The Obama administration is proposing a new rule to address unequal pay practices by requiring companies with more than 100 employees to submit salary data by race, gender and ethnicity.
The announcement comes seven years after President Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act — his first piece of legislation as president — which makes it easier for women to challenge discriminatory pay in court.
But a stubborn, substantial pay gap between men and women persists, and it affects black and Latina women the most, Obama said Friday as he introduced the proposal.
"Social change never happens overnight," he said.
The proposed pay data reporting requirement would cover more than 63 million employees, according to the administration.
It's expected to be finalized by September, with the first reports due in the fall of 2017.