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Presented on September 23, 2019, Senior Attorney Seher Khawaja submitted written testimony on pay equity to the New York City Commission on Gender Equity, the Commission on Human Rights, and the Department of Consumer and Worker Protection.
To make meaningful progress on pay equity, we must actively address root causes of the wage gap, including occupational segregation; create a comprehensive support structure for women that dismantles the financial costs and penalties they have long incurred; and look to change not just the law, but the predominant workplace culture that continues to turn a blind eye to the modern working family.
The gender wage gap is a multifaceted problem rooted in systemic forms of gender discrimination. If we legitimately want to achieve pay parity, the City must continue to take a multifaceted approach that closes loopholes, educates workers and employers alike, enhances legal compliance and awareness, but also seeks to implement sizable shifts to lift women out of poverty and low-wage work.
- Workplace Equality and Economic Empowerment
- Women Valued Initiative