a. Assess the effectiveness of State programs designed to provide gender equity in labor, education, and training;

b. Make recommendations to the Commissioners of Children and Families, Education, Human Services, and Labor and Workforce Development, and the Secretary of Higher Education regarding the needs, priorities, programs, and policies related to access and equity for labor, education, and workforce training throughout the State;

c. Review current and proposed legislation and regulations pertaining to gender equity in labor, education, and workforce training and make recommendations regarding possible legislation and regulations to the State Employment and Training Commission and the Division on Women;

d. Develop policies to insure that State agencies set benchmarks and integrate their data collection systems to assess progress toward achieving gender equity and take action to insure that appropriate data collection systems exist where needed;

e. Develop policies to promote linkages among individuals, schools, organizations, and public agencies providing gender equity services and programs;

f. Educate and provide information to the public on the issues and current developments in gender equity by issuing reports and holding events such as conferences and symposia;

g. Submit an annual report to the Governor, the Legislature, the State Employment and Training Commission, and the Division on Women of its assessments and recommendations made pursuant to this section;

h. Conduct studies and promote research, as practicable, to develop the means to correct gender inequitable practices, including practices leading to pay disparities between men and women and publish and otherwise make available to employers, labor organizations, professional associations, educational institutions, the media, and the general public the findings resulting from these studies and other materials;

i. Develop and make available information, as practicable, regarding best practices for workplace gender equity to enable employers to evaluate job categories based on objective criteria, such as educational requirements, skill requirements, independence, working conditions, and responsibility; and

j. Establish a Statewide recognition of exceptional practices, as practicable, to promote gender equity in the workplace to be presented to a workplace, as shall be defined by the Council, that, at a minimum, has demonstrated it has made a substantial effort to eliminate pay disparities between men and women, and thus deserves special recognition, in addition to any other requirements and specifications the Council deems appropriate in the determination of the workplace to be recognized.

L.1999, c.223, s.2; amended 2011, c.186, s.1; 2012, c.16, s.130.