Obama administration to force employers to disclose salaries by gender

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration plans to require large employers to peel back the curtain on how much they pay men and women in a push to narrow long-standing earning gaps between the genders.

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission will roll out details of the plan Friday to begin gathering a summary of pay data from employers with 100 or more workers.

The data will be used to identify employers that may be engaging in pay discrimination so that the agency can target its enforcement resources where problems may be likeliest to exist. The proposal would cover more than 63 million U.S. workers, according to the White House.

The plan, which will be open to public comment but won’t require legislative approval, is part of a broad effort undertaken by President Obama and federal agencies to close a persistent wage gap between men and women.

Soon after taking office, Obama convened a national task force to address the issue, requesting greater coordination among agencies and more aggressive enforcement efforts.

Despite those efforts, across all professions, women earn about 79 cents for every dollar earned by men—only 2 cents greater than when Mr. Obama took office.

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