What to Know
- On the day NYC honored the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team, Gov. Cuomo signed pay equity legislation to close the gender wage gap
- Cuomo signed into law legislation that expands equal pay laws to prohibit unequal pay on the basis of a protected class for similar work
- The law also forbids employers from asking prospective employees about their salary history
On the day New York City honored the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team for the record breaking and back-to-back World Cup wins -- a team that has been outspoken in its demands for equal pay -- New York Gov. Cuomo signed pay equity legislation to close the gender wage gap in the state.
On Wednesday, Cuomo signed into law legislation that expands equal pay laws to prohibit unequal pay on the basis of a protected class for all substantially similar work and forbids employers from asking prospective employees about their salary history.
Cuomo also called on the United States Soccer Federation to pay the women's national team the same as the men's national team.
Cuomo signed the measures at the ticker-tape parade celebrating the world champion U.S. Women's Soccer Team.
"There is no rationale why women should not get paid what men get paid. These are women's soccer players, they play the same game as the men's soccer players, and they play it better - so if there is any economic rationale, the men should get paid less than the women," Cuomo said in a statement.
"New York will continue to lead the way forward and stand in solidarity with women and girls in every corner of this state. By signing this legislation, we are not only doing the right thing, we are also doing the moral thing and equal pay for equal work is now the law in the State of New York," Cuomo went on to say.
Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul shared similar sentiments.
"Countless women put their heart and soul into their jobs every day, and at the end of the day still earn less than men,” she said in a statement. “Although New York has among the lowest gender wage gap in the nation, the gap still exists. That is unacceptable."
Hochul's statement goes on to say: "The U.S. Women's Soccer Team brought home the win, and made our nation proud. Their victory magnified the disgraceful reality that U.S. Soccer does not pay the women's team the same as the men's team. We have made progress to ensure women's rights and protections, but we will not rest until women achieve full equality."
