This presentation will uncover the implications of April 2, 2019, otherwise known as “Equal Pay Day,” the specific date this year when the average man in the United States could start work and earn the same amount by December 31 as the average woman, in the same job, who had worked all year long.
Gender pay equity as a topic in the media is back with a vengeance, courtesy of #MeToo and #TimesUp. Discussions about what it’s going to take to eradicate harassment and discrimination in the workplace inevitably leads us to these questions: Is it “good enough” for employers to simply acknowledge the gender discrimination inherent in acts of sexual harassment? Or, is it time to step past acknowledgement, and into action, to truly rectify the pay equity gap?
Regardless of what your company’s views and current efforts are, it’s important as an HR professional to be aware that the state, city or other local jurisdiction in which you operate may have gender-equalizing laws in place.
HR Webinar: The Affordable Care Act Turns 10 Years Old: Where to From Here?Ascentis
Happy Birthday, ACA! Ten years ago, on March 23, 2010, the ACA was signed into law. Adding an unprecedented level of consumer protections and minimum quality standards to the health insurance Americans use, the law was and remains controversial to this day. In fact, the rate of uninsured nonelderly Americans dropped from a high of 17.8% in 2010, to 10.0% in 2016. The cancelation of the individual mandate, among other factors, has started to reverse that trend, with increases in the uninsured rates in 2017 and 2018. As the ACA celebrates its tenth birthday, it has something else to celebrate: its highest approval rate since public opinion polls began tracking it: 55% favorable opinion vs. just 37% unfavorable opinion.
As an HR professional, always busy with a hundred other people priorities at your company, it is hard to keep up with the ever-changing laws in the health insurance industry, and specifically, the ACA. With the law predicted to head to the Supreme Court soon for the third review of its fundamental constitutionality, receiving real-time updates becomes even more important. See what has changed in the ACA, looking at where it started to where it is now in this webinar!
Many notable trends emerged throughout 2013 which will
affect employers’ initiatives related to legal compliance, health care/benefits, compensation, talent management, and hiring in 2014.
There were major forces at work this past year that have made the labor and employment landscape in 2015 more dynamic and unpredictable than in recent years. A volatile political climate, still-sluggish economy, historic swing in the mid-term elections and aggressive federal initiatives have left many employers wondering what 2015 holds in store. In this report, we cover some of the hottest employment and health care trends, plus new payroll, tax and benefits information.
HR Webinar: The Affordable Care Act Turns 10 Years Old: Where to From Here?Ascentis
Happy Birthday, ACA! Ten years ago, on March 23, 2010, the ACA was signed into law. Adding an unprecedented level of consumer protections and minimum quality standards to the health insurance Americans use, the law was and remains controversial to this day. In fact, the rate of uninsured nonelderly Americans dropped from a high of 17.8% in 2010, to 10.0% in 2016. The cancelation of the individual mandate, among other factors, has started to reverse that trend, with increases in the uninsured rates in 2017 and 2018. As the ACA celebrates its tenth birthday, it has something else to celebrate: its highest approval rate since public opinion polls began tracking it: 55% favorable opinion vs. just 37% unfavorable opinion.
As an HR professional, always busy with a hundred other people priorities at your company, it is hard to keep up with the ever-changing laws in the health insurance industry, and specifically, the ACA. With the law predicted to head to the Supreme Court soon for the third review of its fundamental constitutionality, receiving real-time updates becomes even more important. See what has changed in the ACA, looking at where it started to where it is now in this webinar!
Many notable trends emerged throughout 2013 which will
affect employers’ initiatives related to legal compliance, health care/benefits, compensation, talent management, and hiring in 2014.
There were major forces at work this past year that have made the labor and employment landscape in 2015 more dynamic and unpredictable than in recent years. A volatile political climate, still-sluggish economy, historic swing in the mid-term elections and aggressive federal initiatives have left many employers wondering what 2015 holds in store. In this report, we cover some of the hottest employment and health care trends, plus new payroll, tax and benefits information.
Top 15 Employment Law Trends to Watch for in 2015XpertHR USA
In 2015, employers will face a number of workplace challenges when it comes to managing, monitoring and maintaining their workforce. From providing paid sick leave and equal opportunity under state and municipal laws to extending equal rights and benefits to same-sex partners and accommodating pregnant women, complying with these new obligations may require you to change the way you operate your business. These issues are not only scary, but can be costly for employers in terms of time, money and resources.
Here are the top 15 employment law Issues employers cannot afford to ignore in 2015:
1. Off-Duty Use of Medical and Recreational Marijuana
2. Paid Sick Leave
3. Affordable Care Act Employer Mandate
4. Immigration
5. Protecting Company and Employee Privacy in the Digital Age
6. Safe Driving Laws
7. E-Cigarette Use in the Workplace
8. Reasonably Accommodating Pregnant Women
9. Wellness Programs Conflicting with ADA, GINA, and FMLA
10. Growing Acceptance of LGBT Rights and Same-Sex Marriage
11. Workplace Bullying
12. Addressing Domestic Violence
13. Minimum Wage and Wage and Hour Laws
14. Providing Workplace Protections to Interns and Volunteers
15. Ban the Box
Is your Employer’s Reorganization a Latent Form of “Age” Discrimination?Ethan Burger
The Federal and most state governments prohibit employers from discriminating against individuals above age 40 in the hiring, promotion and retirement process. Many employers and employees do not understand the law in this area. Frequently, reductions in force and reorganizations have the effect of violating laws prohibiting age discrimination.
HR Webinar: The New EEO-1 Component 2 Reporting Requirement: Are You Ready?Ascentis
With the decision by Judge Tanya Chutkan of the DC Federal District Court in National Women's Law Center, et al., v. Office of Management and Budget, et al., Civil Action No. 17-cv-2458 (D.D.C.), now appearing to be final, the EEOC announced on July 15, 2019, that the EEO-1 Component 2 reporting portal is now open, and login information was being sent to approx. 1.6 million employer "establishments" who are required to complete this reporting by September 30, 2019. As a reminder, this reporting requirement, which has been pending EEOC "activation" for more than three years, requires employers to categorize employees by pay range, report their annual hours worked, and classify by race, gender and job classification already being reported in existing ("Component 1") information. The initial intent of this data collection was to begin the first-ever, data-driven effort to close the 19% gender pay equity gap recognized within the US.
