Women make 77 cents to every dollar a man makes, a disparity which has not changed in the past decade. The Inclusion Solution has written on the topic of equal pay quite frequently. We recently did a series on why women are paid less than men. This is a subject near and dear to my heart and I must say I was shocked that the bill did not pass. I was more shocked when I heard the reasons given by Republicans for rejecting the bill.
According to a Washington Post piece,
Republicans have said that, although they support equal pay for equal work, the bill would increase civil lawsuits. They also say that the bill is unnecessary because discrimination based on gender is already illegal.
The bill had three provisions:
- Making it illegal for employers to retaliate against workers who ask about or disclose their or wages of others in a complaint or investigation;
- Making employers subject to civil actions by employees who feel aggrieved; and
- Requiring the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to collect pay information from employers.
The reasons for the opposition, if they are accurate, seem pretty weak to me. If the increase in civil lawsuits lead to more pay equity, isn’t this a good thing, especially since the naysayers say they support equal pay for equal work? It seems counterintuitive to me to say we won’t pass a law because it will result in more lawsuits. Isn’t that the expectation of any new legislation?
The second rationale also makes little sense to me because even though gender discrimination is illegal, it continues to persist, especially as it relates to pay and this bill would address that specific type of discrimination. Obviously the current laws are not alleviating the pay gap.
I don’t get it. What is so hard about eliminating the pay gap? I encourage all organizations to conduct pay studies and just correct the disparities. Easy! Done! Maybe I am naïve, let me hear from you if you think so.
