My current event was about the Paycheck Fairness Act. This was a bill that was meant to help close the gap between men and women's salaries. Laws such as Title 7 (Equal Employment Oppertunity), Equal Pay Act, and Section 1981, already enforce the fact that all employees should get paid a similar salary, regardless of race or sex. However, the gap is still rather large. For example, women have been proven to make 23% less than men do, on average. The weekly earning of men, on average, is $819, which is much more than the women's weekly salary of only $657. The Paycheck Fairness Act was meant to help decrease this gap, however it only recieved 58 of the required 60 votes needed to pass the bill.
This bill said that in order to pay two employees different salaries, they had to have a valid reason (not just because of sex or race, but because of something like experience or ability, for example). If an employee thinks this reason is not valid, they would have the right to complain, sue, etc.
Like all arguments, there are two sides being supported. Some people feel that this would only cause problems. They think this would simply make it easier for women to sue companies for reasons that aren't worth the money the companies would have to pay. They also feel that "wage discrimination based on workers' sex is already illegal. The Paycheck Fairness Act would just amplify already existing laws." On the other hand, many people felt that this could only help. It would close the wage gap between men and women, it would put more money in women's pockets, and most importantly, it's fair.
Questions from class:
-Explain what Title 7, Equal Pay Act, and Section 1981 are, and when they were created.
Title 7 - "Prohibits discrimination by covered employers on the basis of race, sex, color, religion, or national origin." This was created in 1964.
Equal Pay Act - "A United States federal law aimed at abolishing wage disparity based on sex." It pretty much says that any employer under this act cannot pay two employees different amount ob the basis of their sex. This was created in 1963.
Section 1981 - This stated that any victim of any kind of race or sex-based dicrimination has the right to obtain a jury trial against their employer(s). This was created in 1866 during the Civil Rights Movement.
Probing Question:
With the information given, do you think the Payment Fairness Act would have helped, or would it have caused problems? Please explain why you think so.
Sources:
online.wsj.com
http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=unfair_loss
http://www.elinfonet.com/1981sum.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Equal_Pay_Act_of_1963
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Rights_Act_of_1964#Title_VII
I do think the Payment Fairness Act will help. I understand where the opposing view is coming from but now there will be more strict guidelines when trying to sue businesses allowing easier decisions in the courts to be made. Also, to sue and be succesful one must have proof so then they deserve to recieve their benefits. I think the Payment Fairness Act will make business realize how much of a problem this is becoming and it will not be tolerated anymore. Due to the fear of getting in trouble and their business going under because of being unfair, I think more businesses will make improvements to their women worker's wages.
ReplyDeleteI also believe that the Payment Fairness act will help bridge that widening gap between men and woman's salaries. I think this because it will just create another law that needs to be followed. Pretty soon companies might become overwhelmed with all of these laws to tell them what they can pay to who. It will make them just want to pay fair wages to be safe and not be reliable. I believe that if a woman can work a certain high paying job at an efficient and sophisticated level, than they should get the same pay as a man working the same type of job. I also think that this law will get passed and will ultimately give woman the same pay as men in the near future.
ReplyDeleteI Think that the Payment Fairness act would be very helpful. Even though it is true that there are existing laws that should take care of this problem, they are just not meeting the standard. Clearly if women are being paid 23% less than men on average, that means there is a problem and that new laws should be made to fix this issue. I can understand why people think that this law would become a problem, some women would probably take advantage of it and try and sue to get money they don't really deserve. But for the truthful women that are unfairly being subjected to unfair pay compared to their male coworkers this law would help them out very much. I ultimately think that there would be problems if this was passed but there would be way more good coming from it for the majority of women because it would guarantee that they receive equal pay.
ReplyDeleteI do not think the Payment Fairness act would have done anything and would probably have been a waste of time. As we discussed in class the information given about weekly paychecks is very vague and to non specific to that there is actually a difference between male and female paychecks. A good scenario to think about is that males and females could be being payed the same amount for the jobs they're doing but more men have higher paying jobs. If women don't want to pursue those careers because of stress or whatever reasons than the pay difference isn't a problem because women were still given the opportunity to have those high paying jobs.
