Employers balk at pay data policy

WASHINGTON — A new federal regulation requiring employers to report pay data by race, ethnicity and gender is drawing praise from pay equality advocates — but business groups warn it will be burdensome and ineffective.

The new rule, announced yesterday by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Department of Labor, is an effort to give the government better data on pay inequality and encourage employers to address any problems they find, a White House statement said. Businesses with more than 100 employees will have to report the data annually starting in 2018.

“More than 50 years after pay discrimination became illegal it remains a persistent problem for too many Americans,” said EEOC Chair Jenny R. Yang. “Collecting pay data is a significant step forward in addressing discriminatory pay practices.”

But Randy Johnson of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce called it a “data grab,” saying there is no “developed framework to review the data or use it for any legally authorized or recognized purpose.”

Jocelyn Frye of the Center for American Progress countered the rule will help EEOC “pinpoint occupational pay differences and trends.”

William Hannum of the Andover, Mass., employment law firm Schwartz Hannum PC, said the rule will make employers “think about their own practices in a way they have been encouraged to in the past, but not forced to. It’s like taking your vitamins. You may not enjoy the taste of castor oil, but it might help you.”