Retailers Support Modern, Equitable Workforce Policies
- By [ Evan Armstrong ]
- Washington, DC
- 06/19/2023
“Retailers are among the nation’s largest employers, with a deep commitment to developing a workforce that is diverse, innovative, and skilled. Pay equity and worker flexibility are two important pieces of meeting those goals,” said RILA Vice President of Workforce Evan Armstrong. “It’s crucial that we have federal workforce policies that promote, not hinder, retailers’ ability to deliver on these commitments. Unfortunately, these two bills run counterproductive to that goal.”
From the letters:
The PRO Act, an attempt to rewrite the laws for organizing in the U.S., would not only limit the rights of employers and workers but create substantial economic disruption by eliminating decades long legal and regulatory checks on abusive activities by union leaders. With historically high inflation and the on-going labor threats throughout the supply chain, Congress should reject legislation that would further endanger the national economy.
Leading retailers urge members of Congress to reject the PRO Act and instead work on building a 21st Century Workforce that has forward-thinking proposals that empower workers, promote innovation, and enable retailers to invest in their people and their communities.
RILA’s full letter on the PRO Act, here.
RILA and our members believe employees should be compensated equitably and without discrimination which is why RILA strongly supports the WAGE Equity Act, legislation which addresses pay equity issues through more commonsense policies. RILA’s full letter on the Paycheck Fairness Act, here.
The Paycheck Fairness Act is unequivocally the wrong approach to address the gender wage gap. As drafted, the legislation would prohibit many legitimate, non-discriminatory practices that employers use to attract and retain the best qualified employees. The legislation simply goes too far in eliminating factors employers can legally use to explain pay differences. The bill, if enacted, also harms workers by forcing business compensation practices to limit pay options to protect the company from baseless pay discrimination claims.
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Investing in People
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Public Policy
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Workforce
