On April 8, 2014, U.S. President Barack Obama signed a pair of
executive actions aimed at increasing transparency about wages
among federal contractors. The administration believes that
increasing transparency will provide a boost to the Lilly Ledbetter
Fair Pay Act, which addresses the gender wage gap and was signed by
President Obama on January 29, 2009.
President Obama first signed an executive order entitled
"Non-Retaliation for Disclosure of Compensation
Information," which bans federal contractors from
retaliating against employees who discuss their pay with
co-workers. The executive order states that a federal contractor
may not discharge or in any other manner discriminate against any
employee or applicant for employment because the employee or
applicant has inquired about, discussed or disclosed his or her own
compensation or the compensation of another employee or applicant.
The order clarifies that it does not apply to employees, including
those in human
