A wage gap alarm clock exists and it’s pretty brilliant

Women today still only make 79 cents for every dollar paid to men, so it make sense that they should only work 79 percent of the day, right? Well, that’s the hilariously awesome theory behind this wage gap alarm clock.

The wage gap alarm clock rings when 79 percent of the work day is over. (For your average 9-to-5 employee, this nets out to 3:20 p.m.) This genius clock was created by MTV’s “Look Different,” a campaign that aims to eliminate gender, racial and sexuality bias, and the creative agency Party NYC as a “daily reminder that the wage gap is real.”

“The 79 percent work clock reminds you and your coworkers of a simple fact: After a certain point in time, woman aren’t being paid,” the clock’s promotional video states. “When a woman hears its chime, she might as well go home.”

The website includes a 79 percent calculator that helps identify the correct time to call it a day depending on your work schedule, as well as factors in discrepancies in race. According to the site, African American women make 60 cents to every man’s dollar, while Hispanic and Latina women make just 55 cents.

According to BuzzFeed, the clock isn’t available for retail (yet!), but was sent to influential ladies in honor of Equal Pay Day on April 12, including Hollywood mogul Shona Rhimes and Valerie Jarett, senior advisor to President Barack Obama. Both shared photos of the clock on their Twitter accounts.

While efforts like these help bring awareness to a troubling gender and racial discrimination in the workplace, the issue is still pervasive. Even within the Obama administration, which has been vocal on closing the gap, the average female employee makes thousands of dollars less than her male counterparts, on average.

Just this week, The Washington Post reported that female journalists that work for Dow Jones publications (which includes The Wall Street Journal) expressed skepticism about efforts to improve gender and racial divides in pay. According to the article, full-time female employees make 87 cents for every dollar paid to full-time men.

We hope little things like the 79 percent clock can continue to foster conversation and raise awareness to eliminate the gap for good.