President Barack Obama is expected to sign an executive order and issue a presidential memorandum Tuesday, both with the purpose of promoting equal pay for woman and transparency in the work place.

The executive order will protect federal employees who publicly admit their salary and wages from their contractors who might take retaliating measures, an administration official told the Los Angeles Times.

According to the National Women's Law Center, a number of employers punish its employees for voluntarily sharing their salary information with others, and that secrecy policies pose a challenge to equal pay laws. The memorandum will require that all data regarding compensation to employees, broken down by race and sex, be sent in a report to the government by contractors.

The memorandum and executive order will only affect businesses that are contracted with the federal government. The ban on contractors from retaliating is not meant to have all employees publicly discussing their pay, but it will provide an opportunity for transparency, White House officials said.

An anonymous administration official told the Times that the data collected from employers will allow more targeted enforcement, "by focusing efforts where there are discrepancies."

Deborah J. Vagins, American Civil Liberties Union senior legislative counsel and co-chair of the National Paycheck Fairness Coalition, said many advocacy groups have been trying to get equal pay for a while.

"This is a huge victory for the one in five American workers employed by federal contractors," Vagins said. "Congress still needs to do its part ... but we're one step closer to achieving pay equity thanks to this White House."

Tuesday also marks what activists call "Equal Pay Day," the day that symbolizes how many extra months it takes for an average women to earn the same amount a man did in the previous year. Women earn an average of 77 cents for every dollar men earn, according to the government.

According to the Times, Senate Democrats are planning to introduce the Paycheck Fairness Act to the floor this week. The bill requires the Department of Labor to eliminate pay disparities based on gender. However, the bill is already being met with opposition from the GOP. The bill will only put more burdens on employers, said Kristen Kukowski, the Republican National Committee's national press secretary.

"The Paycheck Fairness Act doesn't provide paycheck fairness for women," Kukowski said. "In fact, it will cut flexibility in the workplace for working moms and end merit pay that rewards good work, the very things that are important to us."