DeLauro, Mikulski Introduce Paycheck Fairness Act to End Wage Discrimination

LegislationSupports Equal Pay for Equal Work; Strengthens Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay ActSigned into Law Four Years Ago to Keep Courthouse Doors Open

President ObamaCalled for Equal Pay for Equal Work in Second Inaugural Address

Women Earn Just77 Cents for Every Dollar a Man Earns; Costs Women, Men & Families $434,000Over a Woman's Career

WASHINGTON – U.S.CongresswomanRosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) and Senator Barbara A. Mikulski (D-Md.) todayreintroduced the Paycheck Fairness Act, legislation which will helpclose the wage gap between women and men working the same jobs, costing womenand their families $434,000 over their careers. Today women make just 77 centsfor every dollar made by a man for equal work. The Senate legislation currentlyhas 22 cosponsors while the House bill has 130.

PresidentObama's first bill, signed into law on January 29, 2009, was the LillyLedbetter Fair Pay Act, which overturned the 180-day statute of limitationsfor women to contest pay discrimination. It was an important down-payment inending the pay gap and keeping the courthouse doors open. In his secondinaugural address on January 21, 2013, President Obama called for equal pay forequal work once and for all. The Paycheck Fairness Act will close theloopholes that allow pay discrimination to continue in the first place and,with Ledbetter, provide employees the rights they need to challenge andeliminate pay discrimination in the workplace.

"Fouryears after the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act was signed into law to keepthe courthouse doors open, it's time to finish the job and stop wagediscrimination from happening in the first place," said Mikulski. "Equalpay is not just for our pocketbooks, it's about family checkbooks and gettingit right in the law books. The Paycheck Fairness Act ensures that womenwill no longer be fighting on their own for equal pay for equal work."

"Equalpay is not just a problem for women, but for families, who are trying to paytheir bills, trying to get ahead, trying to achieve the American Dream, and aregetting a smaller paycheck than they have earned for their hard work," said DeLauro,who has introduced the Paycheck Fairness Act for each of the past eightcongresses. "The Paycheck Fairness Act will help the Equal PayAct fulfill its intended objective, offer real protections to ensure equalpay for equal work, and see that women are paid the same as the other half ofour nation's workforce for the same job."

ThePaycheck Fairness Act builds upon the landmark Equal Pay Actsigned into law in 1963 by closing loopholes that have kept it from achievingits goal of equal pay. The bill would require employers to show pay disparityis truly related to job-performance – not gender.

Itprohibits employer retaliation for sharing salary information with coworkers.Under current law employers can sue and punish employees for sharing suchinformation. In addition, it strengthens remedies for pay discrimination byincreasing compensation women can seek, allowing them to not only seek backpay, but also punitive damages for pay discrimination.

Finallythe bill empowers women in the workplace through a grant program to strengthensalary negotiation and other workplace skills, and requires the Department ofLabor to enhance outreach and training efforts to eliminate pay disparities.

State-by-statedata on the wage gap is available here.