FRESHMAN STATE LEGISLATOR HOPES NEW LAW WILL RESULT IN GREATER PARITY
State Representative Debbie Meyers-Martin (38th) helped pass legislation Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed into law which now prohibits employers from asking prospective applicants or former employers about salary history. Photo credit: By Wendell Hutson
Freshman State Legislator Hopes New Law Will Result In Greater Parity
BY WENDELL HUTSON, Contributing Writer
In her first year in office, state Representative Debbie Meyers-Martin (38th) helped pass legislation Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed into law in July that is aimed at preventing workplace discrimination as it pertains to salaries.
House Bill 834 now prohibits employers from asking prospective applicants or former employers about salary history. According to Meyers-Martin, by doing so, it has perpetuated disadvantages for women during the hiring process.
“While much has been done to help improve conditions in the workplace for women, the pay gap continues to go unaddressed,” said Meyers-Martin, whose south suburban district includes Olympia Fields, Matteson and Tinley Park. “Women are considered vital to this country’s economy, but it’s not reflected in their paychecks.”
According to the nonprofit National Partnership for Women & Families, the median annual pay for a woman with a full-time job is $45,097, while the median annual pay for a man with a full-time job is $55,291. This means that, overall, women in the United States are paid 82 cents for every dollar paid to men, amounting to an annual gender wage gap of $10,194.
Meyers-Martin said she made pay equality legislation a top priority in her freshman year.
“History has worked against women when it comes to equal pay in the workforce,” said Meyers-Martin.
However, employers are still allowed to ask job applicants what is their ‘desired salary’ but cannot ask what was their starting and ending pay at previous jobs.
“This question makes a big difference,” explained Meyers-Martin. “If someone is asked by an employer their desired salary, it’s more compensatory with their skill set because you know what you are worth as opposed to employers being able to view your past wages.”
She added that for years minorities have been discriminated against when it comes to equal pay, and hopefully this new law will prevent it from happening further.
The new state law, Equal Pay Act, also works “hand in hand” with state legislation to increase the state minimum wage, according to Meyers-Martin. Currently the state minimum wage is $8.25 per hour, but will increase to $9.25 on Jan. 1, 2020 and $10 on July 1, 2020. But for people working in Chicago, the minimum wage is $13 per hour and Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she wants to see it increased to $15 in the next four years. The federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour and has not increased since July 2009.
“At the end of the day, what we [in Springfield] are trying to do for the citizens of Illinois is to give them the ability to make a ‘living’ wage and to have a wage that is sustainable for improvement in the quality of their life,” explained Meyers-Martin. “Realistically minimum wage should be ‘a lot’ more and hopefully over the next few years we can pass legislation to do just that.”
