Report from Capitol Hill: Workplace Equity and Beyond

1
Report from Capitol Hill Workplace Equity and
Beyond

• Whats happening on Capitol Hill in the areas of
  workplace equity and workplace flexibility

2
BPW Foundation Policy Outreach

• BPW Foundation is a nonpartisan, 501 c 3
• BPW Foundation acts as a neutral convener to
  ensure that all stakeholders are actively engaged
  in the policy conversations that impact
  workingwomen, their workplaces and their
  communities
• BPW Foundation acts as a clearinghouse to provide
  information, contacts and resources to
  stakeholders on issues effecting workingwomen and
  their employers
• BPW Foundation conducts and gathers applied
  research that provides an accurate picture of the
  challenges faced by and the roles played by
  workingwomen in their workplaces and communities

3
BPW/USA National Legislative Platform

• BPW/USA is a 501 c 4 with a membership base with
  a strong representation among Democrats,
  Republicans and Independents. Its mission is to
  achieve equity for all women in the workplace
  through advocacy, education and information.
• Preamble
• The Equal Rights Amendment, as authored by Alice
  Paul, shall stand first, foremost and above all
  other items
• which may appear on the national platform of this
  Federation until equal legal rights for women and
  men
• become guaranteed in the United States
  Constitution, because all statutory law derives
  therefrom.
• The Equal Rights Amendment
• Equality of rights under the law shall not be
  denied or abridged by the United States or by any
  state on account
• of sex.
• Platform
• Economic Equity
• Ensure pay equity and equal educational and
  economic opportunities at all stages of life and
  promote
• affordable, quality dependent care to help ensure
  economic self-sufficiency for women.
• Health
• Ensure reproductive choice and full access to all
  reproductive health services and education
  ensure funds for

4
Equal Pay

• On April 12th there was a Senate HELP Committee
  hearing and on April 24th there was a House Labor
  Committee hearing on equal pay legislation The
  Paycheck Fairness Act.
• BPW/USA and the BPW Foundation submitted written
  testimony for the House hearing.
• The Paycheck Fairness Act seeks to strengthen the
  Equal Pay Act of 1963 (EPA) by providing more
  effective remedies to victims of sex
  discrimination in the payment of wages.

5
Ledbetter v. Goodyear Case

• This was an important Supreme Court decision in
  regards to pay discrimination.
• The decision to side with the Goodyear Tire
  Rubber Company because Ledbetter exceeded the
  180-day deadline for complaining about
  discriminatory pay decisions is a step backward
  for working women because it will have
  implications on future pay discrimination cases.

6
Paid Sick Leave

• The Healthy Families Act would provide full-time
  employees with seven paid sick days a year to be
  used for their own medical needs or to tend to
  the medical needs of a child, spouse or parent.
  Part-time employees receive a pro-rata share of
  paid sick days.
• On February 13th, there was a Senate HELP
  Committee hearing on paid sick leave and the
  Healthy Families Act.

7
HEART for Women Act

• The HEART for Women Act would authorize outreach
  and training of healthcare providers, require
  gender-based reporting and analysis of data, and
  improve heart disease and stroke screening for
  low-income, uninsured women.
• On May 1st, there was a House hearing on the
  HEART for Women Act.

8
Workplace Flexibility

• BPW/USA and the BPW Foundation have been working
  with Senator Kennedys HELP Committee staff with
  the formation of a future workplace flexibility
  bill.
• BPW/USA and the BPW Foundation have been working
  with Senator Dodds (D-CT) staff on a paid Family
  and Medical Leave bill to be introduced next
  month. This bill will track with the FMLA law
  with the main difference being that workers would
  get compensated during their time off. As
  currently written, it would not amend FMLA.

9
Retirement Security

• BPW/USA considers retirement security for women
  an important issue because women face greater
  challenges in retirement due to living longer,
  having less savings, and making less because of
  unequal pay and caregiving responsibilities.
• To that end, BPW/USA supports the Womens
  Retirement Security Act and the Retirement
  Security for Life Act.
• The Retirement Security for Life Act would help
  women maintain their standard of living
  throughout retirement by giving them incentives
  to purchase retirement vehicles such as annuities
  that offer a steady stream of income for life.
  
• The Womens Retirement Security Act is a broader
  bill that incorporates the Retirement Security
  for Life Act and provisions for increasing
  retirement savings, preservation of income,
  providing equity in divorce and improving
  financial literacy.

10
Small Business

• Issues impacting women small business owners
  continues to be a legislative priority for
  BPW/USA.
• Approximately 30 of BPW members are either small
  business owners or self employed therefore BPW
  keeps abreast of issues such as federal contract
  bundling and funding for the Small Business
  Administration, and Women Business Centers.

11
EEOC Hearings

• Attention being paid to family responsibilities
  discrimination
• New enforcement guidance on unlawful disparate
  treatment of workers with care giving
  responsibilities
• Seeking additional research on small and medium
  sized employers and work-life

12
May 23rd EEOC meeting

• The EEOC held the hearing in part, to announce
  the release of their new enforcement guidance on
  the unlawful disparate treatment of workers with
  care giving responsibilities.
• The Commission is not creating a new protected
  class for caregivers. However, they recognize
  that this group may be disproportionately
  affected by sex-based discrimination or
  discrimination related to disability. In those
  cases, EEOC has authority to enforce compliance
  with the ADA and Title VII, and provide those
  same protections to caregivers.
• Panelists addressed employer best practices the
  Commissioners emphasized the need for more
  academic research on how work-life programs
  positively affect employers. Hard data is needed
  on retention rates, job satisfaction, employee
  loyalty etc. to make the business case for
  employers.
• The Commissioners identified the need for more
  research and solutions related to low-income and
  minority workers, as well as small and medium
  size companies. All panelists agreed that while
  large companies often have work-life programs in
  place, more work needs to be done to ensure that
  low-income workers and employees in smaller
  organizations can also benefit from such
  programs.

13
Resources

• April 17th meeting on Perspectives on Work/Family
  Balance and the Federal Equal Employment
  Opportunity Laws
• http//www.eeoc.gov/abouteeoc/meetings/4-17-07/ind
  ex.html
• April 24th Meeting On Strengthening the Middle
  Class Ensuring Equal Pay for Women
• http//edworkforce.house.gov/hearings/fc042407.sht
  ml
• Meeting of May 23, 2007 - Enforcement Guidance on
  Unlawful Disparate Treatment of Workers with
  Caregiving Responsibilities
• http//www.eeoc.gov/abouteeoc/meetings/5-23-07/ind
  ex.html
• April 12th Closing the Gap Equal Pay for Women
  Senate Hearing of the Education and Labor
  Committee
• http//help.senate.gov/Hearings/2007_04_12/2007_04
  _12.html