Penny Young Nance, President and CEO of Concerned Women for America, the nation’s largest public policy women’s organization had this to say about the Paycheck Fairness Act:
“Congress is about to make a bad situation worse. In a poor attempt at helping women, the Paycheck Fairness Act will backfire on those it’s intended to help: working women.
“Instead of allowing wages to be set on factors between the employer and the employee, the Paycheck Fairness Act rams a one-size-fits-all approach onto the back of corporate America. Numerous studies show that the gap in pay arises not necessarily because of discrimination, but most often out of the individual choices made by men and women. Even the Department of Labor comes to the ‘unambiguous conclusion that the differences in the compensation of men and women are the result of a multitude of factors and that the raw wage gap should not be used as the basis to justify corrective action.’ The Paycheck Fairness Act is not about eliminating discrimination; it is once again Washington adding regulation to businesses. By ignoring individual needs, like the demands of existing employees, the option of working from home, working part time, and so on, the Paycheck Fairness Act eliminates flexibility between an employer and an employee. Women are likely to face more barriers to employment, not less, as a result of this legislation. Thirty percent of small businesses in the U.S. are owned by women. Anything that hurts business growth hurts women. Once again, the Paycheck Fairness Act is a misguided policy proposal which will hurt businesses and the economy and is likely to backfire on its intended beneficiaries: working women.