Give the Public What it Wants—Pass the Paycheck Fairness Act

by Fatima Goss Graves, Vice President for Education and Employment,
National Women's Law Center

President Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act into law on June 10, 1963, making it illegal for employers to pay unequal wages to men and women who perform substantially equal work. At the time, women made only 59 cents on the dollar. 47 years later, the wage gap persists—women make only 77 cents for every dollar made by men, and for women of color, the numbers are even worse. The persistent wage gap, coupled with the egregious conduct highlighted by recent high profile law suits, make clear that the current laws to prevent discrimination in the workplace are not up to adequately addressing pay discrimination.

Turns out, the public agrees. 

In a nationwide poll released today, 84 percent said they supported "a new law that would provide women more tools to get fair pay in the workplace." Participants were told that the "law will also make it harder for employers to justify paying different wages for the same work and ensure that businesses that break the law compensate women fairly." And 72 percent of respondents strongly supported such a law.

Indeed, there was strong support for improving equal pay laws across race, sex, and political party and in every region of the country. The poll was sponsored by the Paycheck Fairness Act Coalition, a broad coalition of organizations that promote economic opportunity for women and full enforcement of the antidiscrimination laws, of which the National Women’s Law Center is a key leader.

The Paycheck Fairness Act would give the public what it wants. The Act would "provide more tools to get fair pay in the workplace" by prohibiting retaliation against workers who disclose wages and providing the government with additional means to enhance enforcement of the wage discrimination laws. It would make it harder for “employers to justify paying different wages for the same work” by closing loopholes in the Equal Pay Act that have allowed employers to provide unequal wages without a business justification. And it would require "businesses that break the law [to] compensate women fairly" by ensuring that the same remedies are available for sex-based pay discrimination that are currently available to those subject race and national origin discrimination. 

In other words, all signs point to the Paycheck Fairness Act.