subject: Fighting Wage Discrimination At The Workplace [print this page] If you and your male colleague have the same qualifications and training, work for the same hours, and handle the same responsibilities, and yet your employer discriminates against you when it comes to wages, it is indeed a thing to consider. Many a times, sexual discrimination occurs at the workplace and you are not even aware of it.
Any sort of workplace discrimination because of your sex is illegal as per the Equal Pay Act and the Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (1964). What can you do to prevent such practice? It is the responsibility of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission to enforce these laws. Therefore, the right thing to do is file a complaint with them.
Need for filing a lawsuit
It is also wise to consider filing a lawsuit. You have two years time to file the claim in case the compensation practice was unlawful. You have three years to file the suit if it was intentional in nature. You must have understood by now the importance of consulting a discrimination lawyer immediately.
Equal Pay Act covers wages as well as fringe benefits. Whether the discrimination occurred in payment of wages or benefits, you have a case. Fringe benefits include bonus, overtime pay, retirement benefits, vacation pay, allowances, health and life insurance, and such others.
Understanding the legal issue
Equal wages mean that the same form and rate of payment applies to individual workers doing substantially same amount of work. If there is any difference between the payment between a male and a female employee, it is sufficient ground to file a complaint. Only when you do this would you be capable of putting a stop to this practice.
Suppose a male and a female employee of Ohio does substantially the same amount of work. The employer cannot discriminate in the hourly, daily, or commission based rate for the work done. Moreover, it is also unlawful to pay the male and the female employees on different basis.
However, it is not an easy task to prove your claim at court. You need competent Ohio discrimination lawyers to accumulate sufficient evidence and present it. Your lawyer needs to prove the existence of discrimination in wages on grounds of sex. To do this, he has to prove two things the plaintiff, i.e. you got lower wages than your male co-workers, and you and your male co-workers did substantially same amount of work.
Avail the comprehensive Riverside Lawyer Search to find reputed lawyers and legal services. Law firms can register with us and reach out to numerous prospective clients.
