Women in the Workplace: Equal Pay Day 2022

This year, Equal Pay Day will be observed on March 15, 2022. This is the day that marks how far into the year women must work to earn what their male counterparts earned in the previous year. This translates to women earning only $0.83 on average per dollar that their male counterparts earn for the exact same work.[1] This is a mere one-cent improvement from the $0.82 per dollar we saw in the last two years, when Equal Pay Day was celebrated on March 24 in 2021, and March 31 in 2020.

For nearly a century, women in the United States have been working towards equal pay, equal voting rights, and equal legal rights in general. In 1996, the National Committee on Pay Equity started Equal Pay Day to bring public awareness to the still-existing wage gap between working women and men.[2]

Also celebrated during the month of March is Women’s History Month, which has been observed nationally since 1987 when President Reagan issued Presidential Proclamation 5619.  In Michigan, Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed a Proclamation declaring that the 2022 theme for Women’s History Month is “Providing Healing, Promoting Hope.” The theme is “a tribute to the ceaseless work of caregivers and frontline workers during this ongoing pandemic and also a recognition of the thousands of ways that women of all cultures have provided both healing and hope throughout history.”[3]

In celebration of Women’s History Month this year, we encourage employers to review their pay policies and hiring practices in detail. We are here to help protect employees’ rights and to assist employers in promoting equality.

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[1] https://www.equalpaytoday.org/equal-pay-day-2022

[2] https://www.pay-equity.org/

[3] https://www.michigan.gov/whitmer/0,9309,7-387-90499_90639-578054–,00.html