CONGRESSMAN JOE MORELLE CO-SPONSORS LEGISLATION ENSURING EQUAL PAY FOR EQUAL WORK
On average, women who work full-time, year-round, are paid only 80 cents for every dollar paid to men African American women earned only approximately 61 cents and Latinas only 53 cents for each dollar earned by a white male The Paycheck Fairness Act establishes best practices to combat wage inequality, eliminates loopholes
(Washington, DC) – Today, following the 10th anniversary of the signing of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, Representative Joe Morelle joined House Democrats in reintroducing the Paycheck Fairness Act, which seeks to ensure equal pay for equal work for all Americans.
"Despite all the progress we have made as a nation in the fight for equal rights the systemic devaluation of women and minorities in the workplace remains alarmingly prevalent," said Rep. Morelle. "As a society we have a moral obligation to ensure that every person receives equal pay for equal work, period. I am proud to co-sponsor this long-overdue legislation because we owe it to current and future generations to do everything within our power to close the wage gap and break down the barriers of gender and racial inequality in the workplace."
This legislation eliminates loopholes in the 1963 Equal Pay Act, helping to break harmful patterns of pay discrimination and strengthening workplace protections for women and minorities. Specifically, this legislation would:
- Prohibit employers from screening job applicants based on their salary history or requiring salary history during the interview and hiring process;
- Protect against retaliation for discussing salaries with colleagues;
- Equalize discrimination claims based on gender, race, and ethnicity, so plaintiffs who file claims under the Equal Pay Act have the same remedies as those who make claims under other laws;
- Help ensure the Department of Labor (DOL) uses the full range of investigatory tools to uncover wage discrimination, including collecting federal contractors' wage data;
- Direct the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to conduct a survey of available wage information to assist federal agencies in enforcing wage discrimination laws and creating a system to collect wage data.
"This legislation marks an important step forward, but we still have significant work ahead of us in the fight to protect and expand the rights of women," continued Rep. Morelle. "I remain committed to working with my colleagues to protect every woman's right to choose, to strengthen workplace rights, and supporting victims of abuse and harassment – and we will not let up until women achieve the full equality they deserve.
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