Michigan National Organization for Women

Post Office Box 860

East Lansing, Michigan 48826

(517) 485-9687 www.michnow.org

Testimony Concerning Pay Equity

House Bills 4625, 4626, and 4627

before the

House Labor Committee

Tuesday, April 24, 2007

by

Mary Pollock, Legislative Vice-president

Michigan National Organization for Women

Thank you for the opportunity to testify concerning the need for comprehensive pay equity legislation in Michigan. I am Mary Pollock, the Legislative Vice-president for Michigan National Organization for Women.

Equal Pay Day - Today, April 24, is national Equal Pay Day, an auspicious day to have a hearing about proposed legislation addressing pay equity. Equal Pay Day is observed in April to indicate how far into the next year a woman must work to earn as much as a man earned in the previous year. In 2007, April 24th symbolizes the day when women's wages catch up to men's wages from 2006. Because women on average earn less, they must work longer for the same pay. For women of color, the wage gap is even greater. Nationally, women’s average wage is 77 per cent of men’s average wage according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Without action, it will take nearly 50 years for women to gain wage equality. In Michigan, women’s average wage is 67 per cent of men’s wages. Michigan ranks 49^th among all states with regard to pay equity according to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research. Pay equity consistently ranks as the number one issue that women want addressed by their elected officials, ahead of health care and child care.

Why the Wage Gap - Just why is there a wage gap between men and women? Economists and social science researchers have had much to say about this and there is an extensive literature on the subject that I commend to your perusal. Basically, the wage gap is the result of a variety of forms of sex stereotyping and segregation left over from a pre-industrial and pre-information age: steering girls to certain limited education and vocational choices; sex stereotyping and discrimination in the workplace, including discrimination in hiring, promotion and pay setting; occupational segregation and steering by employers; bias against mothers and care-takers in employer leave and attendance policies not cured by the Family and Medical Leave Act; undervaluing women workers and so-called pink collar traditional women’s work. The legislation you have before you is only attempting to address one cause of wage disparity: that of compensating employees unequally based on irrelevant factors like sex and race, when the work is of comparable value.

Occupational Segregation - In the field of pay equity studies it is generally accepted that a gender-dominated occupation is one in which 70% of one sex hold jobs in the occupation. In 2000, two-thirds of all U.S. working women were still crowded into twenty-one of the largest 500 occupational categories. These female-dominated occupations are fairly consistently paid less than male-dominated or mixed occupations. Thus janitors are paid more than nurses’ aides, parking lot attendants are paid more than child care workers, construction laborers are paid more than bookkeepers and cashiers.

One of the ways some women have responded to wage inequities is by choosing to integrate male-dominated, highly paid occupations such as engineering, skilled trades, doctors, lawyers, accountants, pharmacists, and many others. Indeed, over the last 30 years, there has been notable progress in attracting women to many non-traditional occupations. But most women workers are still in traditional pink-collar jobs where wages are lower than traditional male occupations. The federal and state Equal Pay Act can be used by workers in the same or similar occupation in an establishment to challenge sex-based wage disparities. Because of adverse court decisions narrowly interpreting Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in relation to sex-based wage discrimination claims, only legislation to enhance the Michigan Civil Rights Act can address wage disparities in dissimilar occupations that require comparable skill, responsibility, effort, education or training, and working conditions.

How to Compare Dissimilar Jobs – Critics of pay equity assert that you just can’t compare jobs that are dissimilar. The metaphor “you can’t compare apples and oranges” is often used. Well, yes you can. Apples and oranges can be compared as to size, weight, number of calories, color, fiber content, vitamin content, etc. Similarly, classification and pay studies use factor analysis to compare dissimilar jobs. Classifiers look at an accurate job description and then assign value based on the factors. A very simple unweighted job evaluation grid might look like this:

	Low = 1	Medium = 2	High = 3
Skill required
Responsibility required
Effort required
Education/training required
Working conditions
Total Points

Real Examples - Yesterday, The WAGE Project (www.wageproject.org) issued the results of their informal poll of working women. Here are some of their findings:

Seven out of ten women who participated in the survey reported experiences with inequitable treatment and pay -- women of all ages, working in private businesses, nonprofits, and government offices, and living in every state in the nation. These women supported their claims of inequity with credible facts. Two thirds of these women’s accounts of inequities involved gender discrimination.

