Advocating for Pay Transparency

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May 4, 2020

Advocating for increased pay transparency, we again oppose the EEOC’s decision to stop collecting pay data by gender and race.

On April 22, 2020, we submitted public comments to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), challenging the agency’s decision to suspend future collection of critical pay data by race, gender, and ethnicity from larger employers.  

As an organization committed to securing pay equity and equal opportunity for the most underserved women, we voiced our concerns that the EEOC chose to proceed with this decision during a national public health crisis. This data collection, which the EEOC is abandoning, stands to impact women who have been historically undervalued, including low-wage women workers and women of color, who are now being called upon to work on the frontlines of this crisis, once again without adequate and equitable compensation. 

Despite receiving widespread objection, the EEOC reaffirmed its decision not to renew collection of pay data by demographics based on the agency’s claim that the burden on employers will be greater than the benefit to women. However, across the globe, we are seeing that employers who are collecting this data are unearthing and correcting problematic pay disparities. The EEOC’s focus on employer burden disregards the transformative role this data can serve in leveling the playing field, particularly for women of color, who continue to confront persistent wage gaps due to overt and implicit biases.

As we rely on a women-led workforce to weather this pandemic, it is critical that we continue our momentum toward pay transparency and equal pay for all women.

Here is an excerpt of our comments to the EEOC. Please click here to read the full report:

“Collection of Component 2 data fills a critical gap and serves several important functions, increasing transparency, which in turn increases the capacity of employees, employers, and the EEOC to identify, assess, and address problematic pay disparities based on gender, race, and ethnicity. The utility of such reporting is increasingly well established.” 

“The need for pay equity has never been more urgent, as women risk their lives on the frontlines of this pandemic earning inadequate pay that compromises their ability to care for themselves and their families. By facilitating greater transparency and supplementing existing data with vital demographic information regarding compensation, Component 2 data brings us one step closer toward accomplishing the long-overdue goal of securing equal pay for women and minorities in the workplace.” 

Protecting women’s and girls’ rights begins with the law.

 

Be part of the solution.  Please share.      SYMS | Legal Momentum Helpline remains available at NO COST to provide legal information and referrals on issues related to sex discrimination in the workplace, home, school and the courts. 

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Be part of the solution.  Please share.      In this time of challenge, our legal team immediately developed the NO COST Legal Rights and Economic Resources for Workers Impacted by COVID-19  including Spanish and Chinese translations.        

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The Legal Momentum Legal Team