Seeks to comply with the federal equal pay act of 1963 by implementing a state policy of compensating employees in state service equally for work of comparable value by eliminating wage inequality in job titles having been segregated by sex, race or national origin; requires the president of the civil service commission to report annually to the legislature and the governor on those segregated titles for which wage disparity exists; mandates governor to appropriate monies to ensure wage disparities are corrected.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
 
BILL NUMBER: A1780A
SPONSOR: Rosenthal (MS)
 
TITLE OF BILL: An act to amend the civil service law, in relation to
implementing a state policy of setting salaries on the basis of equiv-
alent value of work
 
PURPOSE: To implement the state policy of compensating employees in
state service equally for work of equivalent value by eliminating wage
inequality in job titles and position classifications which have been
segregated by sex, race, or national origin.
 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS: Amends § 115 of the civil service law to
define the intent of New York state to comply with the federal "Equal
Pay Act of 1963" and "Civil Rights Act of 1964" and to state its intent
to ensure a fair and non-biased wage structure for all employees regard-
less of sex, race or national origin.
Amends § 118 of the civil service law to define "equivalent value of
work" and to provide for exceptions to the rule.
Adds a new § 119 to the civil service law which (a) defines segregated
titles, (b) prescribes methodologies that may be used by the president
of the civil service commission for determining equivalent value of
work, (c) mandates that the president of the civil service commission
report the Legislature and Executive, by January 1, 2013, on those
segregated titles for which a wage disparity exists, and (d) mandates
the president to request an appropriation necessary to correct such
disparities.
 
