Findings

1. The gender wage gap for women working full-time, year-round in Utah is 70 cents per dollar earned by white men – 10 cents lower than national figures where women earn 80 cents per dollar respectively. Based on estimates, this disparity can accumulate to roughly half a million dollars over her career. If nothing is done to address the gender wage gap, it will not close until 2059; and if nothing is done in Utah, it will not close until 2106.

2. Women of color face an even larger gender wage gap in Utah compared with white men. Hispanic women earn 47 cents, Black women earn 52 cents, Native American women earn 54 cents, and Asian women earn 67 cents for each dollar paid to white men.

3. Utah has a higher share of part-time workers than the rest of the U.S. with 38 percent of Utah women versus 28 percent at the national level. This is of concern because part-time workers earn less income and are offered little to no benefit coverage. In addition, parttime workers have more variable and unpredictable work schedules, which adversely impact women who have caregiving responsibilities.

4. Occupational segregation explains half of the gender wage gap. According to Census figures, women make up nearly two-thirds of workers in the 40 lowest-paying jobs and conversely, women are underrepresented in higher wage occupations, making up only 37 percent of workers in the 40 highest-paying occupations.

5. The gender wage gap continues to widen with age, and differences among older workers are considerably larger than differences among younger workers. For younger, full-time workers between 20-24 years of age, the wage gap is closer to parity with women earning 89 cents for every dollar their male counterparts earn. However, as workers enter their prime working years, the gender wage gap widens, which also coincides with women’s prime childbearing years. Earnings continue to decrease after age 45. Women 55–64 years of age experience a larger wage gap and are paid 75 cents for every dollar men are paid in the same age range. These figures likely demonstrate the long-term effects of explicit and implicit bias, which compound over time.

6. A gender wage gap exists in varying occupations that are both female-dominated and male-dominated. According to an analysis of the Bureau of Labor Statistics examining common occupations for genders, within the 20 most common occupations for women, women earn less than men in all but two of the largest occupations for women. Women make up 88 percent of elementary and middle school teachers earn 86 percent of men’s earnings; and for women working as registered nurses where women make up 88 percent, women earn 91 percent of men’s earnings. This continues to be the case, for women employed in male-dominated jobs. For women working in construction trade occupations, comprising of roughly 3 percent of workers in that field, women earn 94 percent of men’s earnings.

7. Union membership has been proven to provide women with higher wages and better benefits. Working women in unions are paid 94 cents for every dollar paid to working men in unions, compared with 78 cents for every dollar for non-union women as a share of nonunion men’s dollar. Unions can also provide a boost to women’s earning regardless of their race or ethnicity. The gender wage gap is significantly smaller among both white and black unionized workers than their nonunion counterparts. Unionized workers are also more likely to have access to various kinds of paid leave such as paid sick days, vacations, holidays, and paid family and medical leave – benefits that would enable them to balance work and family obligations.

8. Utilizing salary history to set a worker’s starting salary negatively impacts subsequent raises, bonuses, and promotions that accumulate overtime. This is concerning because women are more likely to be offered lower starting salaries from previous jobs and therefore, may have less retirement security to fall back on due to lower earnings accumulated throughout their career.

9. Because women are paid less than women, they have less income to devote to retirement savings to draw upon in retirement, smaller contributions to employer-sponsored retirement plans, smaller Social Security benefits, and smaller paychecks for those women who continue to work later in life.

10. Prohibiting the discussion of wages among employees, also known as pay secrecy, is a common practice among private sector employers. Yet, for most workers, pay secrecy policies are illegal. According to the National Labor Relations Act, employers are prohibited from banning employees below supervisory level from discussing their wages. Despite this law, employers continue to penalize employees. Women are particularly affected because if they are underpaid and want to engage in salary negotiations, they are starting from a lower negotiating point.

11. Women make up two-thirds of the workforce in jobs that pay the federal minimum wage and make up 70 percent of tipped workers in the U.S. In addition to women making up a large majority of low-wage jobs, women of color constitute almost a quarter of minimum wage workers. The composition of workers in minimum wage and tipped minimum wage gaps is of concern because these workers experience twice the poverty rate than the rest of the U.S. workforce and have economic insecurity.

12. The low number of Equal Pay Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act complaints reported to the Utah Antidiscrimination Labor Division (Utah Labor Division) and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission may be due to workers unaware of their rights and what constitutes as a violation under these laws; and poor federal and state enforcement efforts. On a state level, this is partially explained through the Utah Legislative Audit’s analysis of the Utah Labor Division’s handling of employment discrimination complaints. The report found that the Utah Labor Division ruled in favor of employees only 0.7 percent of the time, which is less than surrounding states and nationwide.

13. Employees who file complaints with state and federal enforcement agencies alleging discrimination must show a considerable burden of proof in the four affirmative defenses built into the Equal Pay Act. An employee must show that the disparity in pay is not due to a seniority system, a merit system, a pay system based on quantity or quality of output, and/or any other factor other than sex. This is of concern because, in its current writing, some in the legal community find that the Equal Pay Act is ineffective in addressing pay inequity allegations.

Recommendations

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights should send this report and issue the following formal recommendations to the U.S. Department of Labor to: (i) develop initiatives to encourage women to enter nontraditional and STEM-related careers; and (ii) vigorously enforce the Fair Labor Standards Act.

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights should send this report and issue the following formal recommendation to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to vigorously enforce the Equal Pay Act and the Pregnancy Discrimination Act.

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights should send this report and issue the following formal recommendation to the National Labor Relations Board to vigorously enforce the National Labor Relations Act.

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights should send this report and issue the following formal recommendations to the U.S. Congress to strongly consider passing legislation that:

• Requires employers with 100 or more employees to collect pay data by race, ethnicity, and gender to help identify and address pay discrimination.

• Prohibits employers from screening applications based on their salary history to be considered as candidates for a position.

• Closes the “factor other than sex” loophole by adding a requirement that the factor proffered by the employer be “bona fide,” which ensures that the factor neutral and unrelated to sex. Such legislation would make clear that the “factor other than sex” affirmative defense only excuses a pay differential when the factor is related to the position in question, forwards and business necessity, and accounts for the entire pay differential.

• Eliminates pay secrecy.

• Raises the minimum wage.

• Eliminates the subminimum wage.

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights should send this report and issue the following formal recommendations to the Utah Legislature to strongly consider passing legislation that:

• Prohibits employers from relying on salary history of a prospective employee in considering the prospective employee for employment, including requiring that a prospective employee’s prior wages satisfy minimum or maximum criteria as a condition of being considered for employment.

• Eliminates pay secrecy.

• Raises the minimum wage.

• Eliminates the subminimum wage.

• Provides mandatory paid parental leave.

• Allows for the examination of the gender wage gap that includes disaggregation of earnings data by race.