Zonta International is a global organization of individuals dedicated to building a better world for women and girls. The Zonta USA Advocacy Action Center is a tool for our members in the United States and other individuals who share our commitment to gender equality to take action to improve the lives of women and girls. With your help, we can make a difference..
The Equal Pay Act of 1963 made it illegal for employers to pay unequal wages to men and women who perform substantially equal work. Along with other key civil rights laws that followed, it helped change the workplace and began to combat wage inequality, but these laws have not been updated in decades.
The bipartisan Paycheck Fairness Act (H.R. 17 & S. 1115) would eliminate loopholes in the Equal Pay Act, breaking harmful patterns of pay discrimination and strengthening workplace protections for women.
Specifically, it will:
- Create a negotiation skills training program for women and girls.
- Protect employees against retaliation for discussing salaries with their coworkers.
- Prohibit employers from screening job applicants based on their salary history or requiring salary history during the interview and hiring process.
- Require employers to prove that pay disparities exist for legitimate, job-related reasons.
- Provide employees who file sex-based wage discrimination claims under the Equal Pay Act with the same remedies as are available to employees who file race- or ethnicity-based wage discrimination claims under the Civil Rights Act.
On March 25, Representative Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) reintroduced the bipartisan Paycheck Fairness Act (H.R. 17 & S. 1115). “Men and women in the same job deserve the same pay,” said DeLauro. “It is a simple concept that has eluded so many in our workforce for far too long. It is time that ends. We must enact the Paycheck Fairness Act to close the expanding pay gap and give women the necessary tools to dispute pay discrimination in their workplace. This legislation is overdue, needed, and will meet women in the workplace where they are now. It is time for us to say that the work that women do in our society today is valued, and respected, and a needed contribution that we make.”
Please use our pre-drafted letters to urge your representatives to support the Paycheck Fairness Act (H.R. 17 & S. 1115). If they have already sponsored or co-sponsored the bill, you can send a message of thanks.
We recommend you personalize this pre-drafted letter to your representative.
Add your personal story, talk about what you think will change after the Paycheck Fairness Act is passed, or what difference the legislation will make in the lives of women. Make it your own.
We recommend you personalize this pre-drafted letter to your representative.
Add your personal story, talk about what you think will change after the Paycheck Fairness Act is passed, or what difference the legislation will make in the lives of women. Make it your own.
We recommend you personalize this pre-drafted letter.
Add your personal story, talk about what you think will change after the Paycheck Fairness Act is passed, or what difference the legislation will make in the lives of women. Make it your own.