Paycheck Fairness Act
I regret to inform you that you're a victim of your own
success: As a result of mothers across the country expressing their outrage at wage discrimination, we have not one, but two (yes, two!) major pieces of legislation moving in Congress to protect women and people of color from discrimination in the workplace.
Last week your voices were heard by Senators as you supported the Lilly
Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act, and?
...we just found out that a vote is
scheduled TOMORROW in the U.S. House on another great bill, the Paycheck
Fairness Act! We have huge chance to make a difference today by letting our U.S. Representatives know that moms are all for fair pay, and that we're tired
of making only 77 cents to every $1 made by men!
So flex your pointer finger for another
mighty click to send a second letter on wage discrimination to
Congress at: Moms Rising
What's it all about?
Quite simply,
the Paycheck Fairness Act is the granddaughter of the Equal Pay Act of
1963-the original "equal pay for equal work law" that was so pivotal
to building economic security for mothers and families. The House of
Representatives plans to vote tomorrow on the Paycheck Fairness Act, which
would update and strengthen that Act. It would close loopholes and improved
the law's effectiveness in many ways, including:
Improving Equal Pay Act Remedies by
putting gender-based wage discrimination on an equal footing with
wage discrimination based on race or ethnicity, for which full
compensatory and punitive damages are already available.
Improving Collection of Pay Information
to enhance the detection of violations of law and improve
enforcement of the laws against pay discrimination.
Prohibiting Employer Retaliation by
prohibiting employers from punishing employees for sharing salary information
with their coworkers, which currently happens on a regular basis.
Closing a Loophole in the Employer
Defense by excusing a pay differential for men and women only
where the employer can show that the differential is truly caused by
something other than sex and is related to job performance.
Eliminating the
"Establishment" Requirement by clarifying that a pay comparison need not be between employees
in the same physical place of business.
Since the vote is happening within the
next day, please take a moment now to urge friends,
family, neighbors, moms groups, and more, so they can take action too.
We need to have as many moms as
possible contacting their U.S.
Representatives to let them know that we
expect them to vote YES on the Paycheck
Fairness Act.
Here's that link again, in case you need
it:
http://www.momsrising.org/PaycheckFairnessAct
The National Women's Law Center has a terrific factsheet that you
can see here:
Factsheet
Why do we need both the Lilly
Ledbetter Fair Pay Act AND the
Paycheck Fairness Act? The Lilly
Ledbetter Fair Pay Act refers
specifically to closing a loophole
created by the Supreme Court, which
makes it more difficult for people to
sue for pay discrimination. The
Paycheck Fairness Act is the granddaughter
of the Equal Pay Act of
1963-the original "equal pay for
equal work law" that was so pivotal to
building economic security for mothers
and families. It would close
loopholes and improved the law's
effectiveness in many ways, including the
bulleted items above.
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