In this webinar we will review the history of the requirement, the assortment of reporting tools released by the EEOC in July 2019 designed to help with the required reporting and give an update on the expected August posting by the EEOC including when employers are expected to begin uploading Component-2 data in CV format to the EEOC website.
HR Webinar: Gender Pay Equity: The Journey ContinuesAscentis
This presentation will review the implications of March 24, 2021, otherwise known as “Equal Pay Day,” the specific date this year when the average man in the United States could start work and earn the same amount by December 31 as the average woman, in the same job, who had worked all year long.
In recent years, gender pay equity has experienced a continuous sense of “one step forward; two steps back”. EEO-1 Component 2 reporting, as a tool for identifying specific regions, industries and organizations where this type of discrimination is most pronounced has arrived, departed, and is now poised to arrive again at HR professionals’ desks. Discussions about what it’s going to take to eradicate sexual harassment and gender-based discrimination in the workplace (the #MeToo movement) inevitably lead us to questions like: Is it “good enough” for employers to simply acknowledge the gender discrimination inherent in acts of sexual harassment? Or is it time to step past the words, and into action, and to focus on the steps we need to take to truly rectify the pay equity gap?
Regardless of what your company’s views and current efforts are, it’s also important that every HR professional be aware that the state, city or other local jurisdiction in which you operate may have gender-equalizing laws in place.
Top 15 Employment Law Trends to Watch for in 2015XpertHR USA
In 2015, employers will face a number of workplace challenges when it comes to managing, monitoring and maintaining their workforce. From providing paid sick leave and equal opportunity under state and municipal laws to extending equal rights and benefits to same-sex partners and accommodating pregnant women, complying with these new obligations may require you to change the way you operate your business. These issues are not only scary, but can be costly for employers in terms of time, money and resources.
Here are the top 15 employment law Issues employers cannot afford to ignore in 2015:
1. Off-Duty Use of Medical and Recreational Marijuana
2. Paid Sick Leave
3. Affordable Care Act Employer Mandate
4. Immigration
5. Protecting Company and Employee Privacy in the Digital Age
6. Safe Driving Laws
7. E-Cigarette Use in the Workplace
8. Reasonably Accommodating Pregnant Women
9. Wellness Programs Conflicting with ADA, GINA, and FMLA
10. Growing Acceptance of LGBT Rights and Same-Sex Marriage
11. Workplace Bullying
12. Addressing Domestic Violence
13. Minimum Wage and Wage and Hour Laws
14. Providing Workplace Protections to Interns and Volunteers
15. Ban the Box
Is your Employer’s Reorganization a Latent Form of “Age” Discrimination?Ethan Burger
The Federal and most state governments prohibit employers from discriminating against individuals above age 40 in the hiring, promotion and retirement process. Many employers and employees do not understand the law in this area. Frequently, reductions in force and reorganizations have the effect of violating laws prohibiting age discrimination.
HR Webinar: The New EEO-1 Component 2 Reporting Requirement: Are You Ready?Ascentis
With the decision by Judge Tanya Chutkan of the DC Federal District Court in National Women's Law Center, et al., v. Office of Management and Budget, et al., Civil Action No. 17-cv-2458 (D.D.C.), now appearing to be final, the EEOC announced on July 15, 2019, that the EEO-1 Component 2 reporting portal is now open, and login information was being sent to approx. 1.6 million employer "establishments" who are required to complete this reporting by September 30, 2019. As a reminder, this reporting requirement, which has been pending EEOC "activation" for more than three years, requires employers to categorize employees by pay range, report their annual hours worked, and classify by race, gender and job classification already being reported in existing ("Component 1") information. The initial intent of this data collection was to begin the first-ever, data-driven effort to close the 19% gender pay equity gap recognized within the US.
In this webinar we will review the history of the requirement, the assortment of reporting tools released by the EEOC in July 2019 designed to help with the required reporting and give an update on the expected August posting by the EEOC including when employers are expected to begin uploading Component-2 data in CV format to the EEOC website.
HR Webinar: Gender Pay Equity: The Journey ContinuesAscentis
This presentation will review the implications of March 24, 2021, otherwise known as “Equal Pay Day,” the specific date this year when the average man in the United States could start work and earn the same amount by December 31 as the average woman, in the same job, who had worked all year long.
In recent years, gender pay equity has experienced a continuous sense of “one step forward; two steps back”. EEO-1 Component 2 reporting, as a tool for identifying specific regions, industries and organizations where this type of discrimination is most pronounced has arrived, departed, and is now poised to arrive again at HR professionals’ desks. Discussions about what it’s going to take to eradicate sexual harassment and gender-based discrimination in the workplace (the #MeToo movement) inevitably lead us to questions like: Is it “good enough” for employers to simply acknowledge the gender discrimination inherent in acts of sexual harassment? Or is it time to step past the words, and into action, and to focus on the steps we need to take to truly rectify the pay equity gap?
Regardless of what your company’s views and current efforts are, it’s also important that every HR professional be aware that the state, city or other local jurisdiction in which you operate may have gender-equalizing laws in place.
There are a number of complicated laws and regulations that organizations must adhere to relating to comparable worth and equal pay. While compliance is important, most organizations do not have an effective way to administer these rules on an ongoing basis.
Payroll Webinar: Untangling Multi State Payroll Reporting ComplexitiesAscentis
Almost all states require employers to withhold tax from employee wages earned for work performed in that state, even for nonresidents. As a starting point, the default rule of state income tax withholding is to withhold income tax for the state in which services are performed (the work state). But what happens when the employee lives and works in different states. What happens when the individual works in multiple states? This course will explore the obligations to payroll reporting for state purposes including exception cases with state reciprocity and convenience of the employer states. The course will look to “untangle” the complexities around when and how to report to non-resident states and when to withhold and remit state and local taxes.
Payroll Webinar: Tax Levies and Creditor Garnishments: What Payroll Must Know...Ascentis
This webinar concentrates on processing garnishments in the payroll department other than child support. It covers the federal rules for creditor garnishments, the IRS rules for federal tax levies, the various aspects of state tax levies, the key points for processing state creditor garnishments, how to handle voluntary wage assignments such as payday loans and student loans. It includes best practices for reconciling and processing the garnishments in the payroll department. Sample memos for communicating with the employee concerning garnishments are included. The IRS Form 668-W is reviewed.
