Equal Pay for Equal Work Bill and its Effect on NJ Employers

John Sarno, President, Employers Association of New Jersey and Steve Adubato talk about Governor Murphy’s latest bill supporting equal pay for equal work, and the ways employers will be affected by this law in the coming years.

5/19/18 #213

Excerpt:

"We're pleased to welcome back John Sarno, President, Employers Association of New Jersey. How you doing John? Very well thanks. Help us on this. Equal... we were talking about this off air, there's actually gonna be a lot of news that is being made, check out NJTV news to cover this, the governor will be signing a bill on the 24th of April, we're taping right before that unequal pay, what is the bill? And why does it matter? Well the bill is probably going to be the most sweeping, powerful, equal pay, pay equity law in the country. It's a big deal because among other things, it was a major issue in the campaign. But the fact of the matter is that women make about 80 cents for every dollar that a man makes. Still? Oh absolutely still. Because? Multiple reasons, multiple reasons, I think one of the primary reasons is the under-representation of women in STEM jobs. Science... Science, technology... ...technology... ...engineering, and math? That's right. That's absolutely right. Because they're better paying jobs? Is that why? They tend to be better paying, and that's where the economy is going right now, a major aspect of it is child care, the caregiving role that women play, so they tend to leave the workforce, sometimes for a longer period of time, much much more than men do, and it's very hard to catch up after that. It's interesting. You were saying that, we're doing... involved in a series called Right From the Start NJ that advocates... it doesn't, we don't advocate, but we put public information out about... Right ...the importance of early childhood, of caring for infants and toddlers and prenatal care. Right. How is this tied to all that? Well when women leave the workforce, either to care for children, or even to care for older parents and adults... Right. ...they typically do that without pay, and they lose that income, and then when they enter, and sometimes that's for a relatively long period of time, it could be a year or longer, and then it's very hard to catch up after that. You know, I'm curious. John, we've had you on many times, and this whole question of equal pay is interesting to me, because there are some folks I imagine, who argue, "You know, it's just the way it is. Men earn more because of whatever..." Things people want to believe about talent and experience. Right. Right. Or whatever else. Right. That's a crock, isn't it? Well we call that stereotyping right? We call that... Yeah ...gender stereotyping, and there is still clearly the legacy of that. It's hard for...? People... many people don't say..."