The measure which enforces equal pay is now up to the Senate to consider on Friday. House Bill 2929 won final House approval on Thursday.
HB 2929 prohibits employers from firing or discriminating against an employee who has asked a co-worker about his or her rate of pay. It also increases the fin from $25 to $200 for each violation per pay period. Back pay also will be required.
The bill gives the responsibility to enforce the law to the State Labor Commissioner.
On average, a woman in Oklahoma is paid 73.5¢ for every dollar her male counterpart is paid, U.S. Census Bureau data show.
“For women of color the wage gap is ‘even more significant,’” said Kendra Horn, executive director of Sally’s List. “In Oklahoma, African American women are paid 62.5¢, Native American women are paid 63.1¢, and Latino women are paid 51¢ for every $1 paid to a white, non-Hispanic male performing the same job.”
Nearly 183,000 family households in Oklahoma are headed by women, according to the Census Bureau. A little over one-third of those families, 62,265 households, have incomes that fall below the poverty level. “Eliminating the wage gap would provide much-needed income to women whose wages sustain their families,” Horn said.