Payroll Webinar: Time & Attendance Payroll FraudAscentis
Have you ever had to clock in or out from work on a time clock? What type of time clock was it? Did you have to use a punch card? Did you have to use a fob or card key? Did you have to use your fingerprint or retina?
The evolution of the time clock and the various methods by which an employee is able to indicate the beginning and end of periods of time worked was based on the evolution of time and attendance fraud. In this hour, the different methods by which an employee might abuse a time and attendance system will be identified and discussed, as well as best practices for prevention.
Payroll Webinar: Wage and Hour Compliance in 2021Ascentis
This webinar concentrates on federal and state wage and hour requirements that must be followed in the payroll department. Areas of discussion include calculating overtime, travel time, minimum wage, posting requirements, meal and rest periods, how often an employee must be paid and by what method and paying terminated employees.
HR Webinar: Employee vs. Contractor: Changes That Will Impact All EmployersAscentis
Although the pandemic-related recession had a brief downward impact on gig workers overall, the trend is clear: being your own boss is a concept gaining popularity at an impressive rate. The overall number of Americans classifying themselves as freelancers rose from 53 million to 59 million from 2014 to 2020. And even the core classification of self-employed individuals (incorporated or not) has risen by 17 percent in just one year – from 8.221 million in April, 2020, to 9.651 million in April, 2021, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The rapid growth in the ranks of independent contractors has naturally spurred greater interest in the regulations surrounding worker classification – both in terms of the loss of benefits and protections for those leaving traditional employment, and the potential for abuse of the worker classification process by employers.
During the last year, the states have been brewing up their own changes in employment classification laws, led by California’s AB 5, which was passed, then repealed and replaced with AB 2257. At the federal level, with the transition to single-party control in the House, Senate (barely) and Presidency, the Protecting the Right to Organize (“PRO”) Act (H.R. 842) is making its way through Congress, and may even find a home inside the massive infrastructure bill now being debated on Capitol Hill. The PRO Act, as currently written, would include the most comprehensive amendment to the terms “employee,” “employer,” and “supervisor,” since the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 became law.
So how will all of these convergent changes settle out? And most importantly, how can employers plan for the expected changes on this contentious topic?
HR Webinar: 2021 Compliance & Employment Law UpdateAscentis
2020 was nuts with employment laws changing rapidly so quickly to handle the COVID-19 pandemic. 2021 has no plans to slow down with new laws out of Congress and state legislatures contemplating higher minimum wages, paid leaves, additional protections against discrimination and harassment, and shifting priorities at federal agencies. With hopes of coming out of the pandemic by year’s end, HR professionals in all industries are preparing for the next wave of regulations affecting every industry.
HR Webinar: Leading Hourly Workforce Transformation in a Post-Pandemic WorldAscentis
As we continue to negotiate the impacts of Covid-19 on our society, the workplace has changed for good. And for hourly workers, and those who manage them, the shifts have been even more dramatic.
In order to meet the needs of this workforce that has changed forever, leaders must strategically develop their employment practices to ensure they're able to successfully attract, recruit, and retain the quality and tech-savvy talent that they need.
In this program, we'll explore five key strategies that are key to creating a workplace where the post-pandemic hourly workforce can grow and thrive. The new normal may still be unknown – but the good news is that companies can count on their hourly workforce to deliver for them, once they start responding to their needs.
HR Webinar: The First 100 Days: Changes Employers Should be Aware ofAscentis
April 30, 2021 is the end of the first 100 days of the new Biden Administration. Not only did we have a change of party in the White House, but for the first time since 2011 we are also experiencing single party control of the House of Representatives, Senate and Presidency.
From vaccine logistics to small business relief, from minimum wage to gender pay equity, and from immigration reform to health care policy, political analysts expected big changes from the new Administration. In this session, we’ll review reality against expectations, and the HR technology implications for the change to come.
Join Jim Paille as he talks about payroll tax compliance going into the new year. In this session, you will understand the latest tax reform items that affect payroll. He will cover new IRS initiatives to be mindful of entering 2021. Then, Jim will discuss topics related to the 2020-2021 W-4’s impact at both the federal and state levels. Finally, he will cover some tips you can leverage to make your year-end processing more efficient and effective.
Payroll Webinar: Forms W-2/941/940 for 2021: The Information You Need to Know!Ascentis
It is a New Year! Are you and your payroll department ready? Join “The Payroll Advisor” Vicki M. Lambert, CPP as she helps you to understand the proper procedures for completion of Form W-2, Form 941 and Form 940 for 2021.
Payroll Webinar: Payroll Tax Nexus 2021: Impacts on Organizations as a Result...Ascentis
This session will explore the U.S. payroll tax impact to employers and employees in response to the increase in telework as a result of the COVID pandemic. Specific areas covered will include employer “nexus” with respect to withholding and reporting requirements related to those employees working remotely, potential state and local employment tax authority audit activity, strategies to consider in go-forward policy development and organizational hurdles in compliance as we move forward through 2021 and beyond.
Payroll Webinar: Maximize Operational Efficiency with Your Workforce Manageme...Ascentis
Time and attendance has had quite the evolution over the years from the "clock in, clock out" mindset. It plays into a bigger workforce management strategy designed to help companies optimize workforce productivity on an individual and company-wide basis. In this webinar, we will talk about ways to improve your company's overall operational efficiency in leveraging data analytics that can be found through technology, like a time system. We will touch on methods of risk management and how your organization should be thinking about emerging compliance needs in relation to new work environments. Lastly, ideas around improving budget forecasting for ways to benefit the bottom line.
Join Ginnette Clark, VP of American Payroll Association, as she breaks down these workforce management strategies.
Payroll Webinar: Streamlining Payroll Operations and EfficienciesAscentis
Payroll is often the largest expense for a business and can be even more costly because of non-compliance, inefficient processes, lack of controls, and outdated technology. A missed deadline or incorrect tax filing can result in hefty fines and even jail time. Manual entry of HR/payroll records is time-consuming and prone to human error. Not having controls in place, whether you are a public or a private company, can increase the risk of fraud. Outdated technology can be complex and tends to add more administrative burden to HR/payroll teams, causing unwanted stress and frustration.
