Advocates for Basic Legal Equality, Inc. (ABLE) is a non-profit regional law firm that provides high quality legal assistance in civil matters to help eligible low-income individuals and groups in western Ohio achieve self reliance, and equal justice and economic opportunity.
Increasing Pay Equity
Women in Ohio each year are typically paid $11,477 less than men, according to the National Partnership for Women and Families. That is the 14th worst pay gap in the country, the Dayton Daily News reported.
Black women in Ohio earn $18,000 less than men in Ohio, and Latina women earn more than $19,000 less than men. If the gender pay gap were eliminated, according to the study, women in Ohio could pay for an additional 17 months of childcare, 15 months of rent, and a year of college tuition.
A practice that perpetuates pay inequity is what may appear reasonable on its face – asking a woman her current salary when she applies for a new job or is negotiating a new salary. The result is that they have less of an opportunity to seek a higher salary because their lower salary places them at an unequal bargaining position. To combat this inequitable practice, Women of Toledo, joined by the American Association of University Women and ABLE attorneys, advocated for the Pay Equity Act. The law prohibits employers in Toledo from asking or using a person’s previous wage to screen job applicants in determining whether to offer a job or in deciding salary, benefits, or other compensation as part of the hiring process. The Pay Equity Act also prevents employers from not hiring someone if they decide not to disclose their salary history. Toledo became the second city in the U.S. to adopt pay equity legislation of this kind in June 2019, deemed by Women of Toledo as “a critical step to closing the gender pay gap and improv[ing] their economic status.”
Read ABLE’s letter, submitted on behalf of Women of Toledo.
Download ABLE's Fair Wage Letter (PDF)