we have devalued women and women’s
work and have relegated their value to
the home, where there’s unpaid labor.”
The uncontrolled gender wage gap
numbers are also largely affected by
what is characterized as the opportunity
gap, where women are less likely to hold
higher-level, high-paying jobs compared
to men and tend to move up the career
ladder much slower. Meryl Press, pay
equity specialist with the California
Commission on the Status of Women
and Girls, calls this the “broken rung.”
“Women are trying to jump from
entry level to management and from
management to the C-suite,” Press says,
“and in between those roles, there are
many more gaps that women experi-
ence compared to men.”
At midcareer, 40 percent of women
hold a position of manager or higher,
compared to 47 percent of men. By late
career (45 and over), the gap grows —
only 41 percent of women reach a po-
sition of manager or higher compared
to 57 percent of men. Just 3 percent of
women rise to an executive post, com-
pared to 8 percent of men. Some of the
gender pay gap has been attributed to
women’s choices, such as job selection
or the decision to take time off to raise a
family, but those factors do not account
for all the disparity, Press says. Dis-
crimination plays a part.
Even when the pay gap controls for
factors that are identical between wom-
en and men (known as the controlled
gender pay gap), like job title, years of
experience, industry and location, and
the only difference is gender, women
still make 2 cents less than men. Over
time, that adds up.
Legislation in California is at-
tempting to level the playing field.
Senate Bill 358, the California Fair Pay
Act, went into effect in January 2016
and amends and strengthens the 1949
California Equal Pay Act by requiring
equal pay for employees who perform
substantially similar work. Further
amendments added race and ethnici-
ty, in addition to gender, as protected
categories. The law also empowers em-
ployees to discuss pay without fear of
retaliation and prohibits an employer
from asking about past compensation.
Following its passage, the California
Commission on the Status of Women
and Girls launched a pay equity task
force to facilitate discussion and pro-
vide guidance on the legislation.
The #EqualPayCA campaign
followed three years later. “It was the
perfect convergence of events where the
task force tools were ready, and we be-
lieved they would go a long way in ful-
filling the promise of pay equity,” says
California Labor Secretary Julie Su, who
co-chaired the task force for two years.
“And I reached out to the first partner
who was so committed to this issue
herself, and she was really phenomenal
and just took it and ran with it.”
Su, appointed labor secretary in Jan-
uary 2019 by Gov. Gavin Newsom, over-
sees California’s Labor and Workforce
March 2020 | comstocksmag.com
73