WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the availability of $1 million in funding to support up to four grants to protect underserved and marginalized women workers from gender-based violence and harassment and to respond when it occurs. 

Administered jointly by the department’s Women’s Bureau and the Employment and Training Administration, the Fostering Access, Rights and Equity Grant Program helps survivors and women at high risk for workplace violence and harassment. FARE grants fund community organizations’ efforts to improve job quality through projects that address harmful workplace norms and employ strategies to prevent and reduce gender-based violence and harassment. 

Workplace violence and harassment harms women from underserved and historically marginalized communities disproportionately. These communities include women of color, LGBTQI+ people, women with disabilities and women affected by persistent poverty and inequality. Successful applicants will include strategies to accomplish all the following:

• Build awareness by disseminating worker- and survivor-centered information and educational materials.
• Implement worker and survivor-driven strategies that mitigate risks and prevent workplace gender-based violence and harassment.
• Connect women workers with services, benefits and/or legal assistance as needed.
• Facilitate and encourage women workers and survivors to become focal points for solutions in their communities through train-the-trainer, guided conversations, leadership circles or other activities. 

Read about the 2023 FARE Grant recipients. 

Learn more about the FARE Grant Program funding opportunity and apply. 

WASHINGTON – During a livestreamed event on April 1, 2024, the U.S. Department of Labor welcomed women in leadership in elected office, labor unions, professional sports and worker advocacy for a fireside chat at the department’s Washington headquarters on how women are making a difference in the workplace.

“Celebrating Women Workers Who Advocate for Change” featured remarks by Senior Counselor to the Secretary of Labor Betty Hung, reflected on efforts underway to improve conditions for women workers and was the culmination of Women’s History Month 2024. The event was presented by the department’s Women’s Bureau and Chief Diversity and Equity Office.

Moderated by the bureau’s Director Wendy Chun-Hoon, the chat included Pennsylvania State Sen. Maria Collett, American Federation of Teachers Vice President Jessica Tang, International Union of Painters & Allied Trades District Council 51 member Rochelle Ramsey-Walker, U.S. Soccer Federation Participant Safety Taskforce Chair Mana Shim and National Domestic Workers Alliance member Dulce Ceballos

“The women on the stage today are doing transformative work in their communities and across our country,” said Senior Counselor to the Secretary of Labor Betty Hung, after drawing a parallel between the first woman Secretary of Labor, Frances Perkins, and the trailblazers participating in the event. “Let’s show up for the working women who are counting on us…and use all the power we have to improve life for working women."

“No one should have to choose between caring for a sick family member or welcoming a new addition and having the income to put food on the table, or keep a roof over their head,” said Pennsylvania State Sen. Maria Collett. “Legislators and residents on both sides of the aisle know that paid leave would be a gamechanger for employers and workers alike.”

“If you look at the history of this country and globally, women and particularly women of color have been marginalized and oppressed. If we want true equity and equality, we need a voice at the table. And that table isn’t always something we’ve been invited to.” said American Federation of Teachers Vice President Jessica Tang. “We have to take a seat at the table and not be afraid to be there. . . to be part of the solution we have to be there.”

“No one can tell your story better than you because you are built for this,” exhorted Rochelle Ramsey-Walker, of the International Union of Painters & Allied Trades District Council 51. “There is support out there, willing to be the driving force to stand with you in solidarity. Be a self-advocate so you can be an advocate for others.”

“We noted that lack of standards and poor accommodations made it (women’s soccer) a ripe environment for gender-based violence and harassment,” explained U.S. Soccer Federation Participant Safety Taskforce Chair Mana Shim. “The standard should be that if you don’t feel comfortable hearing it in a classroom or a boardroom, you shouldn’t be comfortable hearing it on the field or the court.”

“Women have to be integrated into these fights because it is where the changes we need to work with respect and dignity are determined,” said National Domestic Workers Alliance member Dulce Ceballos. “Representation is important to stop the continuation of the same abuses. United, we are stronger!”

