The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act was proposed as a measure to increase the length of time in which employees could file claims for unequal pay based on discrimination. Currently, under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, employees have up to 300 days to file a claim from the date of the discriminatory act. Under the Equal Pay Act, claims of pay discrimination based on gender can be filed up to two years after the discriminatory act.

The Lilly Ledbetter proposal generated signficant debate. Opponents saw the bill as preventing employers from closing the door on equal-pay claims because employees would no longer have a hard and fast deadline for filing claims. Advocates saw the bill as a safeguard to ensure that those who were subject to unequal pay but who had no way of learning of the discrimination would not lose their claims on a technicality.

Senate Republicans killed the bill in a 56-42 vote on Wednesday, April 23. Senator John McCain, who stated that he opposed the bill but favors fair pay for women, was campaigning in New Orleans, so he was not present for the vote. Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton both voted in favor of the bill.

The National Women’s Law Center is promoting Equal Pay Week with Blog for Fair Pay Day today.

Equal Pay Week marks the point in 2008 when the average woman’s wages catch up with what the average man earned in 2007. Women’s earnings are still on average only 77% of men’s. The site has a compilation of blog postings (and a “vlog” posting) about the equal pay issue, and a link for readers to use to urge their senators to vote in favor of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. That’s the law designed to reverse the Supreme Court’s ruling that imposed a very short statute of limitations on equal pay claims. The vote may be as soon as next Wednesday, April 23.

Senator Ted Kennedy issued a press statement yesterday voicing his opinion in favor of the Act.

Equal pay is a tricky issue, but one in which the EEOC and OFCCP have both taken an interest of late. The OFCCP advises federal contractors to conduct self-audits of their pay practices. I can attest that a self-audit is a difficult task because so many factors can influence pay and most employers do not track information about training, education, starting pay, etc., in their HR information system.

Whether you are for or against the Ledbetter Act, now is the time to make your opinion known.