Claiming bias just got easier: 4 must-check areas for new Fair Pay Act

Better huddle together with HR to make sure you’ve got all bases covered when it comes to the recently passed Ledbetter Act.

With Ledbetter, the Feds have made it easier for your staffers to claim pay bias. How? The act widens the time frame employees have to claim pay discrimination — even if the person responsible for the discrimination is no longer around.

Previously, pay bias suits coming 180 days after a firm’s first decision to pay one employee less than another for doing the same job were thrown out. For the Fair Pay Act, each check a worker receives adds another 180 days to the statute of limitations for claiming pay bias (back pay is capped at two years and/or $300,000).

Here are four areas to go over to ensure your company is in compliance with the new law:

1. Record-retention policy — have HR review all pay and benefits-related documentation
2. Payroll — talk with this department about any changes in the company’s compensation plans
3. Legal — to be safe, confer with a lawyer to fix any potential chinks in your current pay system, and
4. Review — get together with HR to double-check that your hiring, benefits and manager training policies fall in line with all federal and state fair employment requirements.

To view the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act in its entirety, click here.