Expansion of wage discrimination protections discussed

Members of the Business and Labor Committee heard testimony Feb. 1 on a bill that would remove an exemption from the state’s wage discrimination statutes.

Currently, employers with at least 15 employees must provide equal pay for equal work, without discriminating based upon an employee’s gender. Small businesses—defined as any business with less than 15 employees—are exempt from this provision.

LB928, introduced by Omaha Sen. Heath Mello, would remove the small business exemption. He said that nationally women make 78.8 cents for every dollar a man makes.

“Nebraska can take steps to close the wage gap between men and women in a way that supports strong families and respects the business community’s needs,” he said.

Mello said that 45 states currently have wage discrimination protections in place but only six have exemptions in place based on number of employees. Of those six, only Nebraska has a threshold of 15 employees; the other five have lower thresholds.

The definition of an unlawful employment practice also would be expanded to include any time wages, benefits or compensation are paid.

Additionally, the protections in LB928 would not apply to those engaged in domestic employment in private homes.

Danielle Conrad, executive director of ACLU Nebraska, spoke in support of the bill. If no action is taken to address wage discrimination, she said, it could take decades for the wages to equalize.

“Since 1969, Nebraska law has recognized that gender-based pay discrimination is bad from a policy perspective,” she said. “Even though we’ve had laws on the books since the late ‘60s, Nebraska has a real and pervasive wage discrimination problem.”

Ian Fallon, a community organizer with the Heartland Workers Center in Omaha, also supported the bill.

“The existing wage gap is a concern because of the recent increase of households headed by single women in south Omaha,” Fallon said. “If we don’t address the disparity, children will continue to grow up in poverty because their mothers are not paid enough to meet their basic needs.”

Bob Evnen, representing the Lincoln Independent Business Association, spoke in opposition to the bill. He said it would have a disproportionately negative impact on small businesses.

“There’s a reason a [15 employee] threshold exists, because that is the point at which employers could absorb the cost of responding to [wage discrimination charges],” he said. “People who suffer wage discrimination today are not without remedy.”

The committee took no immediate action on the bill.