Obama Administration Taking Actions to “Advance Equal Pay for all Workers”

On the 7th anniversary of President Obama’s signing into law his first piece of legislation as President, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, he announced “several additional actions that his administration is taking to advance equal pay for all workers and further empower working families.”

The most interesting additional action would affect employers with 100 or more employees.  These companies would be required, on an annual basis, to report details of what they pay their employees categorized by race, gender, and ethnicity.  The Equal Employment Oppoporunity Commission and the Department of Labor would team up to collect the data and enforce its reporting.  The requirement would expand on an executive order Mr. Obama issued nearly two years ago that called for federal contractors to submit salary information for women and men.

Noting that “[t]oday, the median wage of a woman working full-time year-round in the United States is about $39,600—only 79 percent of a man’s median earnings of $50,400,” the President went on to say that pay reporting requirements are aimed at uncovering and remedying all disparate pay based on gender, race, or ethnicity.  

On February 1, 2016, the EEOC published its proposed revision to the EEO-1 after approval by a vote of the Commission, and it will follow the normal procedures and public comment process required under the Paperwork Reduction Act before it can be implemented.  Members of the public will have until April 1, 2016, to comment on the proposed revision.  Under the proposed revision, the EEO-1 form would not just need to be completed by federal contractors–all employers with 100 or more employees would be required to complete and deliver the form to the EEOC on September 30 of each year beginning in 2017.  As currently proposed, the EEO-1 information would be reported across 10 job categories and by 12 pay bands and would not require the reporting of specific salaries of each individual employee.

EEOC’s Press Release

If you have questions about this or any other topic or need assistance in commenting on the proposed revision, please feel free to contact me.