In this session we talk about the many ways that companies can stay compliant, streamline payroll operations, and optimize efficiency. We’ll share best practices and current trends to help improve your overall payroll operations and keep things running smoothly.
HR Webinar: The New Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021: What HR Pros Mus...Ascentis
On December 27, 2020, the President signed H.R. 133, the "Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021". This omnibus law includes the much anticipated and long-awaited COVID Relief Bill, with many of the new provisions taking effect immediately. Weighing in at a "mere" 5,593 pages, the new law renews or extends most of the tax relief programs available to employers under both the FFCRA and the CARES Act. The renewed Paycheck Protection Program, funded with $284.45 billion in new federal spending, is expected to see new lending the week of January 11, 2021, with a number of changes in response to prior program criticisms. Join us at this webinar to review the many provisions of CAA'21 which will impact Human Capital Management.
HR Webinar: 2021 Workplace and Compliance OutlookAscentis
In this webinar, we will explore the current hot issues surrounding the HR leader. We will touch on topics such as updated compliance responsibilities to be aware of, employee well-being, new employee demands, the hybrid workspace, and more. Tune in to hear Barbara Trumbly talk to what issues and new policies you should be aware of entering the new year.
HR Webinar: COVID-19 Vaccines and the Workplace: What Employers Should KnowAscentis
This year, the success of the USA in emerging from the COVID pandemic will largely depend on our effectiveness in administering a universal vaccination program to achieve the CDC's recommended 70-85% level needed to achieve herd immunity. While so far the federal and state governments have not assigned employers any significant responsibilities in supporting the vaccination program, many employers nevertheless want to help in some way, and need to know what options they have in doing so.
HR Webinar: The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021: New Employer Opportunities ...Ascentis
On March 11, 2021, President Biden signed into law H.R. 1319, the “American Rescue Plan Act of 2021” (APRA). The latest in an extended series of COVID-19 economic relief bills, with a price tag of $1.9 trillion and weighing in at an impressive 628 pages, ARPA will bring cumulative US federal pandemic relief spending to approximately $5.7 trillion. While the new law’s consumer provisions – like direct stimulus payments to about 89% of US taxpayers, extended unemployment benefits, and increased child tax credits – have gotten almost all the press coverage related to this law, as with prior laws (FFCRA, CARES Act, CAA) there are many employer-impacting provisions that have so far “flown under the radar.”
At Ascentis, we’ve hauled out our trusty “HCM radar detector” to hone in on just those provisions which may impact and delight (or maybe not?) employers, and the HR community, around the country.
Payroll Webinar: The A to Z of Payroll Garnishments Part 2Ascentis
Tax levies and creditor garnishments can be some of the most complex tasks required of any payroll department. Payroll must understand all the laws that apply towards processing these types of garnishments backwards and forwards. It is sometimes even up to the payroll department to catch and correct any errors that have been made by anyone else along the way!
Precise and accurate compliance with garnishment regulation can help to reduce or eliminate the emotional and financial toll that can result from these unfortunate situations as well stave off any penalties that may result if processed incorrectly.
This webinar concentrates on processing garnishments, other than child support, in the payroll department. We’ll cover the federal rules for creditor garnishments, the IRS rules for federal tax levies, the various aspects of state tax levies, the key points for processing state creditor garnishments, how to handle voluntary wage assignments like payday loans and student loans. And that’s not all – we’ll also review the IRS Form 668-W.
Payroll Webinar: The A to Z of Payroll Garnishments Part 3Ascentis
In parts two and three of the A to Z of Payroll Garnishments we discussed the legal aspects of garnishments, now in our third and final chapter we will turn our attention to the best practices for processing the garnishments within the payroll department.
We will apply our learnings and review examples of calculating all types of garnishments, including how to prorate when an employee has two or more child support withholding orders and not enough disposable income to cover both, the calculations for a federal tax levy, what to do if the employee has a creditor garnishment and a child support withholding order and more!
Payroll Webinar: Paying Overtime Under the FLSA: Part 2Ascentis
This is the second of a two-part webinar that will help you better understand the requirements and procedures involved in overtime calculation. Calculating overtime pay for nonexempt employees sounds so simple. But not so fast. The truth is that overtime rules and the mathematics required to arrive at the correct calculation can be extremely tricky. Our speaker will share her expertise and best practices for managing these calculations.
Penalties for overtime violations can be severe with the possibility of fines, imprisonment or both! Add civil suits to the mix and the results can be devastating to any business, no matter how large or small. Just to keep it interesting, most states use the same definition to calculate overtime as the FLSA does. So, even one, single error can earn you double the penalties.
4. How to earn credit
Stay on the webinar,
online for the full 60
minutes
Be watching using your
unique URL
Program codes delivered
by email, to registered
email, approximately 30
days following today’s
session
5. Today’s Speaker
Bob Greene currently serves as Channels Manager and Sales Trainer at Ascentis.
Bob’s 39 years in the human capital management industry have been spent
in practitioner, consultant and vendor/partner roles. As practitioner, he managed
payroll for a 5,000 person bank in New Jersey. As consultant, he spent 8 years
advising customers in HRMS, and payroll and benefits system design as well as
acquisition strategies. Bob also built a strategic HCM advisory practice for Xcelicor
(now Deloitte Consulting.)
As vendor/partner, he has had prominent roles in sales support, marketing and
product management at several companies and currently Ascentis. Bob has been
a Contributing Editor for IHRIM's Workforce Solutions Review journal, for the past
eight years. His experience also includes two years as Adjunct Lecturer in HRIS at
Benedictine University in Lisle, Illinois. In addition to his 39 years of experience,
Bob also holds a BA in English from Rutgers University.
Bob Greene
6. Agenda
• Part I: “Mind the Gap!”
• “April 2, 2019”
• The Most Stubborn Trend in Recent Economic History?
• “Ancient” Origins: The Equal Pay Act of 1963
• Part II: The Last Ten Years
• What the Federal Government Has….and HASN’T Done
• States and Localities Step In
• 2016: Four States Lead the Way!
