Women are still often steered into the more traditional female occupations - such as nurse, teacher, clerical worker, or retail sales clerk. This has perpetuated sex-based occupational segregation, which is beyond the reach of the Equal Pay Act alone. Requiring equal pay for workers in equivalent jobs, even when the work performed is different, is the surest way of eliminating the enduring biases against jobs held predominantly by women and people of color.

Research published by the Council of Economic Advisors has estimated that between one quarter and one third of the wage gap cannot be explained by legitimate factors such as education or experience. Although some progress in closing the wage gap has been made in recent years, much of this has been due to the decline in men's wages rather than an increase in women's wages.

There has been a variety of experiences with pay equity implementation. In a school district, elementary school head secretaries were compared to audiovisual technicians. In a hospital, registered nursing assistants were compared to plumbers. In a shoe factory, console operators/sample stitchers were compared to cutters. In a retail food chain, cashiers and meat wrappers were compared to stock clerks. In state and municipal governments, job evaluation systems have allowed comparisons to be made between many female- and male-dominated jobs. These have included comparing Clerk Typists and Custodians; Secretaries and Lab Technicians; Finance Clerks and Maintenance Workers; Emergency Services Operators and Fire Dispatchers; and Dining Hall Coordinators and Automotive Parts Technicians. Through collective bargaining negotiations, Social Workers in a large county received a pay adjustment after being compared to Parole Officers.

Absolutely. Surveys throughout the past decade have documented strong support for legislation to curb wage discrimination. In a recent poll conducted by Lifetime Television and the Center for Policy Alternatives, working women ranked equal pay as a top priority for Congress in 2001. Overall, 93% of African-American women, 91% of Latinas, 90% of Asian-American women, and 87% of white women said equal pay and benefits for women should be one of the top policy priorities in the United States.

Each employer individually will decide how its employees are paid. The government will absolutely not set wages. Under the Fair Pay Act, businesses would decide how jobs are valued, as they should. It requires only that a legitimate and non-discriminatory system be used to set wages.

Based on experiences in state government, effective pay equity programs can be implemented with minimal costs. In Minnesota, the state spent only 3.7 percent of its payroll budget over a four-year period, decreasing the wage gap among its 30,000 employees by six to eight percent. The state of Washington implemented its pay equity plan over a ten-year period, resulting in increased pay for women in the lowest job classes by about ten percent. The total cost to the state was only 2.6 percent of payroll. In the private sector, pay equity consultants help companies implement fair pay policies quietly over time.

Fair pay for employees can lead to greater productivity by raising morale among workers who expect to receive fair pay for their work. By compensating workers for the fair value of their work, the Fair Pay Act can help businesses recruit and retain the best-qualified workers. There has been no evidence of job loss associated with any pay equity plans. The many businesses that already evaluate their compensation plans to correct for the effects of bias will not be impacted by this legislation. For other employers, the Act will provide them with an incentive to examine their wage-setting policies in order to eliminate any bias.

Yes. Under the Fair Pay Act, employers are allowed to pay equivalent jobs differently if the disparity is proven to be a result of a seniority or merit system, or a system that measures pay by the quantity or quality of work. In addition, differences in pay are justifiable for other reasons having to do with a legitimate business interest.

Women and people of color have been historically undervalued in the workplace due to discrimination. Above all, fair pay is a matter of justice and human dignity. But it also has severe economic ramifications. One study estimated that women earn $700,000 to $2 million less than men in wages over a lifetime. This significantly undermines their ability to provide for their families today and hurts their retirement security tomorrow. By ensuring fairness in compensation, the Act will provide workers with the respect that comes with a fair paycheck.

No, the Fair Pay Act does not require the employer to perform a pay equity study. It simply requires that employers refrain from discriminating in compensation on the basis of sex, race, or national origin.

For a free enterprise system to work effectively, all economic decision-makers require information for fully informed choices. This includes employees. Currently, employers are entitled to know a great deal about employees, but employees often lack even the most basic information about overall compensation practices. Without this information, workers cannot fairly compare and evaluate present and prospective employers, thus artificially constraining their employment choices. Disclosure will aid employers as well. Analyzing compensation statistics by job type, gender, race, and national origin will enable employers to identify and remedy inequities that might not otherwise come to their attention. Fair employers have nothing to hide. The Fair Pay Act directs the EEOC to develop regulations relating to the form and content of the reports.