President Obama announced Friday a new rule that will require companies with 100 or more employees to report pay data by gender, race, and ethnicity, CNN reports. The information will be acquired on forms submitted to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which already collects information about employees' sex and age.
Friday's announcement arrives on the seventh anniversary of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which was the first piece of legislation Obama signed as president; it loosened the statue of limitations for workers to sue employers for pay discrimination based on gender, race, age, or a disability. Republicans have spoken out against Obama's measures, arguing that gender discrimination is already illegal so additional actions are not necessary, The New York Times reports.
"This won't solve every problem," Obama said Friday. "We've still got to get more women and girls into high paying fields like science and technology, engineering and math. We've still got to make sure women are not penalized or held back in the workplace simply for starting a family." He went on to joke that, "Guys, we're responsible for the family thing too. They're already doing more work than we are in getting that thing going."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The first reports will be due September 2017. Watch part of his announcement below. Jeva Lange
-
The week’s best photosIn Pictures A monstrous parade, a hungry tortoise, and more
-
The Week Unwrapped: Should we be eating less fat – or more?Podcast Plus who will benefit from the surprise Dutch election result? And how can art improve our health?
-
AI models may be developing a ‘survival drive’Under the radar Chatbots are refusing to shut down
-
Senate votes to kill Trump’s Brazil tariffSpeed Read Five Senate Republicans joined the Democrats in rebuking Trump’s import tax
-
Border Patrol gets scrutiny in court, gains power in ICESpeed Read Half of the new ICE directors are reportedly from DHS’s more aggressive Customs and Border Protection branch
-
Shutdown stalemate nears key pain pointsSpeed Read A federal employee union called for the Democrats to to stand down four weeks into the government standoff
-
Trump vows new tariffs on Canada over Reagan adspeed read The ad that offended the president has Ronald Reagan explaining why import taxes hurt the economy
-
NY attorney general asks public for ICE raid footageSpeed Read Rep. Dan Goldman claims ICE wrongly detained four US citizens in the Canal Street raid and held them for a whole day without charges
-
Trump’s huge ballroom to replace razed East WingSpeed Read The White House’s east wing is being torn down amid ballroom construction
-
Trump expands boat strikes to Pacific, killing 5 moreSpeed Read The US military destroyed two more alleged drug smuggling boats in international waters
-
Trump demands millions from his administrationSpeed Read The president has requested $230 million in compensation from the Justice Department for previous federal investigations