“The Women’s Bureau is here to your amplify voices in the policy process,” said Director Wendy Chun-Hoon. “I hope everyone will continue taking part in the conversation we started today. We know there's much more to do.”

Panelists shared their individual experiences, describing how standing up for women in their workplaces fueled others to advocate for change around issues such as paid leave, preventing and responding to gender-based violence and harassment and disrupting occupational segregation and wage discrepancies.

Founded more than 100 years ago, the Women’s Bureau advocates for equality and economic security of women and their families and promotes environments that are safe and healthy for women in the world of work.

View the recording of “Celebrating Women Workers Who Advocate for Change.”

WASHINGTON – New research released today by the U.S. Department of Labor reveals that Black women lost $42.7 billion in wages compared to white men in 2023, and Hispanic women lost $53.3 billion in wages. These losses are driven entirely by the fact that Black and Hispanic women are concentrated disproportionately in jobs that, on average, pay lower wages than those held by white men.

“As we mark Equal Pay Day today, the Department of Labor’s ‘Bearing the Cost’ report is further evidence that women have long been undervalued in jobs and industries where they are overrepresented,” said Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su. “The Biden-Harris administration is centering racial and gender equity in our economic growth plan, working to close the racial and gender pay gaps by expanding both opportunity and job quality for women.”

Job segregation is a long-standing driver of the persistent pay inequities experienced by women in the U.S. In 2022, the gender wage gap – the difference between the median wages of men and women working full-time year-round – was 16 percent, which means women working full-time year-round received 84 cents for every dollar paid to men. Compared to white, non-Hispanic men, the wage gaps were 20 percent for white, non-Hispanic women; 31 percent for Black women; and 43 percent for Hispanic women. 

“Job segregation results in lower wages for women, especially women of color and their families, and hurts the whole economy,” said Women’s Bureau Director Wendy Chun-Hoon. “The Biden-Harris administration is implementing proven strategies to address economic disparities and working to eliminate the wage gap for all workers.”

Learn more about the research. 

Who:               U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division          

What:             Labor law webinar for Hospitality Worker Appreciation Day 

When:             Feb. 22, 2024, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. EST   

Where:           Online webinar. The event is free, but registration is required. 

Background: The U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division – in coordination with the Women’s Bureau, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Occupational Safety and Health Agency and the Office of Foreign Labor Certification – will mark Hospitality Worker Appreciation Day by offering a webinar on federal regulations governing workers’ wages and benefits and employers’ responsibilities in hotels, motels, restaurants and staffing agencies in the Southeast. 

This multi-agency event will provide information on the Fair Labor Standards Act’s minimum wage, overtime and recordkeeping provisions as well as requirements under H-2B visa program. The webinar will also cover the employment relationship as it applies to staffing agencies and clients. Participants will also receive compliance information relevant to laws enforced by the EEOC and OSHA. In fiscal year 2023, the Wage and Hour Division identified violations in 92 percent of more than 1,500 investigations in the hospitality industry and recovered more than $9.3 million in back wages for more than 8,900 workers. The agency also assessed more than $1.3 million in civil money penalties to employers found in violation of the law. 

Quote: “Hospitality workers provide critical labor that allows industry employers to be profitable and enables guests to enjoy their accommodations,” said Wage and Hour Division Regional Administrator Juan Coria in Atlanta. “We’ve designed this webinar to meet the hospitality industry’s unique needs in the hope that we can educate employers – including staffing agencies – on their legal responsibilities and help workers understand how we safeguard their wages and benefits.”

WASHINGTON - The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the award of $5 million to organizations in seven states to increase the numbers of women in Registered Apprenticeship programs and help connect them with good-paying careers in nontraditional occupations where the Biden-Harris administration’s historic infrastructure, manufacturing and clean energy investments are creating sharp job increases. 

