Definition of the Equal Pay Act

The US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is a government agency assigned to enforce employment discrimination laws to protect American citizens from compensation discrimination. Among these laws are the Equal Pay Act of 1963. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Age Discrimination Act of 1967, and the American Disabilities Act of 1990.

The Equal Pay Act of 1963 is an amendment to the Fair Labors Standards Act that prohibits any form of compensation discrimination based on sex. It requires that men and women be paid equally for equal work in the same establishment. This means that the jobs held by either a man or a woman must be “substantially” equal, not necessarily identical. It is the nature of the job or what the job requires that counts and not the job title.

In order to establish that jobs are substantially equal in nature, factors such as skill, effort, responsibility, work conditions, and establishment should be considered. Skill refers to the person’s education, training, and experience. The emphasis is on the skill required by the job and not necessarily the skill that the person already has. Even if one has a master’s degree in chemistry but works as a call center agent, it shouldn’t matter because a master’s is not required for the job. Effort, on the other hand, pertains to the amount of physical and mental strength exerted in order to do a job. Responsibility refers to the degree of a persons accountability in reference to the final output or the number of people handled by that person. It is only acceptable for a person who has greater effort and responsibility to receive a higher compensation than those with less effort and lighter responsibilities.

Working conditions such as location, temperature, ventilation, and risk factors of the physical surrounding should also be taken into consideration. It follows that the jobs are located in the same company location or establishment for which the Equal Pay Act applies.

The Congress stated that sex discrimination in the workplace causes unequal opportunities for men and women resulting to unfavorable living standards, health and efficiency for workers. Sex discrimination prevents the maximum utilization of the labor resource. It also causes a lot of labor disputes that disrupts the flow of business.

Tagged with: civil rights • Civil Rights Lawyers • Employment Law • Equal Pay Act • Illinois civil rights lawyers • Law • legal

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