Business leaders, legislators and equal pay supporters from around the state will descend on Baton Rouge on Friday for the Louisiana Women’s Policy and Research Commission’s 2017 Equal Pay Summit.
Shanta Proctor, executive director of Gov. John Bel Edwards’ Office on Women’s Policy, said the event is an opportunity to equip, educate and arm equal pay advocates with the skills to become legislatively engaged. The summit is one of several pushes to rally support for pay equity ahead of the 2017 legislative session.
Sen. JP Morrell, D-New Orleans, has already filed a bill that would extend equal pay protections to local government workers and the private sector, offering employees legal recourse for discriminatory pay practices. Morrell sponsored similar legislation during the 2016 regular session, but the bill was rejected in the House Labor and Industrial Relations Committee.
Morrell said this year’s bill builds on the previous legislation and addresses the business sector’s key concerns without making the bill toothless. Last year’s bill received considerable push back from key business lobbying groups, who raised concerns about increased litigation for businesses.
The new legislation, Senate Bill 2, addresses these concerns by establishing a “no harm-no foul clause” that would allow employers the opportunity to correct unintentional discrepancies in employees’ pay rates without the risk of litigation, Morrell said. Additionally, if the discrepancy is not reconciled and the employee opts for legal action, the bill limits back pay to 36 months, roughly two to three times less than what’s allowed in many other states, he said.
Morrell said he thinks the bill is in a good position and has adequately addressed concerns, but the ruling is still out on whether it will advance further this year. With difficult issues like equal pay, it can take several tries for the legislation to pass, he said.
“Very seldom does a good bill get passed the first time,” Morrell said, quoting a colleague.
Morrell said he believes vocal public support will be key to the bill’s passage this session. Despite widespread sentiment in favor of pay equity, public engagement and demonstrations of support have been lacking in the past. Since pre-filing Feb. 1, Morrell said the situation is like night and day, and he’s received an outpouring of interest and support.
Morrell credits President Donald Trump’s election and the subsequent spike in political activism and social awareness for drawing out advocates.
“I think for a long time people assumed that if they tucked their head down the government would figure it out eventually,” Morrell said. “I think what happened after the Donald Trump election…whether you’re a Trump supporter or you’re a Trump opposer, everyone is more engaged to what is actually going on at any given moment in the country and the state.”
Aside from individuals, support is coming from businesses who’ve grown to support the legislation, as well as government groups who view the issue not as a liberal mechanism to benefit a liberal cause, but as a means to combat poverty in the state, Morrell said.
Proctor said increased protections for pay equity could result in a significant economic benefit to the state by increasing household incomes and reducing public dependence on assistance programs. Women are increasingly the primary breadwinners in their households, and ensuring they are able to adequately support their families would have ripple effects in other quality of life areas, she said.
Morrell said this is especially important because Louisiana leads the nation in single parent households, with the majority headed by a mother or female family member. Many work multiple jobs, but if they could work one job with improved pay, it would positively alter the household dynamic, he said.
Proctor said the Commission is promoting the legislation to business groups by highlighting pay equity’s long term benefits for their organizations. Female workers constitute an increasing percentage of the workforce, and equal pay guarantees bolster productivity, morale and retention, reducing business costs in training and turnover in the future, she said.
It also improves the state’s competitiveness when attracting workers and recruiting new businesses, she said. A lack of significant pay equity guarantees can be a non-starter for female employees being recruited to the state, as well as the spouses of male recruits. This is a challenge, especially for companies like CenturyLink in Monroe who are competing for talent with other international companies, Morrell said.
Improved pay equity is an opportunity for the state to make a strong statement and show the country that Louisiana means business, Proctor said.
“Ensuring that we make an investment in our state is so important because it changes the narrative and the perspective on our state nationally,” Proctor said. “Louisiana can do better, we must do better and we have an opportunity to do better.”