Equal Pay Protection Act

Senate Bill 165 and Assembly Bill 310

 

            What is the Equal Pay Protection Act?  Senate Bill 165 and Assembly Bill 310 are companion (identical) bills that strengthen our employment laws in two ways. 

 

First, the legislation allows the state Department of Workforce Development (DWD) to order employers to pay compensatory or punitive damages to workers who are victims of employment discrimination under Wisconsin’s Fair Labor Standards Act.  This would especially help women and people of color who experience wage and gender discrimination, but it also applies to employment discrimination on the basis of age, creed, disability, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, arrest or conviction record, and membership in the national guard or military reserves. Current law provides only reinstatement and back pay under the Fair Labor Standards Act, which is often not sufficient to deter violations by employers.

 

Second, this legislation directs DWD to appoint a committee to study the whole issue of wage disparity based on gender and race and recommend legislation or policies for Wisconsin that will begin to remedy the problem.

 

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Message to Legislators

           

Ask legislators to vote in support of Senate Bill 165 and AB 130

when this legislation is scheduled for a vote in the State Senate and Assembly. 

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            What is the status of this legislation?  The Senate Labor Committee held a hearing on SB 165 in August 2007 and the bill could be scheduled for a floor vote in the State Senate.   

AB 310 is in the Assembly Jobs and the Economy where no action has been taken. Legislators who are co-sponsors of  SB 165/AB 310 are:  Senators Hansen, Lassa, Breske, Taylor, Lehman, Erpenbach and Miller; Reps. Sinicki, Soletski, Sheridan, Van Akkeren, Pocan, Grigsby, Vruwink, Pope-Roberts, Travis, Shilling, Berceau, Black, Boyle, Fields, Hintz, Mason, Turner, Sherman, Benedict, Smith, Richards, Zepnick, Garthwaite, Young, A. Williams, Nelson, Steinbrink, Kreuser, Colon, Hubler, Parisi, Seidel, Jorgensen, Toles and Schneider.  All are Democrats.

                                   

 

TALKING POINTS

 

  • The fight for equality in the workplace for women and people of color is far from over.  It is hard to believe that nearly half of the workforce is being paid less than their colleagues for doing the same or comparable jobs.  Who are these workers?  Working women. For women of color the disparity is even wider.  A fair day’s work deserves a fair day’s pay.

 

  • The wage gap has a significant impact on the security of working families.  The majority of families rely on women’s wages—nearly 30 percent of working women earn all of their family’s income, and 60 percent earn about half or more. (“Time to end pay disparity between men and women”, by Marlyce Kaiser, Green Bay Press Gazette, September 4, 2007)

 

  • Wisconsin families lose more than $4,000 per year due to unequal pay. (Press release issued by Senator Hansen/Rep. Sinicki, August 28, 2007)

 

  • Wisconsin ranks 21st in the nation with college-educated women earning 74% of what male college graduates do, according to a report issued by the American Association of University Women Educational Foundation, April 2007.  The median annual earnings were placed at $45,193 for women and $60,828 for men. The wage disparity was even worse 10 years after graduation—women earned 69% of men’s wages. The study took into account hours worked, occupation, parenthood and other factors considered to affect earnings in its calculations, but estimated that about one-quarter of the pay gap could not be explained, suggesting sex discrimination.