Sen. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., announced a new plan to issue fines on companies for paying men more than women.
“Kamala Harris has a simple message for corporations: Pay women fairly or pay the price,” her campaign said in an announcement Monday.
“We’ve let corporations hide their wage gaps, but forced women to stand up in court just to get the pay they’ve earned. It’s time to flip the script and finally hold corporations accountable for pay inequality in America,” they said.
Harris’ plan would create an “Equal Pay Certification,” guaranteeing a company pays men and women equally, which every company would be compelled to apply for from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The “Equal Pay Certified” would be required to be disclosed on every company’s website homepage.
[Related: House Democrats advance anti-gender pay discrimination bill]
The plan dictates that federal contractors need to get the Equal Pay Certification after two years or be barred from federal contracts of at least $500,000.
Harris’ plan would obligate businesses to disclose to the government how they determine their employees’ pay. If the government determines a pay gap exists, the company would be fined 1% of their profits for every percent more men were paid than women. Businesses would also be forced to report the percentage of women in the business who were top earners.
[Also read: Kamala Harris rejects Fox News town hall invitation]
Harris’ campaign estimates that $180 billion would be raised from the fines within the first 10 years.
Her plan also contained provisions to bar companies from asking about salary history while requiring companies to let their employees discuss their pay freely.
Harris’ pay gap plan comes as she works to distinguish herself in a growing 23-person Democratic presidential primary. She is polling at 7.3% in fourth place in the RealClearPolitics polling average behind Joe Biden, Sens. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.
