“The right to fair pay is a basic need for workers across this country and having access to quality compensation data is necessary for enforcement agencies to uphold these rights. Together, these policies will make it difficult for employers to discriminate based on race or gender.

“Equal pay is an issue that every worker understands – and it is essential for millions of families trying to make ends meet. Pay discrimination harms workers, businesses, and the economy. Robust data collection is necessary for enforcement agencies to promote better pay practices, ensure compliance with the law, and effectively combat discrimination. Today, we applaud the recommendations from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission’s (EEOC) efforts to improve the collection of pay data to enforce nondiscrimination protections and advance fair pay.

“Enhancing the quality of pay data is an essential step to ensuring all workers’ rights, but is particularly necessary because women and workers from communities of color continue to face significant pay disparities. The work of women of color, in particular, has been persistently devalued for decades. For example, National Partnership research shows that Latinas make just 49 cents for every dollar white, non-Hispanic men are paid – the equivalent of two years of rent. It allows the EEOC to uphold workers rights and provides the insight necessary to recognize when discriminatory salary decisions are made.

“The report helps all workers, no matter the industry, move toward economic stability and security. This is important, particularly as people across the country continue to face inflated prices from the grocery store to the gas pump. The EEOC must continue to build on its efforts to improve equal pay by implementing these recommendations to ensure women, LGBTQI+ people, and workers of color are paid fairly for their work and have equitable opportunities to build wealth for themselves and their families – despite the systems, policies, and programs that existed for generations that were intended to harm them. Additionally, employers will have the tools and information to identify, and address pay equity on their own—before problems arise. Every employer and worker has a common interest in ensuring workers are paid fairly and making workplace discrimination history.

“We look forward to the continued work of the EEOC to close the pay gap for all workers.”

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