The announcement of the Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations grants was made at AFL-CIO headquarters in Washington. Department leaders joined AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler to showcase the work of the labor organization’s Working for America Institute in Birmingham, Alabama. The institute received a $713,892 grant to support its pre-apprenticeship program’s effort to recruit women of color in the region.

“To fulfill the promise of President Biden’s Investing in America agenda and to rebuild the nation’s economy from the middle out and the bottom up, we can’t afford to leave any talent untapped,” said Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su. “Today, we announced grants that will support organizations that are training women for good-paying jobs — including union jobs — while ensuring an equitable workforce development system that helps to provide a talent pipeline for employers in critical sectors.”  

This is the department’s largest award of WANTO grants, a 47 percent increase from 2022. 

“Women make up nearly half of the nation’s workforce but remain vastly underrepresented in industries like construction, which needs more skilled workers needed to fill these high-paying jobs,” said Women’s Bureau Director Wendy Chun-Hoon. “The Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations program prepares women for promising careers and provides the technical assistance to employers and unions to recruit and retain more women effectively.” 

The WANTO program seeks to increase employment of women in apprenticeships and nontraditional occupations by supporting community-based organizations that develop pre-apprenticeship programs to help women succeed in industries where they are typically underrepresented. These industries include construction, advanced manufacturing, energy, technology and transportation. A portion of the grants awarded can be used to provide participants with support services such as child care, transportation, tuition and work-related gear. 

Administered by the department’s Women’s Bureau and Employment and Training Administration, the 2023 WANTO grants will fund training programs in Alabama, Mississippi, North Carolina, Ohio, Rhode Island, Texas and Washington state. The WANTO grant recipients are as follows:

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the award of more than $1.5 million in grants to support efforts by five community organizations to prevent and respond to gender-based violence and harassment against underserved and marginalized women workers.

Administered by the department’s Women’s Bureau and the Employment and Training Administration, the Fostering Access, Rights and Equity grants will help survivors and women at high risk for violence and harassment in the workplace.

“Eliminating gender-based violence and harassment wherever it exists is an administration priority, including in and around the workplace,” said Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su. “The grants we’ve announced today reflect the Department of Labor’s commitment and strategy to ensure workers are safe and respected in their workplaces.”   

The FARE grant program supports community organizations’ projects to address gender-based violence and harassment. Workplace violence and harassment harms women from underserved and historically marginalized communities disproportionately. These communities include women of color, people who identify as LGBTQI+, women with disabilities and women affected by persistent poverty and inequality.

The grants announced today will have wide-reaching impact by supporting programs that — while based in Connecticut, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania and Texas — will serve workers in those states as well as California, Georgia, Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Carolina and Virginia. 

Grant recipients will provide the following types of support:

• Develop and distribute worker and survivor-centered materials to raise awareness.
• Design programs to prevent workplace gender-based violence and harassment.
• Connect working women to services, benefits and legal assistance.
• Encourage working women and survivors to become focal points in their communities and provide ways to expand their effectiveness through train-the-trainer programs, guided conversations, leadership circles or other activities.

“The Women’s Bureau exists to ensure equity for women in the workplace. We cannot achieve this goal until gender-based violence and harassment in the workplace ends. The Fostering Access, Rights and Equity grants will provide vital support to organizations dedicated to disrupting harmful norms and helping survivors find safety and security in the workplace,” explained Women’s Bureau Director Wendy Chun-Hoon.

The Fostering Access, Rights and Equity grants recipients are as follows:

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today announced the award of a $1.3 million grant to the State of Illinois and Chicago Women in Trades to support the creation of equity plans and their adoption and increase women’s inclusion and equity in construction industry jobs. Funds will also allow Illinois to evaluate state and local workforce development programs for diversifying the clean energy and construction workforce.

Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su and Gov. JB Pritzker made the announcement in Chicago. They were joined by the department’s Women’s Bureau Director Wendy Chun-Hoon. 

