President Obama signed an executive action Jan. 29 requiring large companies to disclose to the government how much they pay employees, broken down by race, gender, and ethnicity, reports The Atlantic.
This executive action, which applies to companies with 100 or more employees, is aimed in part at reducing the gender wage gap in the U.S., which leaves women earning 79 cents for every dollar earned by men.
The announcement coincides with the anniversary of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which Obama signed into law in 2009 and allows employees to file lawsuits regarding equal pay for up to 180 days after a discriminatory paycheck. On Friday, Obama will also be calling Congress to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act.
... In a press release regarding the proposed changes, the EEOC argues that “this new data will assist the agency in identifying possible pay discrimination and assist employers in promoting equal pay in their workplaces.” According to the EEOC, this data would point to which industry and occupations have the worst pay disparities. The compensation data would be an addition to employment information companies are already required to submit annually on race and gender—the EEOC says that the aggregate data would be published to help employers “facilitate voluntary compliance.” These requirements would begin in 2017.
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