ReplyDeleteI do not think that the Payment Fairness act will have helped the current situation. In class it was stated that all of he things that the act wanted to get done are already laws. This is not saying that the idea brought up by the Payment Fairness act are a bad idea its just that they are already stated elsewhere in the law. The Payment Fairness act could have helped to serve as a reminder to the people that their still are issues with equality even after the women's rights movements. Even though the act might not have helped legally it could have helped to show more people that this sort of stuff is still going on.
ReplyDeleteI think that the payment Fairness act will help. It is clear that women are still suffering from lower wages than men and this would only help fix the matter. This law would cause employers to think more carefully about who deserves higher pay because if taken to court they would have to have very good reason why a woman may have a lower wage than a man. Also, I agree with Jackie that businesses will improve women's wages because they do not want to get in trouble and be put out of business because a woman sues them.
ReplyDeleteI do not believe that this would have worked. I say this because if, say, an employee (given that she's a women) wanted to just sue the company because she thinks that it's discrimination, it would hurt the company badly. It would hurt it because, what if they are NOT discriminating her? what if she can't do many things that other women and men, for that matter can do? (job skills and abilities). This bill would have caused many troubles for various companies, and it would have caused chaos, I believe.
ReplyDeleteThe payment fairness act would both help and hurt. It all depends on who is getting the money if it is in the perpective of women or minorities then yes the act will help them. it will allow them to get the same pay as someone with the same education and status in the buisness. but if you look at it in a buisness perspective it could cause companies to go under like Alex said in his description people will sue these companies a lot more and will have a better chance to get the payments, even though they may not deserve it. So at this time it will defanitly help but it does need some revisions. such as guidlines on education or time in the company position. Someone who has been in the position of say a cashier for maybe five years will likely get a higher salary then someone who has been working for five weeks. But if those revisions are made then this act amy becaome one of the most helpful acts created for women payroll.
ReplyDeleteI think that this law would have been more of a hindrance to businesses, and would have actually hurt women in the long run. I believe that this law would cause women to be significantly overpaid for the skill level and their education. They would be overpaid because employers would be afraid of the possible lawsuits that would be brought up by disgruntled under-qualified women. They would also would be wary of hiring women, due to skepticism over whether they would use this new law to claim discrimination to gain a large settlement. This law will hurt women in the long run because they would be looked over for employment.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Terry and I think that the Payment Fairness Act wouldn't do that much. It might help a little, but there are women in high-paying jobs and there are men in low-paying jobs. Yes, there just happens to be more men in the higher paying jobs, but men also don't get pregnant and its the social norm for women to be stay at home moms instead of men. I don't think its fair to generalize everything and say that women aren't getting their fair share, because there are men out there that aren't being treated right. I think that Justin has a point when he says that it would cause women to be overpaid and could cause lawsuits over under-qualified women.
ReplyDeleteI think the Paycheck Fairness Act will help because of equality. If women and men were getting paid equal amounts then there would be no reason for sueing at all. All the companies would save that money. Companies will take this act more seriosuly so there business does not get affected.
ReplyDeleteI think that the paycheck fairness act will both help and not help. I think that it may help some women individually, but not as a whole. I think that it'll help some women, but not as many woman as it should. Because it's very vague, and women aren't taken as seriously about this as they should, it won't be enforced as much. However, i do think that some women feel more strongly about this situation as others and will do anything in their power to get what they deserve. i think it's all a matter of how they react to the situation.
ReplyDeleteI believe the payment fairness act would be extremely helpful and useful. Existing laws aren’t doing enough to solve the issue at hand. For women who are being paid unfair wages compared to men this is only an opportunity for equality. This way employers will have to carefully decide who gets a higher pay and can obviously not base it on gender.
ReplyDeleteI think the Paycheck Fairness act will really help people and I think men might even be supportive of it. Obviously it will bring equality for all and make the women happy, because unlike now they will be recieving the same payments as men do. But i also think men who live with women will be supportive too, because as a family working together, more money is being brought in from the womens paycheck and they sure cannot complain about that.
