President Barack Obama recently issued an order to help eliminate the wage gap between the genders. USA Today reports that Labor Secretary Tom Perez will have to create rules so that all federal contractors have to submit wage information for all staff members, including breakdowns on sex and race.
This is all part of an effort to get rid of a massive discrepancy in income. White House data show that women earn 77 percent of what males do. This gap is even widened when race is taken into consideration "with African-American women earning 64 cents and Latina women earning 56 cents for every dollar earned by a Caucasian man," the White House wrote. The president's actions are in line with how he pays his staff.
"Men and women in equivalent work here earn equivalent salaries. For example, we have two deputy chiefs of staff, one man and woman, and they earn the same salary. We have 16 department heads – over half of them are women – all of whom earn the same salaries as their male counterparts," White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said, according to USA Today.
Fortunately, there seems to have been some progress. The Pew Research Center recently found that young women earn 93 percent of what middle-aged men receive. Furthermore, the overall wage gap is now only at 16 cents, down from 36 cents in 1980.
The discrepancy still exists because of how much time women miss from work. Pew notes that 39 percent of women have missed significant periods in order to tend to family matters and 42 percent cut their hours back for the same reason. Another 27 percent left the workforce altogether.
What this means for businesses
The push to close the wage gap is something that every business should consider. Set time aside with HR to review compensation and establish a corporate policy to support equal pay. In the company handbook, companies can outline their policy so that they are transparent to demonstrate that they aren't discriminating in any way, shape or form.