NM Fair Pay for Women Act resources

The New Mexico Fair Pay for Women Act

AAUW believes that pay equity and equal opportunity are a matter of simple fairness. AAUW is a leader in the fight to end pay discrimination and open doors for women in the workplace.

Below are PDF resources on Pay Equity available for download:

NM Statutes 28-23FPWA

The Equal Pay Act of 1963 (EPA)

The EEOC Manuals for compliance of the Equal Pay Act: Equal Pay and Compensation DiscriminationEEOC Manual S 8 retaliation 1998EEOC Manual S 10 Compensation 2000 Discrimination – See also the EEOC website for additional information.

Though much of the terminology of the NM Fair Pay for Women Act is taken from the Equal Pay Act there are some significant differences: See: EPA – NMFPWA compare April 15

Median earnings by sex and job type from American Census Data

According to the most recent statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau, the median earnings for U.S. women working full time, year-round were less than U.S. men’s median earnings. County Charts for New Mexico and other states are available from the site.

AAUW provides research studies and other resources.

AAUW’s study Graduating-to-a-Pay-Gap-The-Earnings-of-Women-and-Men-One-Year-after-College-Graduation-Executive-Summary-and-Recommendations or Graduating-to-a-pay-gap-the-earnings-of-women-and-men-one-year-after-college-graduation explores the earnings difference between male and female college graduates working full time, one year after graduation.

The Simple Truth about the Gender Pay Gap  a commonsense guide with latest update provides key facts about the gender pay gap in the United States. It is updated regularly with the most current statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Census Bureau. Links on this site for further updated information regarding Women of Color and Older Women.

Deeper in Debt  “reveals that women take on larger student loans than do men. And because of the gender pay gap, they have less disposable income with which to repay their loans after graduation, requiring more time to pay back their student debt than do men. As a result, women hold nearly two-thirds of the outstanding student debt in the United States — more than $800 billion” of the $1.3 trillion student debt.

History of the New Mexico Fair Pay for Women Act

While there have been attempts to address unfair pay over the years. Women especially are afraid to object to their pay for fear of retribution or job loss, so women who are the victims of wage inequity perpetuate the inequity by never speaking up.

March, 2013, Governor Martinez signed into Law, The New Mexico Fair Pay for Women Act (FPWA) that “expands upon federal laws to protect women’s rights to be paid equal wages for equal work and creates a state-based remedy for women who discover they have been paid less than their male co-workers for performing the same work”  Southwest Women’s Law Center

At some future date as part of our Public Policy Impact Grant continuing commitment AAUW New Mexico members will be presenting informational presentations on NM-FPWA to clubs and organizations in New Mexico communities, and distributing informational handouts and placards for display in businesses. Members of the Impact Grant steering committee have prepared a presentation script, resource materials handouts, brochures and placards for distribution at these events.

2/11/2024 rev.