• 2019: Has the Fed Been “Woke?:” Judicial Intervention and H.R. 7
• Part III: How an HCM Suite Can Address the Problem
• HRIS
• Performance/Compensation Planning
• Learning Management
• Workforce Analytics
• Steps Every Employer Should Take NOW!
• How Ascentis Can Help
7. Part I
“Mind the Gap!”
Remember: Ginger Rogers Did Everything Fred Astaire Did….
….But She Did It Backwards and in High Heels….
.…and for 59% of Fred’s Salary. (Astaire: $211,666; Rogers: $124,770)
8. Part I
“Happy Equal Pay Day!”
What is “Equal Pay Day?”
• It’s the specific day of the year
when the average man in the
United States must begin work,
to earn the same amount for the
year, as the average woman, in
the same job, who began work
on January 1.
• For 2018, it was April 10.
• For 2019, it is April 2.
• Progress?
/9
9. The Most Stubborn Trend in Recent Economic History
According to the Institute for
Women’s Policy Research:
• Since 1980, when weekly earnings data
were first collected, the weekly gender
earnings ratio has risen from just 64.2
percent to 81.1 percent now. (81.8
percent last year, so regression in the
last 12 months.)
• Most of the progress toward gender
equality took place in the 1980s/1990s.
• In the past ten years (2009 to 2018),
the gender wage gap narrowed by less
than one percentage point, compared
with 3.4 percentage points in the
previous ten years (1999 to 2008), and
with 6.3 percentage points in the ten
years prior to that (1989 to 1998).
Source: The Institute for Women’s Policy Research, The
Gender Wage Gap, 2018 Earnings Differences by Race and
Ethnicity; published March 7, 2019. Can be accessed here:
https://iwpr.org/publications/gender-wage-gap-2018/
10. The trendline for the
change in the gender pay
equity gap:
• Practically “defines” the phrase
“one step forward; two steps
back!”
• Bear in mind that a positive
number on this graph
represents progress narrowing
the wage gap, and the trend
line (orange dots) represents a
slowing of that narrowing.
-1.5
-1
-0.5
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
1986 1991 1996 2001 2006 2011 2016
Year on Year Change in Gender Pay Gap (Pct)
The Most Stubborn Trend in Recent Economic History
Source: The Institute for Women’s Policy Research, The
Gender Wage Gap, 2018 Earnings Differences by Race and
Ethnicity; published March 7, 2019. Can be accessed here:
https://iwpr.org/publications/gender-wage-gap-2018/
11. Part of a Much Larger Discrimination Trendline…
According to the Institute for
Women’s Policy Research:
• The larger trend on which the
gender gap aligns is the combined
race/gender pay gap in the USA.
• On this table, we see the gender-
only gap mapped against the gap
measured by each group’s earnings
compared to white males.
• While beyond the scope of this
session, the trend is nevertheless
informative.
Source: The Institute for Women’s Policy Research, The
Gender Wage Gap, 2018 Earnings Differences by Race and
Ethnicity; published March 7, 2019. Can be accessed here:
https://iwpr.org/publications/gender-wage-gap-2018/
12. Gender Pay Disparities…By The Numbers
According to the American
Association of University
Women:
• The top ten occupations where
women collectively lose the
most money due to the Gap are
listed on the left.
• These ten occupations alone
represent a total earnings gap of
more than $134 billion.
Source: American Association of University Women,
The Simple Truth About the Gender Pay Gap;
Can be accessed here:
https://www.aauw.org/research/the-simple-truth-about-the-gender-pay-gap/
13. Gender Pay Disparities…By The Numbers
According to the American
Association of University
Women:
• The ten largest occupations for
women carry some “legacy bias”
with them (nurses, “secretaries,”
elementary and middle school
teachers).
• However, at 90.4% - 92.0% pay
ratio, these three largest female-
dominated occupations are
generally LESS impacted by the
gender equity gap.
Source: American Association of University Women,
The Simple Truth About the Gender Pay Gap;
Can be accessed here:
https://www.aauw.org/research/the-simple-truth-about-the-gender-pay-gap/
14. Gender Pay Disparities…By The Numbers
According to the American
Association of University
Women:
• The ten occupations with the
largest individual pay gaps are
listed to the left.
• Notice the tendency for the 3
occupations where the gap is
greater than 36% to cluster
around the discipline of financial
management.
Source: American Association of University Women,
The Simple Truth About the Gender Pay Gap;
Can be accessed here:
https://www.aauw.org/research/the-simple-truth-about-the-gender-pay-gap/
15. Gender Pay Disparities…By The Numbers
According to the American
Association of University
Women:
• The ten occupations where
women collectively lose the
least money due to the Gap are
listed on the left.
• Notice the one occupation
where women, on average earn
MORE than men, is buyers and
purchasing agents.
Source: American Association of University Women,
The Simple Truth About the Gender Pay Gap;
Can be accessed here:
https://www.aauw.org/research/the-simple-truth-about-the-gender-pay-gap/
16. “Ancient” Origins: The Equal Pay Act of 1963
“No employer having employees subject to any provisions of
[section 206 of Title 29 of the United States Code] shall
discriminate,… between employees on the basis of sex by paying
wages to employees in such establishment at a rate less than the
rate at which he pays wages to employees of the opposite sex in
such establishment for equal work on jobs[,] the performance of
which requires equal skill, effort, and responsibility, and which are
performed under similar working conditions, except where such
payment is made pursuant to (i) a seniority system; (ii) a merit
system; (iii) a system which measures earnings by quantity or
quality of production; or (iv) a differential based on any other
factor other than sex.”
The Equal Pay Act of 1963 (P.L. 88-38)
17. “Ancient” Origins: The Equal Pay Act of 1963
Amendments to the EPA within its first few years of life included:
• The “Bennett Amendment” which was incorporated via Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, to codify
into the law the four pay differential “affirmative defenses:” seniority, merit, productivity, or any
other factor other than sex.
• Title VII also expanded coverage for the EPA to more employers, by applying it to virtually all
employers with 15 or more employees, regardless of whether they were engaged in interstate
commerce or had gross annual revenues in excess of $500,000 (the FLSA coverage determination).
