Earlier this month, the President issued an executive order prohibiting employers who do business with the federal government from retaliating against employees who discuss their salary with other employees.
Many employers have policies against employees discussing compensation. The executive order posits that when employees are prohibited from discussing pay, compensation inequality is difficult to detect and correct. Therefore, the order prohibits a federal contractor from taking an adverse action against an employee for discussing his or her compensation with another employee. The Order can be found here.
On the same day, the President issued a memorandum directing the Secretary of Labor to develop rules that would require federal contractors to report to the government summary data on the compensation paid to employees, including data by race and sex. The Memorandum can be found here.
Both announcements are aimed at narrowing the pay gap between men and women. While only federal contractors will be required to comply with the new rules, employees may be looking to all employers for similar rights.
