By Kate McGovern Tornone, Editor
Beginning in March 2018, employers will have to include compensation information on their EEO-1 filings. While the report was previously used by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to look for various types of discrimination, it now also will be used to look for pay discrimination.
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The EEOC’s chair, Jenny R. Yang, said that the data collection will help employers evaluate their pay practices while strengthening the commission’s enforcement of federal nondiscrimination laws.
Private practitioners, however, warn that the administrative burden on employers will be significant, with little benefit for workers. “The ‘gender pay gap’ exists, but it is far from established that the gap is a result of discrimination,” according to a client alert from Donald S. Prophete and Robin E. Shea, attorneys at Constangy, Brooks, Smith & Prophete, LLP.
“The ‘pay gap’ compares the average pay of all women in the workforce with the average pay of all men in the workforce. It does not control for type of position held, geography, career ambition, family responsibilities, education, type of employer, length of employment, gaps in employment, era in which one entered the workforce, or anything else that might legitimately affect pay.”
Because the data that will be provided does not control for these factors, it could result in frivolous charges or “inquiries” of employers about pay gaps that are legitimate, Prophete and Shea warned.
This is just one more way for the government to get more of your information. How absurd is it that they pursue this when, “It does not control for type of position held, geography, career ambition, family responsibilities, education, type of employer, length of employment, gaps in employment, era in which one entered the workforce, or anything else that might legitimately affect pay.”
I’m concerned about the number of discrimination cases this may lead to – in any case, this is NOT a good move.