• The EPA, originally, did not cover most “white-collar” professions, e.g., executives, administrators,
outside salespeople, and other professionals (because the FLSA does not cover them), but this was
corrected 9 years later with passage into law of the Education Amendments of 1972.
The Equal Pay Act of 1963 (P.L. 88-38)
18. “Ancient” Origins: The Equal Pay Act of 1963
Significant Court Cases Challenging/Clarifying the Law:
• Schultz v. Wheaton Glass Co., (1970; USCA Third Circuit)
• The Court ruled that jobs must be "substantially equal" but not "identical" to fall under the
protection of the Equal Pay Act.
• So, for example, an employer cannot change the job titles of women workers in order to pay them
less than men where the content of the job description is substantially equal.
• Corning Glass Works v. Brennan, (1974; US Supreme Court)
• The US Supreme Court ruled that employers cannot justify paying women lower wages because
that is what they traditionally received based on the "going market rate.“
• A wage differential imposed "simply because men would not work at the low rates paid women"
for the same work was no longer acceptable.
The Equal Pay Act of 1963 (P.L. 88-38)
19. “Ancient” Origins: The Equal Pay Act of 1963
After 30 years of relative inaction, enter Ms. Lily Ledbetter:
• Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber, (550 US 618; 2007)
• Ledbetter sued for gender discrimination under Title VII, alleging the company had given her a
lower salary due to her gender. The trial jury found for Ledbetter, awarding her more than $3.5
million, which the district judge reduced to $360,000.
• After a series of appeals, the US Supreme Court ruled, by a 5-4 majority, that Ledbetter’s claim was
time-barred by the 180-day statute of limitations contained within Title VII. They rejected
Ledbetter’s contention that each new paycheck she received was an act of pay discrimination, but
rather that the statute tolled from the date of the last pay change decision made by Goodyear.
• In a somewhat prescient statement, Justice Ginsburg, writing for the
dissent, suggested that … “the Legislature may [want to] act to correct
this Court’s parsimonious reading of Title VII.”
The Equal Pay Act of 1963 (P.L. 88-38)
Source: Oyez; Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. Can be accessed here: https://www.oyez.org/cases/2006/05-1074
20. “Ancient” Origins: The Equal Pay Act of 1963
2009 represented the first year since 1994 that there was a
Democrat-controlled House, Senate and Presidency.
• The Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act
• …was the first bill signed into law by incoming President Barrack Obama.
• It made each new paycheck issued by an employer a potential further act of gender pay
discrimination, effectively negating the 180 day Title VII statute of limitations for gender-
based pay disputes.
• Interestingly, at the time, the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) publicly
opposed the new law.
• As a result of Lily Ledbetter, employers MUST increase their vigilance regarding
documentation around pay decisions – how they are made, on what factual basis, etc.
• An automated Compensation module as a “forever repository” for this information,
including, for example, a regression analysis reflecting documented relationships between
merit increase decisions and the performance records on which they were based, can be
extremely important in this regard.
The Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Restoration Act (P.L. 111-2)
22. One of the biggest impediments to achieving gender pay equity (whether
by intention or “side-effect”), are compensation non-disclosure rules
implemented by many private employers.
• In April, 2014, then-President Obama signed two Executive Orders:
• EO 13665 (“Non-Retaliation for Disclosure of Compensation Information”), bans federal
contractors from punishing workers who discuss salaries with co-workers, and is still in effect.
• EO 13673 (“Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces”), mandated that certain details be included on
employees’ paychecks, as well as mandating reporting of certain pay equity data to the
federal government. This executive order was voided by the Trump administration
in March, 2017.
• Remember that Executive Orders, unlike legislation, can only impact federal
contractors, not all private employers across the nation. So this is “slight”
progress…
Federal Action….And Inaction
2014: Two Executive Orders
23. Efforts at broadening the prohibition on compensation non-disclosure
rules from federal contractors to private employers generally have not
been successful (at the federal level.)
• Three separate “Paycheck Fairness Act” bills have originated in Congress but have
never made it out.
• Bills in the last Congress were H.R.1869 and S.819, introduced in April, 2017,
expired December, 2018.
• And then we had an election in November, 2018, and the House changed parties.
• …still, for now, private employer rules specifying that discussing compensation
with anyone other than an employee’s supervisor or HR is prohibited and subject
to sanction up to and including termination of employment, are presumptively
legal, except for federal contractor employees….and except in certain states,
counties and cities (more on that shortly.)
Federal Action….And Inaction
The “Paycheck Fairness Act” … Defeat, defeat, defeat…
24. In 2016, the EEOC announced a major revision to the annual EEO-1 report
which most employers have been filing for decades.
• The revision will add annual pay data, in 12 graduated bands of total
compensation, to the report. It will also add hours worked information, broken
out by exempt and non-exempt FLSA job classifications. This is known collectively
as “Component 2” data.
• Obviously, this information would strengthen the ability to diagnose pay equity
and gap information (since gender is already collected) and, using big data
manipulation, easily pinpoint specific industries and jobs that suffer more from
gender pay inequality than others.
• In August, 2017, on the basis of new Administration mandates to reduce
paperwork and administrative burden, the EEOC announced that the new EEO-1
report and collection of pay range data would be suspended indefinitely.
• And then, on March 4, 2019, a federal district court judge changed everything.
A New EEO-1 Report? Yes…No….Yes…
Federal Action….And Inaction
25. • September 29, 2016: EEOC publishes revisions to the EEO-1 report to add Component 2 data
(salary bands and hours worked information). Component 2 requires reporting salaries in 12 pay
bands, distributed by the existing 10 job classifications, and broken down by race and sex.
• August 29, 2017: EEOC Acting Chair Victoria Lipnic, in consultation with Office of Management
& Budget, issues an immediate stay of Component 2 reporting requirements, calling it a violation
of the Paperwork Reduction Act (“PRA”). This stay was to be effective for the first Component 2
reporting period of 2017 (filing by March 31, 2018.)
• November 15, 2017: National Women’s Law Center sues EEOC, OIRA (Office of Information &
Regulatory Affairs) and OMB to reinstate the Component 2 reporting requirement.