“To build an economy from the bottom up and the middle out, we need a workforce that brings in all of America and this grant and others like it help to do just that,” said Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su. “The Department of Labor is working closely with our partners at the federal, state and local level to ensure that workers, families and communities that have historically been left behind will benefit from the once-in-a-generation investments of the Biden-Harris administration. I’m glad to be joining Governor Pritzker to make this announcement, which will bring more women workers into good jobs in the construction industry.”   

Administered by the department’s Women’s Bureau, the Tradeswomen Building Infrastructure grant focuses on the historic investments in Illinois and throughout the nation by the Biden-Harris administration in infrastructure, manufacturing and clean energy in the $1.2 trillion Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. As investments continue, the grant will help ensure that women have pathways into higher-paying building trades’ pre-apprenticeships, apprenticeships and construction careers, while supporting the investments in American infrastructure and clean energy. 

“I’m pleased that the Biden-Harris administration has recognized the hard work Illinois tradeswomen have put in for decades by offering support for the next generation of women training in a field that has for far too long excluded and underrepresented them,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “This is another example of how infrastructure investment, and President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in particular, have uplifted entire communities through an equity-centric approach, and I’m proud Illinois continues to play a major part in that work.” 

Teams led by tradeswomen’s organizations will build equity plans, promote their adoption and guide programming to increase women’s inclusion and equity more quickly. Gender equity is an administration-wide priority.

“While women are half the U.S. labor force, they represent barely 4 percent of the skilled trades within the construction workforce,” said Women’s Bureau Director Wendy Chun-Hoon. “This grant is an opportunity to flip the script to help more women gain access to these typically higher-paying jobs.”  

In addition to bringing state and local-level infrastructure, labor and workforce training agencies to the table with pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship programs, contractors and building trades unions, the state of Illinois will work with Chicago Women in Trades to expand the parameters of their related work, which was initiated last year. 

Who:               U.S. Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division

                        U.S. Department of Labor’s Women’s Bureau

                        U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

                        New York State Workers’ Compensation Board

                        New York State Department of Labor

What:             “What to Expect from Your Employer When You’re Expecting: A Webinar for Working Mothers in New York”

When:            July 6, 2023  10 a.m.-11:30 a.m. EDT.

Where:           Register online for the webinar. While attendance is free, registration is required.

Background:  The department’s Wage and Hour Division and Women’s Bureau will join the EEOC to present a series of webinars on workplace protections for expectant and new mothers. The webinar will provide workers, worker advocates, employers and other stakeholders with information on the federal and New York state laws that protect pregnant workers from discrimination; provide reasonable accommodations for pregnancy, childbirth, and related medical conditions; provide time off for the birth or adoption of a child; and ensure nursing workers can take breaks to pump breastmilk while at work.

The webinar will help workers and advocates understand protections afforded by current law and how expectant and new mothers can talk to their employers and assert their rights.

As part of its efforts, the department has created fact sheets on Birth and Bonding and Job-Protected Leave under the Family and Medical Leave Act. 

Register for “Working Mothers: What to Expect from Your Employer When You’re Expecting” in New York.

Learn more about the Wage and Hour Division, the Women’s Bureau and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Labor today hosted the U.S. Department of Education and a diverse panel of women leaders in the professional sports industry for roundtable discussion to mark the significance of the Equal Pay Act and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.

Moderated by Women’s Bureau Director Wendy Chun-Hoon, “Getting in the Game: Women in Sports Careers,” celebrated the impact of the two legislative milestones on women pursuing careers in professional sports and examined how to build upon the gains made possible by these laws and women in the industry.

The livestreamed event included the Department of Education’s Deputy Assistant Secretary for Strategic Operations and Outreach in the Office for Civil Rights Suzanne Goldberg, National Hockey League Senior Executive Vice President of Social Impact, Growth Initiatives and Legislative Affairs Kim Davis, National Basketball Association Official Lauren Holtkamp-Sterling, Spisak Agency Founder KJ Spisak and Florida State University Women’s Basketball Head Coach Brooke Wyckoff.

