Drafter
Clerk 02/26/2015
Title
A MOTION requesting the executive to transmit to the council a work plan for implementing the recommendations and specific actions identified by the King County women's advisory board for improving wage equity and promoting family friendly workplace policies throughout King County.
Body
WHEREAS, according to the Institute for Women's Policy Research, full-time working women's earnings were only about seventy-seven percent of their male counterparts' earnings in 2012, and
WHEREAS, Claudia Goldin, a Harvard University labor economist, found in a 2014 article published in the American Economic Review, titled A Grand Gender Convergence: Its Last Chapter, that the majority of the pay gap between men and women actually comes from differences in pay between men and women in the same occupations, and
WHEREAS, according to the American Association of University Women, the pay gap between men and women is worse for women of color, and
WHEREAS, in 1978, King County established a women's advisory board to make recommendations to the executive and the council to ensure the needs, rights and well-being of women are taken into account by county government, and
WHEREAS, in 2014, the women's advisory board adopted the focus topics of wage equity and family-friendly workplace policies, and
WHEREAS, the women's advisory board transmitted a report to the executive and the council on January 23, 2015, titled Improving Wage Equity and Promoting Family Friendly Workplace Policies throughout King County: Recommendations for the King County Executive and Metropolitan King County Council Prepared by the King County Women's Advisory Board, and
WHEREAS, the report recommended that the executive and the council:
1. Create a public/private compact pledging to end the wage gap and encourage family friendly workplace policies;
2. Promote and encourage employees regardless of gender to take family leave by creating incentives for employees at higher levels to both role model this and to create a work environment where taking family leave is acceptable;
3. Offer and promote workplace flexibility, encouraging options such as job sharing, telecommuting, time-shifting and expand part-time employment opportunities to higher level jobs;
4. Achieve wage transparency;
5. Eliminate conscious and unconscious gender bias in hiring and in the workplace;
6. Provide access to affordable childcare; and
7. Increase representation of women in traditionally "male" fields, and
WHEREAS, the women's advisory board also identified specific actions King County could take to implement the report recommendations, and
WHEREAS, King County seeks to create economic opportunities for women, such as through the King County apprenticeship program, and
WHEREAS, overall, King County's female employees earn ninety-nine percent of what their male counterparts earn, but of the top one hundred earners, fifty-six are males, and
WHEREAS, King County seeks to become a model employer of the future, as described in Attachment A to Motion 14129, titled Creating the Employer of the Future at King County, and family-friendly leave policies have been found to increase employee retention, which is key for the county's success in providing the highest level of service to King County's residents;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT MOVED by the Council of King County:
A. The council requests that the executive transmit a work plan for implementing the recommendations and specific actions identified in the women's advisory board's January 23, 2015, report. The work plan should identify a timeline for implementing the recommendations and specific actions, as well as describing any necessary changes to King County Code or other necessary legislative actions. The work plan should also identify outcome or performance measures for each recommendation and each specific action being implemented. If any recommendations or specific actions cannot be implemented because the executive believes they require further assessment and consideration, the work plan should identify the additional analysis to be conducted and the timeline for conducting the analysis. If any recommendations or specific actions cannot be implemented for other reasons, such as impracticability or cost, the work plan should describe those reasons. The council requests that the executive transmit the work plan requested by this subsection by September 7, 2015, in the form of a paper original and an electronic copy with the clerk of the council, who shall retain the original and provide an electronic copy to all councilmembers, the council chief of staff, the policy staff director and the lead staff for the transportation, economy and environment committee, or its successor.
B. The council further requests that the executive transmit a report on the outcomes and performance measures associated with implementation of the recommendations and specific actions identified in the women's advisory board's January 23, 2015, report. The report should describe progress or accomplishments for each outcome or performance measure for each recommendation and each specific action implemented in subsection A. of this motion. The council requests that the executive transmit the report on outcomes and performance measures requested by this subsection by July 31, 2016, and annually thereafter, in the form of a paper original and an electronic copy with the clerk of the council, who shall retain the original and provide an electronic copy to all councilmembers, the council chief of staff, the policy staff director
and the lead staff for the transportation, economy and environment committee, or its successor.