HRGuru

Hello HRGuru Community and Human Resource Professionals,

I just received this information from SHRM about the Paycheck Fairness Act and thought I would share it and find out what other HR professionals think about the topic. According to the article SHRM is urging all HR professionals to vote NO on this bill. I personally look forward to receiving everyone's feedback, the pros, and the cons as it relates to this bill. Thanking you all in advance.

Best Regards,

Dominique

 Excerpt from the article.

"YOUR ASSISTANCE IS NEEDED! On Thursday, July 24, 2008 a U.S. House committee passed a bill named the “Paycheck Fairness Act” that intends to address gender-based wage discrimination in the marketplace. However, the bill constitutes an unprecedented expansion of the Equal Pay Act, and it would expose employers to more class action lawsuits and unlimited liability for punitive and compensatory damage awards (SHRM, 2008)."

"The entire House of Representatives is planning to vote on the Paycheck Fairness Act during the week of July 28 – August 1.  Please use this opportunity to share your HR perspective and urge your Representative in the House to VOTE NO on H.R. 1338, the Paycheck Fairness Act (SHRM, 2008)! "

SHRM’s Position

SHRM opposes all forms of unlawful discrimination in the workplace, and believes any intentional misconduct against employees in any sector should be promptly addressed and resolved. Accordingly, SHRM believes the so-called Paycheck Fairness Act would be an unnecessary expansion of the Equal Pay Act. It would limit an employer’s ability to determine compensation for its workforce, and it could potentially punish well-intentioned employers.

SHRM opposes the following aspects of the Paycheck Fairness Act:

• Promotes class action lawsuits against employers—The bill would require that employees “opt-out” of a gender discrimination class action, rather than the current law requirement that employees must give their written consent to join a class action.  This will invariably increase the number of plaintiffs in class actions.
  
   


• Exposes employers to unlimited damages—The bill would lift the Equal Pay Act’s current limits on punitive and compensatory damages for which employers would be liable, in addition to current liability for back pay.  Such damages would apply to even unintentional pay disparities.  By exposing employers to potentially millions of dollars in damages, the bill would compel employers to settle wage discrimination claims, even in cases where no discrimination occurred.
  
   


• Restricts employer defenses—The bill would prohibit certain employer defenses for pay disparities.  For example, the bill would eliminate an employer’s ability to justify paying different salaries to workers based in different locations with different costs of living.
  
   


• Encourages salary disclosures—The bill would effectively encourage employees to publicize their co-workers’ salaries by preventing employers from retaliating against employees who disclose or discuss the wages of other employees.
  
  

Thank you for sharing this.