The Colorado legislature has passed the Ensure Equal Pay for Equal Work Act, amending the Equal Pay for Equal Work Act (EPEW) to clarify and enhance an employer’s obligations relating to announcement of a promotional opportunity (which the Act refers to as a “job opportunity”). The Act was sent to Governor Jared Polis and
Laura A. Mitchell is a Principal in the Denver, Colorado, office of Jackson Lewis P.C. She is a member of the firm’s Affirmative Action and OFCCP Defense practice group as well as the firm’s Pay Equity Resource Group. She is also on the leadership team for the firm’s Government Contractor Industry Group.
Her practice is focused on representing government and non-government contractors in OFCCP matters, preparing for and defending OFCCP audits, and counseling employers on issues stemming from OFCCP regulations. Ms. Mitchell personally oversees the development of hundreds of AAPs each year and is intimately involved in the defense of numerous OFCCP audits. She also spends significant time counseling companies in connection with conducting pay equity analyses as well as government contractor employment obligations.
Ms. Mitchell is the editor and a principal contributor of The Affirmative Action Law Advisor blog and frequently presents on pay equity, affirmative action compliance, OFCCP enforcement trends, and government contractor obligations.
Study of EEO-1 Component 2 Pay Data Released
As the 2022 NILG National Conference was coming to a close, the EEOC released the long-awaited National Academy of Sciences report on the EEOC’s Pay Data Collection Completed in 2020. The study, titled Evaluation of Compensation Data Collected Through the EEO-1 Form, is a dense read at over 275 pages. The report found however, that
Washington State to Join the Growing List of States with Expanding Pay Disclosure Requirements
The rise of state pay transparency laws continues, this time with Washington doubling down on its most recent round of pay equity legislation. If new legislation currently on the desk of Governor Inslee becomes law, Washington employers will soon be required to make affirmative compensation-based disclosures to both applicants and employees.
To date, Washington
President Biden Signs Executive Order Promoting Pay Equity and Transparency
In addition to digesting OFCCP’s release of a new directive on compensation, government contractors may soon see new regulations around inquiries into and the use of prior salary information. In conjunction with Equal Pay Day, President Biden signed a new Executive Order on Advancing Economy, Efficiency, and Effectiveness in Federal Contracting by Promoting Pay
OFCCP Releases New Compensation Directive
Hot off the press on Equal Pay Day (the day that symbolizes how far into the year women must work to earn what men earned in the previous year) OFCCP has released a new compensation directive. Directive 2022-01: Pay Equity Audits does little to set out how contractors should be looking at their pay systems
Colorado Clarifies Rule on Remote Job Postings
The new Colorado Equal Pay for Equal Work Act (EPEW) and Equal Pay Transparency (EPT) rules have been garnering a lot of attention in recent weeks. First, the litigation challenging the law has been dismissed following denial of Plaintiff’s request for a preliminary injunction. More recently, the law has been in the news in
Paycheck Fairness Act Fails to Advance in Senate
On June 11, 2021 the U.S. Senate failed to approve advancement of the latest iteration of the Paycheck Fairness Act. In a procedural cloture vote that fell along party lines the Act fell short of receiving the required 60 votes needed to move forward. As a reminder, the version of the Act proposed in February
Injunction Denied: Colorado Equal Pay for Equal Work Act Stands (For Now)
Today, the United States District Court for the District of Colorado issued a long-awaited ruling on a motion to enjoin the recently enacted Colorado Pay Equity Transparency Rules.
These rules were first proposed in September 2020, finalized in November 2020, clarified in December 2020, and became effective January 1, 2021.
They are
Patchwork of Pay Transparency Laws Continues to Evolve
State legislatures continue to pass laws designed to enhance pay equity and transparency, with the laws of California and Colorado effective in 2021. The California law requires employee pay data reporting by race and gender, and the Colorado law requires robust pay and promotional transparency.
California
Under California’s pay data reporting law (SB 973), most
OFCCP Tagged for Pay Data Collection Role in Newly Proposed Paycheck Fairness Act
As yet another confirmation that pay equity will be a priority for the Biden-Harris administration, the proposed Paycheck Fairness Act has been reintroduced in the U.S. House of Representatives as H.R. 7. The proposed legislation has a long history but has never been given a vote in the Senate – it last passed in the