Equal Pay for Equal Work: Everyone's Entitled
Men and women doing the same work are entitled to earn the same pay.
A federal law, the Equal Pay Act (EPA), requires employers to pay male and female employees equally for doing the same work. It was passed in 1963 as an amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act and can be found at 29 U.S.C. § 206.
Although the Act protects both women and men from sex discrimination in pay rates, it was passed to help rectify the wage disparity experienced by women workers, and in practice, this law has almost always been applied to situations where women are paid less than men for doing similar jobs.
Who Is Covered
Virtually all workers are covered by the Equal Pay Act, which regulates the conduct of the state, local, and federal governments and most private employers.
Making a Claim
To successfully raise a claim under the Equal Pay Act, you must show that two employees, one male and one female:
- are working in the same place
- are doing equal work, and
- are receiving unequal pay.
However, if the employer can show that the wage disparity has a legitimate basis -- for example, that the higher earner has more seniority or more experience -- the claim will be defeated.
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