JUSTIFICATION: While newspapers carry banner headlines about the
advances women have made in the work force, the fact is, women's wages
continue to lag far behind men's. The economic position of women on the
whole has deteriorated, despite affirmative action and equal pay laws,
and the movement of some women into a few traditionally male-dominated
occupations.
The wage gap exists, in part, because many women are still segregated
into a few low-paying occupations. More than half of all women workers
hold sales,, clerical and service jobs. Studies show that the more an
occupation is dominated by women, the less it pays. Part of the wage gap
results from differences in education, experience or time in the work-
force. But a significant portion cannot be explained by any of those
factors; the General Accounting Office's Oct. 2003 report Women's Earn-
ings, which examined 38 years of data, found a 20 percent earnings gap
between women and men that could not be explained, even when accounting
for demographic and work-related factors such as occupation, industry,
race, marital status and job tenure.
More than half of all women work in occupations which are over 70%
female, and 25% are in jobs which are more than 95% female. The National
Academy of Sciences, which has conducted the most authoritative study to
date on comparable worth, found that "the more an occupation is domi-
nated by women, the less it pays." The Academy concluded that sex
discrimination is deeply imbedded in our society's wage structures and
in our so-called free market system.
 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2011: A.1780 - Passed Assembly
2009-2010: A.6712 - Passed Assembly
2007-2008: A.7407 - Passed Assembly
2005-2006: A.305 - Passed Assembly
2003-2004: A.737 - Passed Assembly
2002: A.236 - Passed Assembly
2001: A.236 - Passed Assembly
2000: A.4171 - Passed Assembly
1999: A.4171 - Passed Assembly
1998: A.810 (Katz) Passed, Assembly
1997: A.810 (Katz) - Gov. Emp.
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS: Determined by the amount of wage disparity.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE: This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
1780--A
2011-2012 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 11, 2011
___________
Introduced by M. of A. ROSENTHAL, JAFFEE, ROBINSON, PAULIN, SCHIMEL,
WRIGHT, GOTTFRIED, GABRYSZAK, GALEF, WEPRIN, P. RIVERA -- Multi-Spon-
sored by -- M. of A. BRENNAN, COLTON, COOK, DINOWITZ, FARRELL, GLICK,
HEASTIE, JACOBS, LUPARDO, MAISEL, McENENY, MENG, MILLMAN, O'DONNELL,
PERRY, N. RIVERA, WEINSTEIN, WEISENBERG -- read once and referred to
the Committee on Governmental Employees -- recommitted to the Commit-
tee on Governmental Employees in accordance with Assembly Rule 3, sec.
2 -- reported and referred to the Committee on Ways and Means --
committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and
recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the civil service law, in relation to implementing a
state policy of setting salaries on the basis of equivalent value of
work
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 115 of the civil service law, as added by chapter
2 790 of the laws of 1958, is amended to read as follows:
3 § 115. Policy of the state. It is the policy of New York state to
4 comply with the letter and spirit of the federal "Equal Pay Act of
5 1963," Pub. L. 88-38 (29 U.S.C. § 206) which requires that employees of
6 both sexes receive equal pay for equal work, the federal "Civil Rights
7 Act of 1964," Pub. L. 88-352 (42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2) which prohibits
8 discrimination on the basis of sex, race, and national origin in all
9 terms of employment, article fifteen of the executive law and section
10 forty-c of the civil rights law, which prohibit discrimination on the
11 basis of sex, race or national origin in all terms of employment.
12 Consistent with these laws, it is the policy of the state to ensure a
13 fair, non-biased wage structure for its employees in which sex, race, or
14 national origin is not a consideration either directly or indirectly in
15 determining the proper wages for a title in state service, nor in deter-
16 mining the pay for any individual or group of employees. For the
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01541-02-2
A. 1780--A 2
1 purpose of this chapter, the terms "wages" and wage "rates" shall
2 include all compensation, in any form, that an employer provides to
3 employees in payment for work done or services rendered, including but
4 not limited to base pay, bonuses, commissions, awards, tips, or various
5 forms of non-monetary compensation if provided in lieu of or in addition
6 to monetary compensation and that have economic value to an employee. In
7 order to attract unusual merit and ability to the service of the state
8 of New York, to stimulate higher efficiency among the personnel, to
9 provide skilled leadership in administrative departments, to reward
10 merit and to insure to the people and the taxpayers of the state of New
11 York the highest return in services for the necessary costs of govern-
12 ment, it is [hereby declared to be] the policy of the state to provide
13 equal pay for equal and similar work and for equivalent value of work,
14 and regular increases in pay in proper proportion to increase of abili-
15 ty, increase of output and increase of quality of work demonstrated in
16 service.
17 § 2. Paragraph (c) of subdivision 1 of section 118 of the civil
18 service law, as added by chapter 790 of the laws of 1958, is amended and
19 two new paragraphs (d) and (e) are added to read as follows:
20 (c) The principle of fair and equal pay for similar work and for
21 equivalent value of work shall be followed in the classification and
22 reclassification and the allocation and reallocation of positions pursu-
23 ant to this article and all positions having the same title shall be
24 allocated to the same salary grade. Equivalent value of work shall mean
25 titles or position classifications that are equal within the meaning of
26 the Equal Pay Act of 1963, 29 U.S.C. 206(d), or titles or position clas-
27 sifications that are dissimilar but whose requirements are equivalent,
28 when viewed as a composite of skills, effort, responsibility and working
29 conditions. The principle of fair and equal pay for equivalent value of
30 work requires that consideration of sex, race or national origin shall
31 not influence directly or indirectly the establishment of wages.
32 (d) It shall not be an unlawful employment practice for an employer to
33 pay different wage rates to employees, where such payments are made
34 pursuant to:
35 (1) a bona fide seniority or merit system;
36 (2) the geographic location of the job; or
37 (3) any other bona fide factor other than sex, race or national
38 origin, provided however, that such factor does not result in discrimi-
39 nation based on sex, race or national origin.
40 (e) Nothing set forth in this section shall be construed to impede,
41 infringe or diminish the rights and benefits which accrue to employees
42 through collective bargaining agreements, or otherwise diminish the
43 integrity of the existing collective bargaining relationship.
44 § 3. The civil service law is amended by adding a new section 119 to
45 read as follows:
46 § 119. Equivalent value of work; segregated job titles reviewed and
47 adjusted. 1. The legislature finds that despite the policy of New York
48 state as declared in section one hundred fifteen of this article, job
49 titles which are segregated by sex, race, or national origin may have
50 been undervalued and assigned wages which do not reflect the relative
51 worth of the job. It is the intent of the legislature to remedy such
52 undervaluation and to correct such disparities.
53 2. The civil service commission shall promulgate regulations specify-
54 ing the methodology for determining equivalent value of work based on
55 skill, effort, responsibility, and working conditions. Any methodology
56 prescribed by the commission, such as a systematic point factor job
A. 1780--A 3
1 evaluation system, shall ensure that comparison systems do not ignore or
2 undervalue the worth of jobs where women and minorities are dispropor-
3 tionately represented. For the purposes of this chapter, a segregated
4 title shall constitute any title in which the total percentage of
5 employees of a particular sex, race or national origin in the title is
6 equal to or greater than one hundred twenty percent of the percentage of
7 that sex, race or national origin in the state service.
8 3. The president shall, by January first, two thousand thirteen, and
9 every five years thereafter, submit to the legislature and the gover-
10 nor's office of employee relations, a list showing, by negotiating unit
11 and for management/confidential employees, those segregated titles for
12 which a disparity exists based on the equivalent value of the work. The
13 president shall also submit to the legislature, the governor's office of
14 employee relations and the division of budget along with the list, an
15 estimate of the appropriation necessary to correct such disparities.
16 When the department creates new titles or, because of merges or take-
17 overs, transfers state workforce from one title to another title, the
18 president shall re-submit such list of any segregated titles for which
19 a disparity exists based on the equivalent value of work and shall
20 submit to the legislature, the governor's office of employee relations
21 and the division of budget with such list an estimate of the appropri-
22 ation necessary to correct such disparities.
23 4. Beginning with the budget requests for the first fiscal year
24 commencing after the effective date of this section, the governor shall
25 include the appropriation necessary to ensure that wages are set in
26 accordance with subdivision one of this section and section one hundred
27 fifteen and paragraph (c) of subdivision one of section one hundred
28 eighteen of this article.
29 5. The president shall not, in order to comply with this section,
30 reduce the wages of any employee or reduce the wage rate for any posi-
31 tion.
32 § 4. This act shall take effect immediately.