• March 5, 2019: DC Federal Circuit Court Judge Tanya S Chutkan rules for plaintiffs NWLC and
against the Administration, stating that defendants failed to prove that the reporting requirement
would “meaningfully increase the burden on employers” (therefore failing to prove a PRA
violation.) The Judge gives the defendants one month (until April 3) to respond with a plan for
employers to meet the newly reinstated Component 2 reporting requirement.
• March 18, 2019: With the new reporting rules pending, EEOC opens its annual EEO-1 reporting
portal for Component 1 reporting, with a deadline for employers of May 31, 2019.
• April 3, 2019: EEOC responds to DC Circuit Court with plan to reinstate Component 2 reporting
requirement with separate deadline of September 30, 2019.
EEO-1 “Component 2” Reporting: A Timeline
Federal Action….And Inaction
27. “Ban the Question”
Salary History Inquiries Prohibited!
• In an attempt to “break the cycle” of gender-based pay inequity, states and cities
are recognizing that certain common recruitment practices, even if innocent in
intention, can be discriminatory in impact.
• If an employer makes it a policy to simply offer a standard escalator (say, 5% or 8%)
above the candidate’s current salary, to their successful candidates, then if the
19.5% pay gap is statistically present in their candidate pool, that policy, in practice,
guarantees perpetuation of the same gap for their new hires.
• “Ban the Question” jurisdictions want to enforce a different approach:
(a.) employers should decide on a range that the job should pay,
(b.) they should then base the specifics of an individual candidate’s offer within that range on
their expertise and experience, and
(c.) make questions about salary history off-limits in the recruiting process.
States, Counties and Localities Step In
28. “Ban the Question”
States and Territories Adopting This Law (as of March, 2019):
• California (eff. 1/2018),
• Connecticut (eff. 1/2019),
• Delaware (eff. 12/2017),
• Hawaii (eff. 1/2019),
• New Jersey (applicable to state agencies only, eff. 2/2018),
• New York (applicable to state agencies only, eff. 1/2017),
• Oregon (eff. 1/2019),
• Massachusetts (eff. 7/2018),
• Vermont (eff. 7/2018),
• Washington (eff. 6/2018)
• Puerto Rico (eff. 3/2018).
States, Counties and Localities Step In
Bucking the trend, two states – Michigan and Wisconsin – have enacted state laws PROHIBITING
municipalities within those states from implementing salary history bans.
29. “Ban the Question”
Cities and Counties Adopting This Law (as of March, 2019):
• San Francisco, CA (eff. 7/1/2018; also prohibits release of employee salary
information to third parties without their consent),
• Chicago, IL (applicable to city departments only, eff. 4/2018),
• Louisville, KY (applicable to city agencies only, eff. 5/2018),
• New Orleans, LA (applicable to city departments only, eff. 1/2017),
• New York City (eff. 10/2017),
• Albany County, NY (eff. 12/2017),
• Westchester County, NY (eff. 7/2018),
• Pittsburgh, PA (applicable to city agency employees only, eff. 1/2017).
• Philadelphia, PA passed a similar law, but it has been struck down by the
courts on First Amendment grounds. As a result, employers may ask about
salary history, but may not use it in employment-related decision making.
States, Counties and Localities Step In
30. Pay Secrecy Laws
If asking candidates about their salary history, and then making “pre-
fabricated” salary offers on that basis enables employers (whether
intentionally or inadvertently), to perpetuate gender-based pay
equity gaps, the companion practice that many states are viewing just
as negatively is pay secrecy policies enforced on employees once
they’re in the door.
• Many employers have strict employment policies prohibiting employees from
discussing with each other any aspects of their compensation packages – with
penalties ranging from disciplinary action to termination of employment.
• Since these policies are seen by those advocating gender pay equity reform as
helping to keep employees from determining when they are being impacted
by such pay gaps, a number of states have passed laws invalidating these
policies for both public and private employers within their boundaries.
States, Counties and Localities Step In
31. Pay Secrecy Laws
Michigan led the way on this type of law, in 1982. The law prohibits
employers from doing any of the following:
• requiring, as a condition of employment, non-disclosure by an employee of
his or her wages;
• requiring an employee to sign a waiver or other document which purports to
deny that employee the right to disclose his or her wages; and/or
• discharging, formally disciplining, or otherwise discriminating against an
employee for job advancement on the basis of having disclosed his or her
wages.
States, Counties and Localities Step In
32. Pay Secrecy Laws
California passed a similar law in 1985. Between 2000 and 2019 (so far), 16 additional
states and the District of Columbia passed “anti-pay secrecy laws:”
• Colorado,
• Connecticut,
• Delaware,
• Hawaii,
• Illinois,
• Louisiana,
• Maine,
• Maryland,
• Massachusetts,
• Minnesota,
• Nevada,
• New Hampshire
• New Jersey,
• New York,
• Oregon, and
• Vermont.
States, Counties and Localities Step In
33. 2016: What If Four States Had a Race…And Gender Pay Equity Won?
In 2016, California, Maryland, Massachusetts and New York “competed”
in overhauling their employment laws to create some of the most
aggressive gender pay equity standards ever seen in this country.
• And bear in mind, that while these four states represent only 8% of the states in
the country numerically, they also represent almost a quarter (22.33%) of all US
residents.
• California’s new Fair Pay Act was the most extensive in its reach, and revised
terms of that state’s existing equal pay laws that included:
• Permitted/required bases of pay comparison between individuals
• Permitted reasons for differentials
• Pay transparency/anti-secrecy provisions
• Records retention, and
• Enforcement
States, Counties and Localities Step In
34. 2016: What If Four States Had a Race…And Gender Pay Equity Won?
States, Counties and Localities Step In
Source: Seyfarth Shaw, The New U.S. Pay Equity Laws: Answering the Biggest Questions. Created by Seyfarth’s Pay Equity Group
Can be accessed here: http://www.seyfarth.com/dir_docs/publications/payequitybrochure.pdf
Significant innovations in the 2016
class of new state pay equity laws:
• Lowering of evidentiary standard to eliminate
intent. De facto pay discrimination is still
discrimination.
• For comparison groups, watch for descriptors
of “equal”, “similar” and “substantially
similar”–they are NOT the same.
• Lowers the bar on required remediation from
“statistically significant groups” to entire
wage differential.
• For some states, gender AND gender identity
are included as bases.
