Congressman Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-02) released the following statement after the House of Representatives passed H.R. 7, the Paycheck Fairness Act:
“Nearly 60 years ago, we passed the Equal Pay Act and yet we still have not reached our goal of equal pay for equal work. The gender pay gap still exists and is even larger for women of color, but the average woman earns 82 cents for every dollar a man earns—for the same work—adding up to a gap of at least $10,157 every single year, and $406,280 over a lifetime. The bill we passed today will close loopholes and help get us closer to fairness and equality for women in America.”
The Paycheck Fairness Act:
- Requires employers to prove that pay disparities exist for legitimate, job-related reasons. In doing so, it ensures that employers who try to justify paying a man more than a woman for the same job must show the disparity is not sex-based, but job-related and necessary.
- Bans retaliation against workers who voluntarily discuss or disclose their wages.
- Ensures women can receive the same robust remedies for sex-based pay discrimination that are currently available to those subjected to discrimination based on race and national origin.
- Removes obstacles in the Equal Pay Act to facilitate a wronged worker’s participation in class action lawsuits that challenge systemic pay discrimination.
- Makes improvements in the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC’s) and the Department of Labor’s tools for enforcing the Equal Pay Act.
- Provides assistance to all businesses to help them with their equal pay practices, recognizes excellence in pay practices by businesses, and empowers women and girls by creating a negotiation skills training program.
- Prohibits employers from seeking salary history in determining future pay, so that pay discrimination does not follow women from job to job.
Original source can be found here.
