March 14, 2023, is recognized as Equal Pay Day in the US. This date symbolizes how far into the year women must work to earn the same amount that men earned in the previous year. Because women earn less, on average, than men (according to the US Census Bureau), they must work longer for the same amount of pay. It is vital to know that the wage gap is even greater for most women of color.  

In recent years, legislatures have passed stricter laws aimed at combating gender pay discrimination. States and municipalities are arming themselves with different tools: laws range from lowering the bar for equal pay lawsuits by fundamentally altering how equal pay claims are analyzed in court to banning questions about salary history and more. The latest trend is requiring wage range disclosures in job postings and certain other employment situations, even if a covered employer has few employees – or in some cases, only one employee – working in the state or municipality enacting the law.

In the first video of our ID&E IMPACT video chat miniseries, Baker McKenzie’s Employment & Compensation lawyers discuss the increasing requirements for employers to disclose pay information, and practical tips to help negotiate the current landscape, particularly as a multistate employer.

Click here to watch the video.

Special thanks to our guest co-presenters, Elizabeth Ebersole, Krissy Katzenstein and Dionna Shear.

Author

Barbara Klementz is the chair of Baker McKenzie’s North American Compensation Practice. She has practiced in the area of global equity and executive compensation for over 20 years. Barbara is a Thomson Reuters Stand-out Lawyer for 2024 and recognized as a ranked practitioner by Legal 500 for Employee Benefits: Transactional and by Chambers USA. Client feedback in Chambers states that "Barbara is absolutely phenomenal" and "Barbara is incredibly impressive in terms of expertise and the ability to be pragmatic and practical. She knows the laws and rules in a staggering number of countries." Barbara is admitted to private practice in California and Düsseldorf, Germany. Barbara focuses her practice on global equity compensation programs, executive compensation and employee benefits. She regularly advises multinational companies on implementing their equity compensation and other incentive programs worldwide – particularly as it relates to tax and securities law matters and exchange control regulations. Barbara also frequently advises on the treatment of such programs in corporate transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, spin-offs and divestitures, as well as on the tax treatment of cross-border employees participating in such programs.