages. The current Equal Pay Act’s remedies include back pay and liquidated damages that are capped at the amount of the back pay. Paycheck Fairness would steepen the remedies for sex discrimination in wage payments by allowing for uncapped punitive and compensatory damages.

3.  Non-retaliation. Paycheck Fairness would prohibit an employer from retaliating an employee who inquired about, discussed or disclosed the wages of the employee or another employee, unless discussing wages is part of an employee’s essential job function. While the National Labor Relations Act already covers this conduct, Paycheck Fairness’s enhanced remedies are much more extensive than those available under the NLRA.

4.  Class actions. Paycheck Fairness would change sex discrimination wage payment class actions from “opt in” classes to “opt out” classes, making classes in these cases larger and easier for employees to join.

5.  Reporting. Paycheck Fairness would require the EEOC to issue regulations on the collection of pay information from employers. It would also require the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs to use its “full range of investigatory tools” for investigation, compliance, and enforcement.

If this law passes, it will certainly make it easier for woman to obtain equal pay but lets see what the law looks like when, and if, it is ever passed into law.