Submitting Comments to the Department of Labor

Protect Women from Pay Discrimination

The Department of Labor is currently considering creating a new compensation data tool that would make it easier to enforce laws that prohibit pay discrimination. Since 2006, the federal government has had NO tool to effectively monitor wage discrimination based on race, national origin and gender by private employers. This means that our tax dollars could possibly be going to federal contractors who are not paying women fairly. It's time to take a stand. Raise your voice: tell the Department of Labor to move us forward and collect wage data.

Note: The comments you submit will be processed by the appropriate agency and then made publicly available on Regulations.gov.

To Submit Comments, please follow these instructions:

Step 1: Go to: http://www.regulations.gov/#!submitComment;D=OFCCP-2011-0005-0001

Step 2: Fill in your contact information on the left side of the form.

Step 3: Copy and paste the below draft for you to base your comment on:

I strongly support the development and implementation of a compensation data collection survey that would make it easier to enforce laws that prohibit pay discrimination.

In developing the compensation tool, I urge the Department to:

• Require that federal contractors submit wage information for all workers and in a wide range of categories, including workers that are part-time;
• Require that the Department conduct compensation reviews for companies that have more than one location in order to address companywide discrimination;
• Require that businesses bidding on federal contracts submit compensation data as a part of the bidding process. Federal tax dollars should not be wasted on companies that unlawfully discriminate against its workers; and
• Include comprehensive data that highlights gender, racial and ethnic disparities not only in pay, but also in hiring, terminations, promotions and tenure. Pay discrimination is often inextricably intertwined with other practices prohibited by employment discrimination laws.

The wage gap has been stuck at 77 cents for the past three years, despite important laws that prohibit gender discrimination in compensation. Collecting this data would be a critical step. As a fair pay advocate, I urge you to develop and implement the compensation data collection survey.

Step 4: Review your comment and then click the orange “submit” button.