Laws & Legislation

Pass the Paycheck Fairness Act

Tell your Senators to support fair pay. Working families are counting on Congress to take the next step and make paycheck fairness a reality.

To continue the momentum of the fight for pay equity organizations are pushing for better rulings in the Courts and change in Congress and the Executive Branch. All three play an important role in ensuring fairness and accountability in the workplace, and helping realize the promise of equal pay for equal work.

In Congress

Unfortunately, the way courts have interpreted Title VII and the Equal Pay Act is insufficient to remedy persistent wage disparities and demonstrates the need for stronger laws to ensure that women are paid equal wages for equal work. Find out more about existing pay equity laws, such as the recently enacted Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, and the Paycheck Fairness Act and other legislation pending in Congress.

In the Executive Branch

It is critical for the Executive Branch of the federal government - including the Department of Labor, the Department of Justice, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission - to take strong and proactive steps to enforce the laws prohibiting pay and other forms of discrimination. These agencies must hold employers accountable for violations of the law by promptly addressing complaints, initiating investigations of systemic discrimination, and ensuring that all steps are taken to stop discrimination and provide full remedies for it when it occurs. The Executive Branch must also create a mechanism to systematically collect and monitor wage data, so that agencies can evaluate potentially discriminatory disparities between men and women doing equal work.

• Senatoral Letter on Bipartisan Support of Equal Opportunities Survey
• National Women's Law Center Comments on Equal Opportunities Survey

In the Courts

Courts play a critical role in establishing standards that govern our rights. The Supreme Court ruling in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. had an immense and damaging impact on the lives of Americans in the workplace. After the ruling, Ledbetter was cited in 347 decisions in cases of workplace discrimination.

The recent passage of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act reversed the damaging Supreme Court decision in this case and strengthened a woman's ability to fight pay discrimination in court. But careful monitoring of the courts is still critical, both to ensure that the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act is properly applied and to ensure that courts are using both Title VII and the Equal Pay Act proactively to combat the still pervasive problem of unfairly reduced wages. Learn more about key cases that emphasize the continued need for stronger rulings and pay equity legislation.