On April 8, 2014, President Obama signed both an executive order and a presidential memorandum centered around preventing pay discrimination and supporting equal pay for minorities and women. The executive order can be found at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/04/08/executive-order-non-retaliation-disclosure-compensation-information and the presidential memorandum can be found at: http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2014/04/08/presidential-memorandum-advancing-pay-equality-through-compensation-data.
The executive order, Non-Retaliation for Disclosure of Compensation Information, amends Executive Order 11246 to include prohibiting contractors from discriminating against an employee or applicant that has inquired about, discussed, or disclosed their own compensation or that of another employee or applicant. The Secretary of Labor was instructed to propose regulations implementing these requirements within 160 days of the order.
The presidential memorandum, Advancing Pay Equality Through Compensation Data Collection, which is directed towards the Secretary of Labor, calls for the development of a rule requiring federal contractors and subcontractors to submit compensation data to the Department of Labor (DOL). The rule is to be proposed within 120 days of the memorandum. President Obama referenced the Advance Notice of Proposed Rule Making published on August 10, 2011, regarding a potential compensation data collection tool and suggests there is information to be taken from the extensive responses. The memorandum suggests that the DOL should consider independent studies regarding compensation data collection, avoid new record-keeping requirements, and rely on existing framework for the collection of data.
Please contact us by calling (732) 446-2529 or sending us an e-mail at glennbarlett@gbcs.net if you are interested in discussing the executive order or presidential memorandum.