For example, a Vice President in a call center said “In the 23 years I have worked here, I have never been paid the same pay as the male managers.” How did she know this? “I have total access to payroll records.”

A college educated woman in her late 40’s living in the South reported: “About three years ago I worked for a major corporation in a supervisory capacity. My staff was 47 people and my male colleague's staff was 12. His salary was $28,000, mine was $22,500.” She knew this because “I helped the manager calculate the salary increases for upcoming year.”

A 24-year old mortgage bank relationship manager said “I discovered that I was producing more loan revenue than a male co-worker but making less per loan.” She was analytic in her assessment of inequity: “I was a higher producer, making more money for the company, and self-sufficient in lead generation. He was not. So I cost the company less.”

Another woman in her twenties, just starting her career, reported “I work for the government. I was brought in at grade 9-10, while a man fresh out of school just like me was brought in at a grade which pays him $10,000 more. I cannot understand it. We are both Physician Assistants.”

A property manager in her fifties reported that a male maintenance superintendent who worked for her made more than she did although she had more education and more job responsibilities.”

Why Don’t Women Complain - That survey also surfaced women’s fear of reporting or complaining about wage disparities.

More than half reported taking no action. Fear of retaliation was expressed time and time again. “I was afraid to fight for fear of losing my job,” said one. “I was told that if I acted on what I found out (about being paid less than a man) I would be fired,” another woman said. One middle aged woman in the information technology industry explained: “I did nothing. I need my job and medical benefits since my husband is ill…. The senior director has no compunction about firing people she perceives as ‘toxic’. So I remain mute.” Another woman supporting other family members made a similar comment: “I did nothing. I did not want to jeopardize my position; I am a single parent and need the pay.” One woman spoke for many others: “We have to keep quiet or we lose our jobs.”

Achieving Equity Without Retaliation – Many Canadian provinces have passed pay equity laws and initiatives to equalize pay between female-dominant and all other occupations. Some states have done so as well. The State of Michigan conducted a comprehensive study of its classification and pay system in the late 80s to identify sex-based wage disparities; adjustments were made where problems were identified. Unionized workers have had success in some settings in negotiating for pay equity studies and wage adjustments where sex- or race-based wage disparities were subsequently found. But most workers are not in unionized settings and cannot negotiate their wages and working conditions. The burden cannot and must not be solely on individual working women to fix wage inequities by risking their jobs, their livelihoods, and their families. This legislature needs to help them by passing this legislation.

State law is needed to bolster the foundation for a systematic approach to achieving pay equity. The effect of these bills will encourage employers to proactively evaluate their classification and pay systems to assure that pay is based on the job, not the immutable characteristics of the person doing the job. The Commission on Pay Equity established in HB 4627 will be able to offer definitions, models, guidelines and technical assistance materials for employers and employees to help implement pay equity mandates in HB 4625.

Working women do not want special treatment. They want fair treatment. With strengthened laws, working women and employers can achieve pay equity. We urge you to pass the bills and work for their implementation.

The National Organization for Women (NOW) is the largest organization of feminist activists in the United States. NOW has 500,000 contributing members and 550 chapters in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Since its founding in 1966, NOW's goal has been to take action to bring about equality for all women. NOW works to eliminate discrimination and harassment in the workplace, schools, the justice system, and all other sectors of society; secure abortion, birth control and reproductive rights for all women; end all forms of violence against women; eradicate racism, sexism and homophobia; and promote equality and justice in our society.

Thank you again for the opportunity to testify to the importance of these bills.