The Lilly Ledbetter Act: History and Effects
Introduction
The Lilly Ledbetter Act is a law regulating fair wages for the country’s citizens. By its essence, the regulatory legal act guarantees employees’ protection from discriminatory remuneration methods. In particular, its importance, significance, and uniqueness lie in the simplified procedure for challenging unequal wages within the framework of changing the deadline for filing a claim (Raynes & Lawn, 2020). Consequently, in modern realities, the Lilly Ledbetter Act deserves special attention as an innovative and progressive approach to eradicating the long-standing practice of unfair treatment of people in the workplace based on gender, age, race, nation, religion, and disability. The history of the law and its impact on employees and employers are the key aspects discussed in this paper.
History
The Lilly Ledbetter Act is a law restoring protection against pay disparity and the first bill signed by President Barack Obama in 2009. In this case, any unfair payments are illegal, even if they result from a payment decision made in the past. The regulatory Act was named after Lilly Ledbetter, a supervisor at Goodyear Tire and Rubber’s plant in Gadsden, Alabama. After Lilly discovered that her male colleagues received significantly higher pay for similar positions, she filed a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. In 1998, the woman filed an equal pay lawsuit alleging gender-based wage discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Hays-Thomas, 2022). The jury awarded her salary arrears and about $3 million in compensation and penalties (Hays-Thomas, 2022). However, the Supreme Court upheld the lower court’s decision that claims like Ledbetter’s should be filed within 180 days after an employer decides to pay an employee less, even if a worker found out about unjust pay much later. As a result, Lilly Ledbetter never received any payments from the company.
The ruling inflamed activist groups who saw the court’s decision as a violation of the rights of not only women but also all nationals. This phenomenon led to the creation of the bill with Ledbetter’s name, which gives employees the right to file a lawsuit 180 days after the last pay violation and not just 180 days after the initial pay difference (Gordon, 2021). Therefore, each salary restarts a 180-day countdown to apply.
Impact
Currently, the Lilly Ledbetter Act has a beneficial effect on employees in terms of the realization of fairness and justice. For example, a woman can sue a firm if she has assumptions and evidence regarding receiving a lower salary for the amount of work performed for this company (Gordon, 2021). Consequently, the law obliges employers to direct efforts to ensure fair pay for each worker, following federal principles on combating discrimination. Ignoring the Lilly Ledbetter Act can have severe and irreparable consequences for the reputation and life of a business. Accordingly, it is evident that in the future, this law will provide significant support to families both at the local and national level by supporting a healthy working relationship between an employee and an employer. In contrast, employers will continue to support the practice of organizing a favorable atmosphere for everyone working in a company, encouraging inclusiveness and equality.
Conclusion
In conclusion, one should note that the Lilly Ledbetter Act is one of the most valuable laws in the United States to fight against the modern world’s social problems. It has a rich and fascinating history, in which the movement of activists for workers’ fair rights and duties is one of the critical events. To date, the law defines the “right” relationship between an employee and an employer and will promote the practice of implementing justice in the workplace in the future.
References
Gordon, J. (2021). The impact of Lilly Ledbetter fair pay act. Accurate Background. Web.
Hays-Thomas, R. (2022). Managing workplace diversity, equity, and inclusion (2nd ed.). Routledge.
Raynes & Lawn. (2020). What is the Lilly Ledbetter fair pay act?. Raynes & Lawn. Web.