Click above or watch via YouTubeVimeoMP4, or WMV.

This Employment Law This Week Deep Dive episode addresses the heightened focus on equal pay and executive compensation in the wake of the #MeToo movement and what that means for employers as they evaluate bonuses and pay structures for the upcoming year. Attorneys Gretchen Harders, Jeffrey Landes, and Marc Mandelman of Epstein Becker Green discuss the following topics: how comparable salaries may not always result in equal pay, recent equal pay law activity, pay transparency and compensation, salary history inquiries, and what’s next for the #MeToo movement.

Read on for more about this episode: 

1. The #MeToo Movement Brings Equal Pay into Focus

The #MeToo movement has brought with it a heightened focus on equal pay and executive compensation. As employers are evaluating bonuses and compensation structures this year-end, Gretchen Harders, from Epstein Becker Green, explains how even comparable salaries may not always result in equal pay:

“Looking at overall compensation, particularly in the industries where maybe salary is lock-step by position and where the pay differentials can come into play, are in the bonuses. The only way to completely ensure that you’re in compliance over compensation and bonuses is to do an equity pay audit. There are a number of consultants out there that can come in and look at all the different positions, do the comparisons, run the numbers, and be able to come up with results that really tell you where a company might have some issues.”

Click here for more: pay-equity/

2. Equal Pay Laws Go Local

In 1963, Congress passed the Equal Pay Act (EPA), which amended the Fair Labor Standards Act to require equal payment for “substantially similar” work. States and cities have largely taken it upon themselves to clarify the EPA, and that trend continues today in the context of #MeToo. Jeffrey Landes, from Epstein Becker Green, has more about recent equal pay law activity:

“We’ve seen acceleration of the trend with respect to state and local equal pay changes. Particularly, we’ve seen a broadening of equal pay laws. For example, the federal equal pay law focuses on equal pay for substantially equal work. However, that standard has now been loosened in a number of states. The New Jersey Equal Pay Act that went into effect on July 1 stands out and may be used by others as a model going forward. It is, without question, the most robust equal pay legislation we’ve seen today. For example, while we typically think of pay equity as a gender issue and addressing the gender gap, New Jersey prohibits pay discrimination based on 20 protected categories.”

3. Pay Transparency and Compensation

We’re also seeing more legislative activity concerning pay transparency.

Gretchen Harders:

“The pay transparency idea is that you don’t want to prevent employees from speaking to each other about their compensation and disclosing to each other what their salary and wages and compensation is in any given time. And under these state and local laws, employers are not allowed to fire or take any adverse employment action against an employee because they told somebody what their salary was or what their compensation or bonus was.”

4. Salary History Inquiries

More efforts are underway to ban salary history inquiries. Marc Mandelman, from Epstein Becker Green, has more:

“The premise behind salary history legislation is that, on average, women and minorities have historically been paid less than their male or non-minority counterparts, and that basing a person’s pay on what he or she has previously been paid will only perpetuate that trend. A number of jurisdictions have enacted salary history bans and pay transparency laws, and many employers have had to change longstanding hiring and compensation practices in the name of equality. And there isn’t really any proof that these laws will have the desired effect. So, there is some skepticism out there.”

Click here for more.

5. What’s Next for #MeToo

Where #MeToo will lead next is uncertain. But moving forward, employers that are proactive put themselves in the best position to succeed. When it comes to equal pay, that means conducting pay audits and making sure the proper policies are in place to ensure compliance with federal, state, and local requirements.

Gretchen Harders:

“I think the first step would be to look at compensation policies and procedures. What are in your compensation and bonus policies, and what are the procedures that you use to implement it? Another thing to consider is for bonuses. What are the metrics being used? Are they fixed metrics, are they clear metrics, and how is judgment being applied to the bonus? Who’s making the decisions, and how is discretion being applied to the bonus?”

Stay tuned for further developments that may affect your business.

We invite you to view Employment Law This Week®– tracking the latest developments that could impact you and your workforce. The series now features three components: Breaking News, Deep Dives, and Monthly Rundowns. Follow us on LinkedInFacebookYouTube, and Twitter and subscribe for email notifications.

About Employment Law This Week

Employment Law This Week® gives a rundown of the top developments in employment and labor law and workforce management in a matter of minutes every #WorkforceWednesday®. 

SUBSCRIBE TO #WORKFORCEWEDNESDAY®

Prefer to Listen?

You can subscribe to Employment Law This Week episodes on your preferred podcast platform – Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Audacy, AudibleDeezer, Goodpods, iHeartRadio, Overcast, Pandora, Player FM, Pocket Casts, Spotify, YouTube Music.

Spread the Word

Megaphone

Would your colleagues, professional network, or friends benefit from #WorkforceWednesday? Please like and share the edition each week on LinkedIn, Facebook, X, and YouTube, and encourage your connections to subscribe for email notifications.

Trouble viewing the video? Please contact thisweek@ebglaw.com and mention whether you were at home or working within a corporate network. We'd also love your suggestions for topics and guests!

EMPLOYMENT LAW THIS WEEK® and #WorkforceWednesday® are registered trademarks of Epstein Becker & Green, P.C.

Back to Series
Jump to Page

Privacy Preference Center

When you visit any website, it may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. This information might be about you, your preferences or your device and is mostly used to make the site work as you expect it to. The information does not usually directly identify you, but it can give you a more personalized web experience. Because we respect your right to privacy, you can choose not to allow some types of cookies. Click on the different category headings to find out more and change our default settings. However, blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience of the site and the services we are able to offer.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. They are usually only set in response to actions made by you which amount to a request for services, such as setting your privacy preferences, logging in or filling in forms. You can set your browser to block or alert you about these cookies, but some parts of the site will not then work. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable information.

Performance Cookies

These cookies allow us to count visits and traffic sources so we can measure and improve the performance of our site. They help us to know which pages are the most and least popular and see how visitors move around the site. All information these cookies collect is aggregated and therefore anonymous. If you do not allow these cookies we will not know when you have visited our site, and will not be able to monitor its performance.