ReplyDeleteI think that the Paycheck Fairness Act would help out women considerably, only because this Act would allow women and men- regardless of sex and discrimination- to be payed the same salary as each other. The fact that women today are being treated unfairly even with their payments is uncalled for. There's no reason that women should be payed less than men, so this Act should be able to give women the money they deserve and not be payed a different salary than men. I also wonder as to why out of the 60 votes needed, only 58 votes were cast to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, and what the reasons were for not voting on it.
ReplyDeleteI think this can really help a lot of people and families. This can help because it can help many people get jobs. They will get jobs and be paid the same amount. People always say that they are giving people jobs becasue of their gender and that now they do not becasue this act now people cannot be fired or not even hired because of the gender. This allows it to make it more strict for employers becasue if they do not hire someone based on race then they will probaly be taxed or face penalties from the government.
ReplyDeleteI think that the payment fairness act would help because women still get lower wages than men and the payment fairness act would only help the problem. With the law in effect business would be able to pay women who deserve more money than men, and also they wouldn't feel pressured to pay a male employee less than a woman.
ReplyDeleteI think the payment fairness act would be a positvive thing, because as you stated before in your summary that there is already laws thats are about being paid the same amount of money no matter what sex you are. I feel like this act would enforce the current laws to help make them more legit rather than just kind of brushing it aside. It could give the chance hard working women need to help improve their life by making more because they work more.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the Payment Fairness Act would be a good way to eliminate unfair treatment and payment amongst women. Women have come a long way since their treatment during the 1800's and I believe this act would only be another great advancement of the equality of gender. Women work just as hard as men for their money so they shouldn't be getting paid less for their hard work because of their gender. I think this act would help out women across the nation.
ReplyDeleteI think that the Payment Fairness Act will help. If women are capable of doing the same job as men, and at the same rate, then they should be getting paid the same amount of money as the men. I think that if the businesses are given more and more laws to follow, then soon they will actually do it. I think that the Payment Fairness Act will have businesses making sure that the salaries between men and women are fairly closer, and definately not have a 23% gap between the two.
ReplyDeleteI think the Payment Fairness Act would help because employers would be pushed into paying fair wages to all employees. The act would not change how much one is going to get paid by much but it is as Alex puts it, amplifying. This act would annoy employers into ensuring that employees, especially women are receiving the correct salary/wage.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I think that the Paycheck Fairness Act would have helped. Having 58 out of 60 required votes shows that the act is strongly supported as well. In response to the opposing views about simply amplifying previous laws, I think that amplifying is not necessarily a bad thing.To explain, even though worker gender discrimination is already illegal, this law would definitely remind everyone of that. This could surely boost the 23% wage gap. In addition, the part about giving women the ability to sue should they feel they were treated unfair, makes court decisions smoother. For example, a case may take so long to be qualified for court. However, with this Act in effect, the case may be heard in court easily due to the Act giving the woman the right to sue if treated unfairly. I think the Paycheck Fairness Act would have helped.
ReplyDeleteI think that this would not have helped because, like Terry said, men tend to take certain jobs that make more money such as sports, more ofteh than women. With all the men being payed millions a year in sports, I would likely assume that men's weekly salary is more than a womens. Without more information I cannot accurately say that women are necessarily making less from the same jobs, but just over less per week, no matter what the job is. This can not accurately prove that women make less though because it is like adding apples and oranges, you can't do it.
ReplyDeleteI do believe that the payment Fairness act will help. Through statistics, it is shown that women have lower incomes then men, and this would help that issue. This will also cause employers to be more aware of how they treat women, because if they are being sexist with their wages, they would have to testify in court.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the payment fairness act will help. Women are being treated differently by men. Such as lower incomes. With the fairness act it will allow woman to be treated with the same incomes and will enforce companies to make sure the woman and men make the same amount of money. There is no reason that a woman should be making less than a man, we all live in the same community do the same jobs so we should all be paid the same. That’s why I believe that this act will help many woman with their incomes.
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