Now that the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act has been signed into law, the Paycheck Fairness Act is next on the agenda for fair pay advocates. Unlike the Ledbetter Act, which only provided a simple "fix" for a bad Supreme Court decision, the Paycheck Fairness Act is a multi-pronged attack on the gender wage gap, which was 22 cents in 2007. (That is, for every dollar men earned working full-time and year-round, women earned 78 cents. The gap is even worse for women of color. Check out Women Work!'s fact sheet here.)
 
The Paycheck Fairness Act passed in the House at the same time as Ledbetter did, but the Senate will be a tougher battle. However, the number of cosponsors (Senators who pledge to support the bill) is growing, and advocates are working on the national and state levels to educate their Senators about the bill's importance.

You can help by signing your organization on to a joint letter to the Senate drafted by the National Women's Law Center.

 

As the national financial crisis continues to threaten the economic security of many American families, policymakers in Washington have been actively seeking innovative approaches to minimize its impact on working families and small businesses. Now more than ever, family-friendly workplace policies are being touted by Congressional leaders as beneficial to both employees and employers. These policies include flexible working arrangements, paid sick leave, and expansion of the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA).
 
Earlier this month, Representative Carolyn Maloney (D-N.Y.) introduced the Working Families Flexibility Act, which seeks to simultaneously help working parents balance the responsibilities of work and family and support businesses by reducing worker turnover. Rep. Maloney's bill would stipulate that workers can petition their employers for modifications to their schedule or location of work and be protected from retaliation.
 
With Senator Jim Webb (D-Va.), Rep. Maloney has also reintroduced the Federal Employees Paid Parental Leave Act , which would give all federal employees four weeks of paid leave after the birth or adoption of a child, setting a national standard.
 
In a recent hearing of the House Education and Labor Subcommittee on Workforce Protections, Chairwoman Lynn Woolsey (D-Cal.) stressed the need for family-friendly policies, especially during times of economic downturn, when workers are worried about losing their jobs. Heather Boushey of the Center for American Progress testified that because job creation rates are low, protected family leave is crucial to maintaining job security. When businesses are suffering from economic woes, the option of flex-time lets employers cut workers' schedules rather than laying them off. Eileen Applebaum, Director of the Center for Women and Work at Rutgers University, further pointed out that family-friendly policies such as paid sick leave and family leave insurance actually create net savings for businesses because they reduce rates of worker turnover.
 
Chairwoman Woolsey also made clear that her priority is expanding the FMLA, which provides twelve weeks of unpaid leave for emergency family care but currently only covers workers at companies with over 50 employees -- only half of the American workforce.