The pay gap has been a burning issue in the United States for many years and the Obama era regulation that demanded data from organizations on the salaries of employees across genders and races seemed like a right step. However, the Trump administration today discontinued the practice stating that the whole thing is a burden for employers. The president's daughter, Ivanka Trump, who is also a White House advisor, endorsed the move.
A controversial move
Back in 2016, the Obama administration proposed that firms should submit a report on the pay of employees across gender and ethnic lines.
However, in a move that will definitely be deemed controversial, the Trump administration decided to scrap it altogether. According to an expert at the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, the whole practice is not only burdensome for firms but is not effective in addressing pay discrimination in the work place either. A CBS News report states that the Trump administration believes that a report does not reveal anything meaningful as far as pay gap is concerned.
However, the cost of furnishing these reports is not burdensome. According to the Obama administration, the cost of filing a report is no more than $400 a year for a firm and the costs were projected to go down in the years to follow the implementation.
Unless the Trump administration comes up with an alternative, this move will continue to be viewed as a controversial one.
Ivanka Trump's statement
The president's daughter and key White House advisor Ivanka Trump endorsed the move. It came as a surprise as she had earlier championed the cause of equal pay across genders and ethnicities.
In her statement, she said, "Ultimately, while I believe the intention was good and agree that pay transparency is important, the proposed policy would not yield the intended results. We look forward to continuing to work with EEOC, OMB, Congress and all relevant stakeholders on robust policies aimed at eliminating the gender wage gap."
The Office of Management and Budget at the White House is now going to commission a review of the entire process according to an internal memo from the head of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Victoria Lipnic. It will be interesting to see if the Trump administration does come up with an alternative that proves to be less burdensome in any way for the thousands of firms involved.
