EventSpan

Speaker:

Stephanie R. Thomas

Full description: There are four main events impacting the way we study internal compensation equity: the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, the creation of the National Equal Pay Enforcement Task Force, the OFCCP's proposed rescission of the Compensation Standards and Guidelines, and the reintroduction of the Paycheck Fairness Act. Each of these events has implications for the documentation and data you retain, explanatory variables in your compensation models, and the kinds of litigation you may be facing. The presentation will explore the implications of each event.

The Ledbetter Fair Pay Act resets the 180-day filing period for discrimination complaints with each new application of a discriminatory compensation decision or other practice, including each time wages, benefits or other compensation is paid. This means that there is an increased need for documentation. We'll discuss what documentation needs to be kept and the importance of documentation from a litigation risk management perspective. Additionally, compensation analysis is more complex because of the "other factors" included in the Fair Pay Act. We'll explore what "other factors" means, and walk through an example analysis that highlights the importance of considering other factors when examining compensation systems for internal equity.

The National Equal Pay Enforcement Task Force is a cross-agency group whose purpose is to crack down on violations nof equal pay laws. We'll discuss the five persistent challenges to enforcement of equal pay laws identified by the Task Force and what the Task FOrce is planning to do to solve those challenges. We'll talk about the recommendation to reinstate the EO Survey, revamp the EEO reports, and what these recommendations mean for employers.

We'll also discuss the OFCCP's proposed rescission of the Compensation Standards and Guidelines. We'll highlight the underlying reasons for the proposed rescission, provide some counter-arguments, and talk about theb new wage data collection tool the OFCCP and the Task Force are likely to institute. We'll talk about what the proposed rescission means for contractors, what data contractors should be contemporaneously creating and retaining, and the importance of compensation self-evaluation even if the Guidelines are rescinded.

Finally, we'll discuss the Paycheck Fairness Act, which was just reintroduced into the House and Senate on April 12.  We'll talk about how the Act would amend the "any factor other than sex" defense and what that means for compensation analysis. We'll also discuss how the Act - in its current form - has the potential to revolutionize the way businesses pay their employees.

Disclaimer: Stephanie R. Thomas is an economic and statistical consultant. The information presented should not be construed as legal advice.