![]() October 6, 2017Įmployers can no longer ask candidates about their salary history. The Act was signed into law in June 2017, but the protections offered by the Act are being phased in gradually. It will require companies to become more diligent and systematic about how they screen new applicants, negotiate pay and benefits, and track employee performance as it relates to compensation. However, various ambiguities in the Act will present challenges for employers looking to comply. The Bureau of Labor and Industries (BOLI) does a great job of breaking down the components of the law on their technical assistance page. The Act, on its face, seems simple and straightforward. In fact, the Act defines compensation as “wages, salary, bonuses, benefits, fringe benefits, and equity-based compensation.” For example, if someone is seeking an extra week of PTO in a salary negotiation, you should treat that as part of an employee’s compensation and make sure you’re not compensating existing employees differently for work of comparable character. It’s also broader than the title suggests, as the Act does not only address salary. This means that when you set or audit the pay rate for each job candidate and employee, you have layers of protected classes to consider beyond gender. In fact, Oregon law prohibits pay discrimination on the basis of: race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, national origin, marital status, veteran status, disability, or age. It’s been called one of the broadest pay equity laws in the country, as it covers much more than gender. Oregon has tried to improve our 79 cent gap (which is a little lower than the national average) by passing the Oregon Equal Pay Act of 2017. That number is actually now down now from previous years, and just about the same as the number of male executives named John. For example, in 2015, only 21 of S&P 500 companies were run by women. There are a lot of theories about why the gap hasn’t closed more, and that perhaps the pay disparity is related more to promotion and opportunity than anything else. It has made a little progress – the gap has closed from 65 cents for every dollar in 1980. In fact, the Equal Pay Act was passed 55 years ago. There are already federal laws meant to eliminate this gap. The gap, in real terms, is an annual loss of $21,698 for Black women, $26,403 for Latinas, and $7,310 for Asian women. Equal Pay Day for Latinas, the day women finally catch up to what a white man earned the year before, is November 2. Black women make only 63 cents and Hispanic women make 54 cents of what their white, male counterparts make. who work full-time, year-round are paid only 80 cents for every dollar made by their male counterparts.
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