New Law Aims To Close Gender Pay Gap In Washington

MERCER ISLAND, WA - A Mercer Island lawmaker in 2018 will prioritize passage of an update to state law that would prevent bosses from retaliating against employees who ask for equal pay or who want to discuss compensation in the workplace.

State Rep. Tana Senn's Equal Pay Opportunity Act was introduced in the House Monday. Senn tried to pass the law during the 2017 session, but it didn't make it through the Republican-controlled House.

Women in Washington are paid about 77 cents for every $1 a man earns, according to a 2016 study by the National Partnership For Women and Families. The problem is worse for women of color. Black women earn 61 cents per every $1 a man earns, and Hispanic women earn just 46 cents.

Senn's bill updates an older pay discrimination law to better address gender pay disparities. The update includes provisions like:

• Bans employers from citing an employee's pay at a previous job as a reason for how their pay was determined
• Let's employees talk freely at work about compensation
• Requires companies to include benefits when defining total compensation
• Prevents employers from offering "less favorable" career tracks based on gender
• Bans employers from retaliating against an employee who files a wage discrimination complaint

"My top legislative priority is passing the Equal Pay Opportunity Act," Senn said in a message to constituents Monday. "I am thrilled to see it cross the finish line this year! It’s time for us to make strides in addressing gender inequality in the workplace, especially by closing the gender pay gap. The Act prohibits pay secrecy policies, allows discussion of wages between employees, and bans retaliation against workers that ask for equal pay."

CAPTION: In this Jan. 22, 2009 photo, Lilly Ledbetter, an Alabama Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. worker, speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. Congress sends the White House its first legislation in Barack Obama's presidency, a bill that allows women to sue retroactively for pay and other workplace discrimination that occurred years, even decades in the past.

Photo by Susan Walsh/Associated Press