House Approves Pay Discrimination Bills

Staff Writer, Mar 03, 2009

With the introduction of President Barack Obama on January 20, 2009, a new era of labor friendly leadership seems to be at hand.  In the first week of the new Congress, the representatives were more than eager to pass two bills designed to assist workers with pay discrimination.

When ex-President George W. Bush was in office, he threatened to veto them, but President Barack Obama has already noted he wants to support the passing of these bills.

The first bill in question is called the Lilly Ledbetter Act.   This act is designed to overturn a 2007 ruling by the Supreme Court that stated each worker must file a claim of wage discrimination within six months of the first decision made to pay that worker less.  This ruling stated that this file must be made within that time frame, even if the worker had no idea of the difference in pay. 

The name of the bill refers to Lilly Ledbetter, a supervisor at a Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company plant.  She sued her employer when she found out that she was actually earning less than any male supervisor in the company – even though she'd been with the company for nearly 20 years.  The Supreme Court had thrown out her case, stating the 180 day rule for filing her claim.

This new act would state that with each paycheck after the 180 period, the discrimination would continue and become a new and separate violation of the act.  Thus, someone like Ledbetter might have a large amount of back payment to receive as a result.

The next bill to be taken to the House is the Paycheck Fairness Act.  This act states that gender can not be a reason for paying someone less than a colleague is paid.  The employer would need to prove that there is another reason for the disparity in wages.  This act will also protect workers who talk about their salaries with other workers.  The employer would not be able to retaliate against those workers who find out about the salaries of others.

With each of these acts, pay discrimination becomes less likely to occur amongst different genders – especially women being paid less than a man for the same amount of work.  But these acts would also herald in a time of new commitment to workers' rights.

Clearly, with a new administration comes a new set of rules and ways to treat workers within United States companies.