Bills
| 3.23.22

Should It Be Illegal For Employers To Fire Their Workers For Discussing Wages? (S. 83)

Do you support or oppose this bill?

What is S. 83?

(Updated May 1, 2018)

The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) is the reason we have overtime, a national minimum wage, and strict guidelines against child labor. FLSA standardized and improved working conditions for many, but decades passed before it specifically addressed the wage disparities between men and women. It wasn’t until 1963 that FLSA was amended to include the Equal Pay Act, making it illegal to pay lower wages on the basis of gender.

While the Equal Pay Act was a major step towards closing the gender pay gap, it wasn’t perfect. Currently, employers are not prohibited from retaliating against employees who inquire about wages in response to a sex discrimination charge or investigation. This is a strong deterrent against such inquires. 

If passed, this bill would make it illegal for employers to fire employees for inquiring about or discussing wages in response to a sex discrimination charge or to further a sex discrimination investigation.

Argument in favor

Employers should foster transparency in the workplace — if they have nothing to hide, then discussing wages shouldn't be a problem. And because unequal pay is more often than not a gendered issue — there should be no barriers to achieving equal pay for equal work.

Argument opposed

Employers base wages on many factors, like merit, seniority, and experience — things that other employees might not be privy to, and that have nothing to do with gender. Making wage information readily available could lead to misunderstandings and false accusations.

Impact

Everyone in the U.S. workforce, especially women, anyone who feels the have faced wage discrimination on the basis of gender, all employers

Cost of S. 83

A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.

Additional Info

Of Note:

According to a survey from Pew Research done in April 2014: 

"Both men and women see a need for moves such as this – 72% of women and 61% of men said “this country needs to continue making changes to give men and women equality in the workplace,” according to a Pew Research Center survey last fall. According to the White House, full-time working women earn 77% of what their male counterparts earn. This means that women have to work approximately 60 extra days, or about three months, to earn what men did by the end of the previous year. However, our own estimate, which is based on hourly earnings of both full- and part-time workers, finds women earn 84 percent of what men earn. Based on our estimate, it would take approximately 40 days ... for women to earn what men had by the end of last year."


In Depth:

Last year, the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would have similarly made wage information available, was blocked in the Senate. Sponsoring Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV) introduced the End Pay Discrimination Through Information Act the day before the Paycheck Fairness Act was blocked. While his Act takes big steps against pay discrimination, it lacks several components of the Paycheck Fairness Act including education initiatives for women and clear consequences for employers who knowingly discriminated on the basis of gender.

Media:

The Hill (Previous Bill Version)

Las Vegas Sun (Previous Bill Version)

Center For American Progress (Previous Bill Version)

Sponsoring Sen. Dean Heller (R-NV) Facebook Post


(Photo Credit: Flickr user K. Kendall)