How Does Oregon Pay Equity Law Compare to Those in Other States?

The gender pay gap is a persistent issue in various workplaces. With this gap, men are particularly earning more than women doing the same job. But different states in the US are starting to address this issue head-on. Many states have laws to reduce the gender pay gap and support fair pay. The Oregon pay equity law is an example. But how does it compare to other state laws?

Keep reading to learn why pay gaps exist and what is being done about them. This article explains the Oregon Pay Equity law and how it compares to similar laws in other states. By the end, you will understand the different laws in the US trying to make "equal pay for equal work" a reality.

Understanding the Oregon Pay Equity Law (OPEA)

The Oregon Pay Equity Act was passed in 2017. This Oregon pay equity law aims to close the gender pay gap by promoting equal pay among employees. Here are the key provisions of the Oregon pay equity law:

Equal Work for Equal Pay
This pay equity law states employers must not base employees' pay on gender or race. Oregon pays equity law mandates equal pay for similar work, conditions, skill, effort, and responsibility.

Prohibition of Salary History Inquiries
With the Oregon pay equity law, employers cannot ask how much applicants earned before.  The law prevents using past salary to determine new pay, promoting fair wages. Employers can only check pay history after providing a compensation offer to the candidates.  This stops the cycle of unequal pay.

Pay Transparency Measures
The Oregon pay equity law promotes pay transparency.  The law states that employers must share the pay details for a job when an employee asks. It helps clarify pay practices so employees can ask and know about their pay structure, making the workplace fairer and more open.

Anti-Retaliation Measures
With the Oregon pay equity law, employees can inquire about or discuss their wages. They can ask the wages of their colleagues as well without facing retaliation from the employer.  Oregon has one of the strongest laws in the US when it comes to workplace violations. The best part is that they do not cap the damages, compared to other states allowing only a few years of back pay. When someone purposely violates the law, they must   pay a large penalty.

The law is not perfect, but the Oregon pay equity law does give employees more leverage to fight against unfair pay practices.

California Fair Pay Act (CFPA)

California is on the run in closing the gender pay gap as well. The state put the California Fair Pay Act into action in 2016.

Salary History Discrimination
CFPA prevents employers from paying someone less just because of their past salary. Employers must offer a fair wage based on the job's requirements and not discriminate based on gender.

Transparency Measures
CFPA lets employees talk openly about their pay and check its fairness. When someone learns they are earning less than a coworker doing the same job, they can ask their boss why. The boss must then give them a non-discriminatory reason.  CFPA law ensures that a worker must not fear any retaliation for asking.

Both the Oregon pay equity law and CFPA aim to fight against gender pay gap and provide equal pay for all. These pay equity laws have the same provisions but can be different in some ways.

Potential Differences:

Statute of Limitations:

1. • The period during which employees can file pay discrimination claims may differ. For CFPA, employees can now file pay discrimination claims up to three years after the alleged violation to seek back pay. With OPEA, employees have five years to file a lawsuit.

Affirmative Defenses:

1. • CFPA and OPEA have different affirmative defenses available to employers, justifying pay differentials based on factors such as seniority, merit, or other bona fide factors.

California leads the fight against pay inequity with a new law. It differs slightly from the Oregon pay equity law, but the effort to close the gap remains in effect. Equal work deserves equal pay for everyone.

Massachusetts Equal Pay Act (MEPA)

In 2018, Massachusetts made a move to bridge the pay gap. The Massachusetts Equal Pay Act stops employers from paying different amounts based on gender for the same type of job.
·        Scope
The Massachusetts law affects businesses with six or more workers in the state. It includes regular pay, extra payments such as bonuses, sharing profits, and extra pay for overtime hours.
·      Affirmative Defense
Exceptions are allowed for pay differences based on seniority, merit, quantity or quality of production, education, training, or experience.
·      Pay Transparency Measures
Employees can discuss their pay with coworkers. When an employee complains, the employer must provide an explanation. Specific justifications allow for pay differences, not gender-based reasons.

Differences: MEPA vs OPEA
While the Oregon and Massachusetts laws aim for the same goal of pay equity, the MA statute is somewhat broader in scope. On the other hand, Oregon gains a slight advantage in addressing pay inequality by not allowing employers to consider applicants' past salaries. Both states are progressing toward equal pay for equal work regardless of gender, but work remains to be done.

New York's Achieve Pay Equity Law

New York is one of the states that aims to address the gender pay gap. The Achieve Pay Equity Law expanded the protection of employees for unequal pay.

Fair Pay Rule
Employers cannot pay their employees based on gender, race, or age. When employees are doing the same job, responsibilities, and qualifications, they must provide equal pay.

No Asking About Past Salaries
Employers canot ask job applicants about their salary history. This helps stop the cycle of paying people less based on what they earned before.

Checking and Fixing Pay Gaps
Employers need to look at their pay practices to make sure everyone doing similar work gets fair pay. They need to adjust salaries to ensure fairness when they find pay gaps.

Difference with Oregon’s Pay Equity Law

• The law protects more groups than Oregon's law. New York's Achieve pay equity law prevents employees from discrimination based on various factors. These include race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, and disability. The additional protection aims to address unfair pay differences in marginalized people.
• Oregon's law targets gender pays gaps, but New York uses a wider approach, trying to fix pay differences for all protected groups. When enforced well, New York's law can have a bigger impact due to its broader focus.

Others argue that a wider range of protection is more challenging to implement and may cause more problems. New York's law seems more ambitious than Oregon's.

Colorado's Equal Pay for Equal Work Act

Colorado joined the efforts to address the gender pay gap in 2019. They passed the Equal Pay for Equal Work Act, making sure every workplace deals with the issue.

Like Oregon, Colorado's law goes beyond job titles in defining "substantially similar work."

• It considers the actual job requirements, skill, effort, and responsibility.
• It prohibits employers from reducing pay to comply with the law.

But some factors are different from the Colorado pay equity law.

• Colorado’s law allows exceptions for seniority systems, merit systems, systems that measure earnings by quantity or quality of production, workplace locations, travel requirements, and education, training, or experience.
• Colorado’s law does not require employers to provide pay scale information to employees upon request or ban them from asking about wage history.
• The rules do not allow people to sue each other. They only allow the government to take action and punish those who break the rules.

Colorado and Oregon have laws to make sure everyone is getting fair pay for doing the same job. Oregon has laws for better pay transparency, no salary history inquiries, and civil lawsuits. Both states need to do more to ensure fair pay for everyone, regardless of their appearance or identity.

Conclusion

Oregon's pay equity law is not perfect, but it provides robust safeguards against gender-based pay discrimination. While the state fares better than many, there is room for improvement. For employees, sure you understand your rights.  Equal pay is a group effort, but together, everyone can make it happen.