On Monday, June 10, 2013, the Equal Pay Act turned 50. President Obama commemorated this historic anniversary with public remarks at the White House in which he urged continuing pay equality efforts. Occupying a place of prominence, and an act no doubt intended to highlight the Agency’s efforts towards pay discrimination, Director Shiu stood behind the President during the ceremony.

Additional events marking the day included The National Equal Pay Task Force’s issuance of a report, Fifty Years After the Equal Pay Act: Assessing the Past, Taking Stock of the Future, that links the OFCCP’s enforcement of EO 11246 to EPA progress. The 45‑page Report references OFCCP more than 30 times, discusses at least 5 specific OFCCP settlements, and highlights the “strengthening collaboration” between the OFCCP and EEOC.

Director’s Shiu’s VIP status during the President’s remarks and the emphasis on OFCCP in the Task Force’s Report are interesting given the fact OFCCP does not enforce the EPA . . .

Not to be left out, the OFCCP also observed the EPA’s birthday with a blog post by OFCCP Senior Program Advisor Pamela Coukos titled 50 Down, 50 to Go? Myth Busting the Pay Gap Revisited. Ms. Coukos reinforces OFCCP’s belief that the pace of progress toward eliminating the wage gap is unsatisfactory and that the Agency does not plan to “just sit back and wait five more decades” for it to close entirely.

Ms. Coukos’ remarks do not come as a surprise given OFCCP’s recent rescission of the 2006 compensation guidelines and issuance of Directive 307 and the other events of the week serve to further emphasize OFCCP’s continued aggressive search for pay discrimination.