For those of you who didn’t know, Tuesday, April 4, 2017, was National Equal Pay Day. Yay! A day exists to celebrate the disparity of pay between men and women.
According to Shira Tarlo’s, article, What is Equal Pay Day?, Equal Pay day marks the wage differences that still exists between men and women in the workforce. This day was formed in 1996 by the National Committee on Pay Equity, and is on a Tuesday to “represent how far into the next workweek women must work to earn what a man earned the previous week.” Basically, women must work longer to earn what a man earns in the same job for the week. WHY? This is my question, why is it to this day that women earn less than men for the same job?
Every time we make a leap, the government seems to take it back. For instance, in the article, Senate Shelves Pay Equity Bill, by Carrie Dann, in 2014 Senate Republicans all blocked legislation on equal pay. It was a bill that would’ve made it illegal for employers to punish workers who discussed their salaries. What?? Why is this something that wouldn’t be allowed? As a woman, I want to be successful in the business world. I am in Human Resources and this is something that we can try to help remove in our organizations. However, if the government doesn’t protect women in these contexts, it is hard to do that in an organization if the CEO’s do not believe in equal pay.
To make matters worse in our fight, President Donald Trump removed the 2014 Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces order placed by Obama to protect women in the workplace. Author Mary Emily O’Hara, wrote in her article, Trump Pulls Back Obama-Era Protections for Women Workers, that this legislation Obama created ensured that companies with federal contracts complied with labor and civil rights laws. However, no with the removal of this Trump’s administration is allowing companies to violate 14 labor and civil rights laws. It is hard to imagine that because I am a woman I make less than my male counterpart and is seen by the government that I do not need protection from the inequalities that I face. With the current administration, women need to keep up with the new legislations and repeals in order to know their rights in the workplace. Please, be aware of the workforce we are entering as graduation becomes closer.