Doyle Votes to Secure Equal Pay for Women and Help Close Gender Wage Gap

Washington, DC – U.S. Representative Mike Doyle (D-PA-18) announced that the House approved H.R. 7, the Paycheck Fairness Act with his support by a vote of 217 to 210.

Nearly six decades after the enactment of the 1963 Equal Pay Act, full-time working women earn only 82 cents, on average, for every dollar a man earns, which amounts to an annual disparity of $10,157 and a career disparity of more than $400,000.  The gap is even larger for women of color: on average, Black women earn just 63 cents, Native American women just 60 cents, and Latinas just 55 cents for every dollar a white, non-Hispanic man earns. These statistics underscore a serious wage gap based on gender and race and the need for the Paycheck Fairness Act

This landmark legislation would strengthen equal pay protections for women – helping close the gender wage gap. The Paycheck Fairness Act would create more effective remedies for women who are not being paid equal pay for equal work and provide new tools for the Department of Labor to enforce pay equity and protections against retaliation for workers who voluntarily discuss or disclose wages.

“It’s shameful that women still remain behind in wages to their male counterparts - only making 82 cents, on average, for every dollar a white male makes.” Congressman Doyle noted today. “Employers should not be able to pay women less than men for doing the same job. The Paycheck Fairness Act aims to tackle this by modernizing and strengthening equal pay protections - unleashing the full power of women in the workforce.”

To help close this gap, the Paycheck Fairness Act strengthens the protections  in the Equal Pay Act and closes the loopholes in that law.  The bill would: 

· Require employers to prove that pay disparities exist for legitimate, job-related reasons and ban retaliation against workers who voluntarily discuss or disclose their wages.

· Prohibit employers from relying on salary history in determining future pay, so that pay discrimination does not follow women from job to job.

·  Improve the Department of Labor’s tools for enforcing the Equal Pay Act and ensure women can receive the same robust remedies for sex-based pay discrimination that are currently available to those subjected to pay discrimination based on race and ethnicity.

·  Provide assistance to all businesses to help them with their equal pay practices and create a negotiation skills training program to help women negotiate higher pay.

“Disparities in pay don’t just harm women in the workplace,” Congressman Doyle added. “It impacts their families and negatively hurts our economy, too. Most modern families need all adults to work to make ends meet. Smaller paychecks for female earners means more unnecessary financial hardship for working families. It means potentially making families choose between buying groceries and visiting the doctor’s office. While it was desperately needed, the 1963 Equal Pay Act hasn’t done enough to ensure that women are paid the same as men for equal work. I call on the Senate and President Biden to enact this bill and bring the country one step closer to equality for women in the workplace.”

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