A bill that would seek to close the wage gap between male and female workers will be discussed on the floor of the Louisiana Senate today. Louisiana is the best of the worst when it comes to a disparity between what females earn compared to their male counter parts. In fact women in Louisiana on average make .65 cents for every dollar a man in a similar position makes.

Governor John Bel Edwards has gone on record in his support of the legislation.

Women of color in Louisiana earn less than 50 cents on the dollar compared to the wages of men doing the same work. We have to fix that, that’s another bad list that we should not be at the top of.

What does the wage gap look like in real dollars and cents? According to the National Partnership for Women and Families that disparity of .65 per dollar adds up to about $17-thousand dollars over the course of a year. If you project that number over the state that would be an $11-billion dollar disparity between male workers in Louisiana and female workers doing the same or comparable jobs.

Will this proposed legislation cut that gap? Not at first, but it will start to slowly chip away at the difference between salaries. Edwards, speaking to the Louisiana Radio Network, says the legislation is constructed carefully to be fair not only to wage earners but to the businesses that employ those wage earners.

That allows the employers the benefit of written notice from an employee who believes that the employer is in violation of the law and then gives them 60 days to investigate and rectify it.

Governor Edwards believes that this legislation will not only strengthen the position of women in the workplace but be seen nationally as an incentive for more females to want to come to Louisiana to find work.

 

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