Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act is on its way to the White House!

Today the US House passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. (Here's a Q&A on the Act for your reading enjoyment.) The Senate passed the Act last Thursday, and the legislation is on its way to the White House for President Obama's signature.

I am thrilled that this is finally happening. This common sense piece of legislation gives workers the ability to sue for pay discrimination within 180 days of the last paycheck impacted by illegal pay discrimination. In contrast, the US Supreme Court previously handed down a decision that could only make sense on Mars (or maybe if you run a large sexist corporation) and said that any suit must be filed within 180 days of the first discriminatory paycheck - whether or not the person discriminated against is aware of the discrimination at the time.

Think about it. Let's say we have a serial killer. Do we allow him or her to get off scot free if we don't manage to catch and file charges within 180 days of the first murder?

Why, then, should we allow employers to get away with financial murder if they can hide their wrongdoing for a mere 6 months?

Make no mistake: this Act does not solve all equal pay problems. After all, if they were solved, there would be no need for the Act. Proving pay discrimination is not easy, and pay discrimination is shockingly commonplace if you look at the statistics.