Obama issues executive orders regarding ‘Equal Pay Day’

On “Equal Pay Day,” which took place on April 8, President Obama issued two executive orders that will attempt to close the pay gap for women and minorities. Obama’s first order was that federal contractors would not be allowed to retaliate against their employees for discussing compensation. The second order stated that the U.S. Department of Labor should regulate and require federal contractors to provide data on their employees’ compensation. “Equal Pay Day” is meant to bring attention to the fact that women and minorities are often paid less to do the same jobs as their white, male counterparts. Female White House staffers currently only earn 88 cents for every dollar that their male counterparts earn. By allowing employees to discuss their compensation, contractors will be able to better detect discriminatory hiring behavior. President Obama noted that as contractors provide that information about employee pay to the Department of Labor, they will be better able to note discriminatory practices and therefore can make efforts to close the pay gap. He encouraged the Department of Labor to minimize the burden on federal contractors, as possible. There is concern that these executive orders do little to actually close the wage gap, since the National Labor Relations Board has previously agreed that both union and non-union employees have the right to discuss compensation without fear of losing their jobs or other forms of retaliation. However, the executive order does expand this protection to cover federal employees, including those who work for airlines and railroads, who may not have been previously covered by the NLRB sanctions. The Department of Labor has 160 days to implement these executive orders, and 120 days to propose regulations on how federal contractors should report compensation data, including breaking down summary reports by gender and race. photo credit: taih via photopin cc]]>