Equal Pay - Defined

[Gidget62]

Can someone advise what the particulars are on Equal Pay Act as far as "similar positions?" I am on staff and another colleague on staff makes about $20,000 more per year. I am female, he is male. Obviously, we are both exempt managers, however, he manages hourly people, and I manage some exempt, non-exempt and hourly people. Our functional areas differ - he manages Production; I manage Materials. Our working hours are the same. I would say the level of responsibilty is the same.

 

[cbg]

The Equal Pay Act does not say that all employees doing the same job must be paid the same. It says that differences in pay may not be because of gender. (At the time it was enacted, it was common to pay men more because it was thought that they must take care of families, while women "didn't really have to work".) Later it was expanded to cover other protected characteristics as well.

Obviously we can't know what the difference in pay between you and your co-worker is due to. If it's BECAUSE he is male and you are female, that's illegal. If it's because Production has a bigger budget than Materials, or because he's worked there longer, or because he was a better negotiator than you at hire, or because he has more education, or because he had previous experience at another job, or because he plays golf with the boss, or because anything that isn't a characteristic protected in law, it's legal.

 

[Gidget62]

Sounds about right...

In other words, "We haven't come a long way, baby." The law is there. Proving it is nearly impossible. I figured as much.

Thanks.

 

[Green_Hornet]

Can someone advise what the particulars are on Equal Pay Act as far as "similar positions?" I am on staff and another colleague on staff makes about $20,000 more per year. I am female, he is male. Obviously, we are both exempt managers, however, he manages hourly people, and I manage some exempt, non-exempt and hourly people. Our functional areas differ - he manages Production; I manage Materials. Our working hours are the same. I would say the level of responsibility is the same.

The short answer is the Equal Pay Act amended the Fair Labor Standards Act in 1963. The Equal Pay Act prohibits employers and unions from paying different wages based on the employee's sex.

29 U.S.C § 206(d) Prohibition of sex discrimination
(1) No employer having employees subject to any provisions of this section shall discriminate, within any establishment in which such employees are employed, between employees on the basis of sex by paying wages to employees in such establishment at a rate less than the rate at which he pays wages to employees of the opposite sex in such establishment for equal work on jobs the performance of which requires equal skill, effort, and responsibility, and which are performed under similar working conditions, except where such payment is made pursuant to
(i) a seniority system;
(ii) a merit system;
(iii) a system which measures earnings by quantity or quality of production; or
(iv) a differential based on any other factor other than sex: Provided, That an employer who is paying a wage rate differential in violation of this subsection shall not, in order to comply with the provisions of this subsection, reduce the wage rate of any employee.

The problem arises is proving equal pay for equal work that is the most difficult hurdle attorneys face in these cases.