Skip to main content

What I've Been Reading This Week: Equal Pay Edition


A few weeks ago we had posts dedicated to labor law and HR related matters.  Following several equal pay related posts over the past few weeks (and the fact that I came across several other equal pay related articles this week), I thought it appropriate to dedicate this post to that very topic.

As always, below are a couple articles that caught my eye this week.


Jackson Mississippi City Council Approves Equal Pay Ordinance

A few weeks ago, the Jackson Mississippi City Council unanimously approved an equal pay ordinance for city workers, set to take effect on June 14th.  Of note, the ordinance prohibits city job applicants from being asked about their salary history as well as requiring city workers to be paid based on (and not deviate) from the city's official plan.  Private employers in Jackson are not covered under this ordinance; only city employees.  With that being said, this is a broad step forward for city workers.



Sarah Elms at The Blade wrote an article earlier this month in which she provided an update on the equal pay ordinance currently being considered by the Toledo City Council.  In essence, the ordinance seeks to bar Toledo employers from asking applicants about their salary history, which would instead have employers set an applicant's salary based upon their experience (rather than their gender.)  There is some disagreement among the City Council, with some suggesting this ordinance would help curb the wage gap while others have argued it would impose an unnecessary level of regulation on employers in Toledo.  Whether there is enough support among the Toledo City Council to get this equal pay ordinance across the finish line remains to be seen.  Stay tuned.



Recently, by a 9 - 6 vote, the Louisiana House Labor Committee rejected bills that would have let local authorities determine their own minimum wage rates and implement equal pay measures.  Although there has been widespread support among Democrats in the state to approve such measures, the particular bills could not find enough support to advance.  With that being said, with equal pay becoming an even more hot button issue (due in no small part to the upcoming 2020 Presidential election), I would not be surprised to see similar legislation be introduced in the Louisiana Legislature sooner rather than later.



Speaking in broad terms, equal pay laws should achieve their intended affect of bringing about pay equality in the workplace.  However, as Quentin Fottrell at MarketWatch writes, there are some drawbacks that have been reported.  Of note, a recent study has found that salary transparency has led some employers to lower overall salaries rather than lifting a woman's salary to the level of their male co-workers.  That should be nothing short of concerning as women in the workplace might appear to be increasing their salary when it is actually instead a matter of employers lowering salaries across the board.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

NLRB: Discussion Among Employees About Tip Pooling is Protected Concerted Activity

  This Advice Memorandum from the National Labor Relations Board’s Associate General Counsel, Jayme Sophir, addressed whether employees which discussed and complained about tip pooling at work constituted protected concerted activity. In relevant part, an employer in New York operated a chain of steakhouses.  While tip pooling was in place at these steakhouses, some of the employees objected to it on the grounds that it was not transparent and improperly divided tips among the workers.  Employees were told not to complain or talk to each other about the tip pool and were told that doing so would endanger their jobs.  Despite the employer later attempting to provide some clarity as to how the tips were being divided, rancor still existed among some employees.  At one point, the employees were told by a general manager that some employees that had been talking about the tip pool were “cleared out” and the employer would continue to do so. In the Advice Memorandum,...
Post a Comment
Read more

San Diego Rolls Back Vaccine Mandate For City Workers

Last Tuesday, the San Diego City Council voted to do away with the vaccine mandate for city employees. The city’s vaccine mandate that was in place required city workers to get the coronavirus vaccine or risk termination.  Perhaps to this surprise of no one, the city’s policy came under fire with 14 employees being terminated and over 100 other employees resigning.  With the coronavirus subsiding, including in Southern California, the San Diego City Council took action. Now, bear in mind, the repeal of the vaccine mandate does not take place immediately. With that being said, the mandate will be repealed March 8th.  I suppose the question now is, what other cities or regions follow San Diego’s lead? For additional information:   https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/politics/story/2023-01-24/san-diego-repeals-controversial-covid-19-vaccine-mandate-citing-drop-in-cases-hospitalizations
Post a Comment
Read more

NLRB: Former Employee Cannot Be Barred From Work Premises After Filing Wage Suit

MEI-GSR Holdings, LLC - NLRB Facts :  MEI-GSR Holdings, LLC d/b/a Grand Sierra Resort & Casino ("GSR") operated a facility that included a hotel, casino, restaurant, clubs, bars, and a pool which were all open to the general public.  Tiffany Sargent ("Sargent") was briefly employed by GSR as a "beverage supervisor" in December of 2012.  After her employment ended, Sargent continued to socialize at one of the clubs.  GSR had a long standing practice of allowing former employees to patronize its facility and did not prohibit Sargent from doing so.  In June of 2013, Sargent and another employee filed a class and collective action against GSR for alleged unpaid wages, in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act and Nevada law.  In July of 2014, GSR denied Sargent access to an event at one of the clubs.  GSR followed up with a letter and stated that with the on-going litigation (from the wage suit), it decided to bar Sargent from the premises. ...
1 comment
Read more