“While the many causes of gender and racial wage gaps include discrimination and biases, the single largest cause of wage gaps are differences in the jobs people hold,” explained Women’s Bureau Director Wendy Chun-Hoon. “Too often, women and people of color are shut out of high-paying opportunities. Instead, they are overrepresented in lower-wage, unstable jobs that lack essential benefits. This kind of occupational segregation is one of the biggest barriers to economic equity for women. Today’s conversation showed us how we can build on the Equal Pay Act and Title IX to help raise women’s wages.”

“Title IX is our nation’s leading legal tool to secure equal opportunity for girls and women in sports,” said Deputy Assistant Secretary for Strategic Operations and Outreach in the Office for Civil Rights Suzanne Goldberg. “We celebrate the changes it has brought and recognize the work still to be done, as girls and women across the country continue to face pervasive barriers in sports, from unequal funding, resources and coaching to worse facilities, sex-based harassment on and off the field, and fewer scholarship opportunities.”

“Taking part in this panel alongside influential women in the sports industry goes a long way toward encouraging women to pursue career opportunities in our field,” said Florida State University Women’s Basketball Head Coach Brooke Wyckoff. “I would not be where I am today without the efforts of the trailblazing women who came before me and the vital Title IX and the Equal Pay Act legislation that creates an equal playing field.”

During the roundtable panelists shared their experiences and offered advice to women interested in the sports industry, including strategies to help get into these lucrative careers and recommendations for navigating challenges. All panelists agreed that more must be done to create and improve equity in the workplace, leading more women to pursue opportunities in the professional sports industry.

In June 1963, the Equal Pay Act amended the Fair Labor Standards Act in a monumental step toward ensuring equal pay for equal work. In June 1972, Congress enacted Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 to promote gender equality in education, including athletics. 

WASHINGTON – To curb widespread gender-based violence and harassment in workplaces across all industries and occupations, the U.S. Department of Labor today announced that its Women’s Bureau has signed a memorandum of understanding with the International Labour Organization Office for the United States and Canada to create a world of work free of gender-based violence and harassment.

Under the agreement, the Women’s Bureau and the ILO will host a series of national and regional meetings where stakeholders will collaborate on strategies to help eliminate gender-based violence and harassment in the world of work. The department’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs will support the partnership by providing consultation on events and activities.

“For far too long, workers have been exposed to widespread harassment, rape, sexual assault and other forms of violence in their spaces of work. The Women’s Bureau and the International Labour Organization are determined to change this awful reality,” explained Women’s Bureau Director Wendy Chun-Hoon. “Together, the Women’s Bureau, the ILO and our partners at the Bureau of International Labor Affairs will host national and regional meetings centered on the voices of workers and survivors as we find new ways to help eliminate gender-based violence across industries and occupations.”

The partnership aims to end violence and harassment in the world of work throughout the U.S. by uplifting the principles and promising practices featured in the ILO Violence and Harassment Convention. Adopted in June 2019, Convention 190 is the first international treaty to recognize the right to a world of work free from violence and harassment and to provide a framework to prevent and address its occurrence. The U.S. National Plan to End Gender-Based Violence refers to the principles of Convention 190 and calls for addressing and preventing gender-based violence, including sexual harassment, in the world of work.

“This dynamic partnership with the Women’s Bureau has already borne fruit by bringing together workers, employers, local government leaders, unions and worker advocates who are addressing these issues every day and are keen to know examples of effective responses and good practices around the U.S. and other countries, and across all sectors in the world of work,” said Director Kevin Cassidy of the International Labour Organization Office for the United States and Canada. 

“Convention 190’s rights-based approach, which covers all workers, regardless of their employment relationship, expands the range of action-oriented strategies available to our partners in the U.S. We look forward to increasing the implementation of C190 as we work with the Women’s Bureau and contribute to the objectives of the U.S. National Plan on this critical issue for building respectful workplaces everywhere,” Cassidy added.

Read the U.S. National Plan to End Gender-Based Violence.