Twenty-nine additional employers have signed on to the White House equal pay pledge, which asks companies to conduct a yearly analysis of pay by gender with the goal of eliminating unequal compensation.
Apple, Chobani, Delta Air Lines, Facebook, General Motors, Hilton, IBM and IKEA are among the companies and organizations that have joined the effort, bringing the total to more than 50, according to the White House. Friday’s announcement was made on Women’s Equality Day, which commemorates women’s right to vote.
President Barack Obama initiated the pledge in June as part of a summit on women, the United State of Women. The companies also agree to review hiring and promotions practices and to promote practices that will close the national wage gap.
A typical woman working full-time earned only 79 percent that paid to a typical man in 2014, according to the White House.
The Labor Department also added protections for transgender men and women to guidelines for federal contractors that are meant to guard against sex discrimination.
The first piece of legislation that Obama signed after taking office was the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which overturned restrictions on time periods in which discrimination complaints could be filed.
The Obama administration also extended minimum wage and overtime to more than 2 million home health-care workers, many of them women.
U.S. & World
Fifty-seven percent of women are in the labor force, down from 60 percent in 1999, according to the United States Department of Labor.