35. On November 6, 2018, the House of Representatives changed hands, with
the Democrats taking a 38 seat majority (currently).
• As part of this new majority, 102 of 435 seats are held by women, a historical high
of 23.4% of Congress. Shortly thereafter, the Speaker’s gavel was turned back over
to a Congresswoman.
• On January 30, 2019, Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-CT-3) introduced the Paycheck
Fairness Act of 2019 and on March 27 it was engrossed (initial final copy published
in the House of Representatives).
• The law amends the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA) to strengthen gender
pay equity provisions, many of which have not previously been amended since the
Equal Pay Act of 1963 was originally passed into law.
• The bill also takes the opportunity to finalize, and commit
to national standards, a number of regulations and laws that
have been gaining popularity among the states.
Federal Inaction….And Action? (Part Deux)
The “Paycheck Fairness Act of 2019”
36. On November 6, 2018, the House of Representatives changed hands, with
the Democrats taking a 38 seat majority (currently).
• The four most prominent provisions of the bill include:
• Strengthening the protections of the Equal Pay Act by limiting the impact of the “Bennett
Amendment” – thereby restricting the application of the “bona fide factor” defense in
justifying pay disparities (§3(a)).
• Introducing a new non-retaliation provision relating to employee discussions of compensation
– making nationwide the laws of 19 states and territories as of March, 2019 (§3(b)).
• Formalizing and passing into law the requirement for compensation band reporting to be part
of the EEO-1 report (§8).
• Introducing a formal, nationwide prohibition on asking applicants about wage, salary or
benefits history, to attempt to curtail the perpetuation of current pay gaps – making
nationwide the laws of 8 states as of March, 2019 (§10).
Federal Inaction….And Action? (Part Deux)
The “Paycheck Fairness Act of 2019”
37. California has tried a more “organic” approach to gender diversity, trusting the
theory that greater gender diversity on public companies’ Boards of Directors
will yield better equal pay policies.
• On September 30, 2018, Governor Jerry Brown signed into law SB-826, which mandates
gender diversity on the Boards of Directors of public corporations incorporated in California.
• Although other states, like Colorado, Illinois, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Ohio, have
passed non-binding resolutions encouraging gender diversity on public corporations’
Boards, California is the first state to give such a provision the force of law.
• SB-826 applies to all publicly traded corporations that are incorporated within California, or
that are foreign (e.g., incorporated in Delaware) but headquartered in California. The new
California law requires that:
• By the end of 2019, each publicly traded California corporation must have at least one female director
• By the end of 2021, each publicly traded California corporation must have:
• three female directors if the total number of directors is six or more
• two female directors if the total number of directors is five
• one female director is the total number of directors is 4 or fewer
And More State Developments
California Mandates Gender Diversity on Boards of Directors
38. On December 20, 2018, the Clark County Board of County
Commissioners appointed two women to fill vacated seats in the
Nevada state legislature.
• The resulting gender balance across the state’s two houses was 50.8% female,
49.2% male.
• To this point, no state has ever had a female majority, according to experts at
the Center for American Women and Politics at Rutgers University.
• In 2019, women-held seats will grow to at least 28.6 percent in state
legislatures, up from the current level of 25.4 percent, according to data from
Rutgers.
• The proportion of women in state legislatures has historically remained
between 23 and 25 percent.
And More State Developments
Nevada Achieves a Different “First in the Nation” Status
52. 1. Understand appropriate job groupings.
• The key to detecting de facto pay discrimination is to recognize where the content of
two or more jobs, even though they may have different titles, is essentially similar or
identical.
2. Evaluate permitted factors that explain pay differences.
• These can vary by state.
• Each employer can begin by deciding whether to comply on a state-by-state basis, or
to comply with the most restrictive standard applicable to all states in which they do
business.
• Generally, most states consider the following to be permitted pay differential factors:
• seniority,
• merit,
• production quantity or quality,
• or other bona fide factors (other than gender), such as education, training or experience.
Five Key Steps to Address Gender-Based Pay Inequality
Steps Every Employer Should Take NOW!
53. 3. Analyze pay.
• Use regression analysis to determine the extent to which pay differences are explained by
permitted factors, such as performance or experience, vs. impermissible factors, such as
gender or race.
4. Offer managerial and supervisory training/re-training.
• Consider requiring key supervisors (i.e., those responsible for making salary change or bonus
award recommendations) to review this training annually, and/or prior to each merit or bonus
distribution cycle.
5. Modify policies.
• From employee handbooks to separate statements of compensation practice, and in addition
to reiterating the employer’s commitment to gender-blind pay equity principles, these policies
should, for example, remove all reference to prohibitions on employees disclosing their
compensation to others.
• Best practice would strongly suggest that these policy modifications be made corporate-wide
rather than trying to implement and enforce different policies for employees working in
different states.
Five Key Steps to Address Gender-Based Pay Inequality
Steps Every Employer Should Take NOW!
55. How Ascentis Can Help
The Ascentis HCM Suite Has Many Capabilities to Address This Challenge
• Human Resource Information System
• Configurable Interview Guides in Recruiting (to facilitate compliance with “Ban The Question” laws)
• Manager Self-Service for Compensation Change Requests
• Documentation Fields to Record Pay Differential Explanations
• Policy Acknowledgements and Historical Tracking
• Compensation Planning
• Merit and Bonus Planning Matrices (Think Automation of Those Excel Spreadsheets You’ve Been
Using, and the Data on Them Won’t Get Stale Anymore!)
• Interactively updated Pay-for-Performance Dashboard
• Realtime Analytics Including Gender Pay Equity Progress
• Learning Management System
• SCORM and AICC compliant and fully integrated with the HRIS.
• “SCORM-Lite” upload capability can be used to shortcut the process of moving content from the
printed page (.pdf, .doc, .ppts) into the LMS
• Optional Pre-fabricated Compliance content on subjects like Equal Pay Act and Diversity
56. Learn more
Request an assessment of your organization’s Gender Pay Equity positioning today!
57. How to earn credit
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…….Will read through speaker bio….
I think that should be enough to get us started, which means it’s time to hand off the presentation to our speaker, Bob. On behalf of myself, and all the attendees here today, Bob, welcome.