subject: The Equal Pay Act And Related Questions [print this page] The main goal of the Equal Pay Act is to ensure that there is no gender discrimination and that both men and women are paid equally by an employer for work done. It is not required that the work is the same, but should be considerably of the same amount. The title of the work does not determine if the work is the same or not. It is the nature of work that matters. Below are a few questions that have been answered regarding this:
Q. What impact does the Equal Pay Act have on pay rates for both male and female employees?
As per this act, both male and female employees should be paid the same wages and cannot be discriminated upon due to race/sex/age/national origin. Consider a situation where two employees have to perform an identical job and their experience level and the training received is the same. If there was a variation in the amount of their pay due to race/sex/age/origin, then that employer would have breached the Equal Pay Act. In the event that a female employee substituted a male employee where both their qualifications and experience levels were not different; then the female employee should be paid the same wage. The wages may be different if the experience level was different. However, employees in a government job are paid based on a pay scale. Here, if the person replacing an employee is paid as per the pay scale but is not being paid as much as the person whom he/she is replacing; it would not be considered as a violation of the act.
Q. If one were to make a comparable claim as per the Equal Pay Act; within what period should this claim be made?
It would be required that the claim is made in the present time; else there may be changes to various factors (economy, management, etc). The main reason for a claim is that the treatment meted out is different to different employees. When a claim is made, one should be able to prove that both the employees had the same job, same supervisor and same management. Due to the passage of time; the claim may seem to be more economic than discriminatory. Therefore, the claim should be made in the present time itself.
Q. If a male co-worker is earning more wages than a female worker in the same job position; what action should this female worker take?
One must first approach the companys HR to request for an increase in the wages so that the wages are equal to those of the male employees. If this does not yield results, then a written gender discrimination complaint may be filed with the companys HR. These steps to resolve the issue must be undertaken within the company; else the EEOC will not accept the complaint. No company can hold this against the employee. Ones expectations with regards to a raise and the reason for the raise (work experience, qualifications, years of service, etc.) should be communicated to the employer in writing. If the situation is not remedied even after this; then a complaint with the EEOC can be filed.
Q. How should an employee initially approach the equal pay issue with the employer?
The very first step one should take is to speak to the employer and reason out why the wages should be equal. Generally, it may be due to oversight that the wages were different and this could be resolved within the company. On the contrary, if the employer does not pay heed to ones request; then a petition may be filed for breach of the Equal Pay Act. In addition, many federal laws have been enacted to protect the rights of the employees with regards to compensation discrimination.
Q. Is it required that all employees be paid the same wage by the employer?
It is not required that all employees are paid the same wage by the employer. Seniority, performance, merit raises, etc. are some of the aspects that determine the wages of employees. However, the wage determination should not be done based on race, sex, age, or disability. If done in this manner, the employer would have breached the Equal Pay Act of 1963.
It is tough to handle workplace discrimination. To add to this, if the discrimination has an impact on ones wages, it becomes unbearable. One should seek the assistance of a qualified employment lawyer to deal with such situations.
