Federal Action to Reduce Gender Pay Gap Mirrors County Executive’s Efforts 

ERIE COUNTY, NY— Erie County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz today praised a new federal proposal aimed at reducing the gender pay gap that would require companies with more than 100 employees to submit yearly pay data to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”). The new proposal, which augments a 2014 presidential memorandum on pay equity, would compel businesses to add pay data in 12 salary ranges to other workplace information already submitted to the EEOC as part of their required disclosure.

“I have long been a proponent for gender pay equity, and have instituted policies in Erie County and at the ECIDA to ensure that no business that practices pay discrimination gains contracts or tax incentives from the residents of Erie County. This federal proposal dovetails with our local actions and raises the effort to end wage discrimination to another level and I commend President Obama for taking such action, ” said Erie County Executive Mark C. Poloncarz. “We must remain vigilant in the fight to end such discrimination and ensure that women and men receive equal pay for equal work. As in Erie County, this proposal is not burdensome or onerous to business but rather is a good way for them to show that they treat their employees equally.”

Poloncarz issued an Executive Order mandating pay equity certification on county contracts in October 2014 and instituted a similar pay equity policy at the Erie County Industrial Development Agency (“ECIDA”) in 2015. The EEOC will seek public comment on the new federal pay equity proposal through April 1 and anticipates finalizing the new rule by September.