Pay Transparency: A Remedy for the Gender Pay Gap?

Basically, for a long time, women had limited options for jobs, especially in the legal field. It wasn’t until the 1970s and 1980s that more women started becoming lawyers and judges. Even now, there are still more men than women in the legal profession. And even when women do get jobs at law firms, they often don’t stay for a long time or get promoted as much as men. There’s also a conversation about how women get paid less than men for doing the same work, but laws have been passed to try and make things more equal. In 1963, the Equal Pay Act was passed to make sure men and women got paid the same for doing the same job. In 1964, the Civil Rights Act was passed to stop employers from discriminating based on things like race and gender. President Lyndon Johnson also made an order to extend these rules to federal contractors. Many states have their own laws against gender discrimination, including Florida. Despite all these laws, there are still a lot of court cases about unequal pay. The courts have made decisions about what the laws mean, but the Department of Labor still says there’s a pay gap between men and women. In 2022, women were still making less money than men, even if they had the same level of education. Even women with advanced degrees were making 33% less than men with the same level of education. This is why there are new laws to make pay differences more transparent. President Obama signed an order in 2014 to make sure that women are paid the same as men for the same work. The order also stops companies from punishing employees who ask about their pay. The EEOC also wanted to collect information about pay and demographics to make sure companies are treating everyone fairly. Some states, like California, have their own laws to make sure companies are transparent about pay and can’t ask about a person’s salary history. These laws are meant to make sure everyone gets paid fairly. Currently, 22 states and territories have their own laws about fair pay and salary transparency. There’s a new proposed federal law called the Salary Transparency Act, which would require employers to disclose pay scales in job postings and to provide them to current employees who ask. It would also make it illegal for employers to punish employees for asking about their pay. This new law could lead to more lawsuits about fair pay and put pressure on employers to treat everyone fairly. Florida employers should create their own policies to ensure that employees are paid equally for the same work. This could involve setting clear job levels and salary ranges and training recruiters and decision makers to follow company policy when hiring. Employers may also need to conduct regular audits of pay to make sure they are following the law. This is important because women have historically been paid less than men for the same work, and there are laws in place to prevent this discrimination. There are federal and state laws that help ensure people are paid fairly for their work, regardless of their gender or other factors. Some states have additional laws to protect people from pay discrimination, and there are also federal rules in place against retaliation for sharing salary information. If you think you’re not being paid fairly, you can seek legal help. This is an article written by a lawyer who specializes in employment law. She helps companies with workplace issues and has expertise in sex and gender-related matters. The article is submitted by the Labor and Employment Law Section.

Source: https://www.floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-journal/pay-transparency-a-remedy-for-the-gender-pay-gap/