Description
Learn all issues impacting the gender pay gap and how the Equal Pay Act (EPA) affects your organization.
Many employers are under the false impression that pay equity risks were a creature of the Obama Administration. While the dreaded EEO1 reporting of compensation by gender, race and ethnicity is likely derailed for the time being, pay equity risk is very real in 2017. Practitioners don’t expect the issue to be abandoned at the federal level and at least eight states have enacted legislation that increases the pool of plaintiffs compared to Title VII and the Equal Pay Act (EPA) and limits the scope of exceptions. This topic helps legal and human relations personnel responsible for EEO compliance, antidiscrimination programs or managing compensation processes to understand the definition of a gender pay gap, learn about legally defensible (and indefensible) bases for pay differentials, and how to identify pay gaps. It will also address the process of setting up a pay equity study, including attorney client privilege concerns, and cover evolving issues including the use of prior salary history.
Date: 2019-09-17 Start Time: End Time:
Learning Objectives
What’s Happening
• DOL and Census Data Show Substantial Pay Gap Between Male and Female Earnings; Women Reportedly Earn 79 Cents for Every Male Dollar; EEOC Data Analysis of Bay Area Tech Companies Shows Gaps Based on Gender, Race and Ethnicity
• The Equal Pay Act Was Enacted in 1963, but Current Legislative and Regulatory Actions in California, New York, Illinois, Maryland and Massachusetts and Elsewhere Here Provide Expanding Remedies
• New State Laws Apply to Large and Small Employers and Expand the Range of Covered Jobs (Work No Longer Has to Be Equal, Can Be Similar or Comparable) and Cutting Back Defenses
• Existing Restrictions on Pay Transparency Are Being Expanded and Government Agencies Are Demanding Information to Assess Pay Disparities
• Government Contractors Are Subject to Substantial Reporting Obligations That May Lead to Investigation and Litigation
Why You Should Care
• Acting EEOC Chair Victoria Lipnic Has Affirmed EEOC Commitment to Pay Equity
• CA, NY, MD, IL, MA and Others Have Implemented Their Own Pay Equity Laws and Texas, Connecticut, Indiana, Mississippi, Missouri, and the District of Columbia Are Considering Similar Legislative Action
• The California Fair Pay Act Was Extended Beyond Gender to Cover Race and National Origin, Effective 1/1/2017
• The Combination of NLRA Protections on Employee Rights to Discuss Compensation, the OFCCP Transparency Initiative, State Law Protections and the Power of Social Media Are Making It Harder to Maintain Confidentiality
• Several States Have Enacted Restrictions on Use of Salary History in Setting New Offers, With More to Come
• Status of EEOC Proposed Rule Requiring EEO-1 Reporting of W-2 Earning and Hours Worked by Gender, Race and Ethnicity
Margaret Keane-DLA Piper LLP (US)
