Legality of Equal Pay for Equal Work

It is the law and employers must abide by it. You risk costly labor disputes and reputational damage if you don`t pay the same. In 1944, New York State banned wage discrimination based on sex. [30] On July 10, 2019, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed a law guaranteeing equal pay for equal work, regardless of gender. [31] [32] This builds on the 1944 law by prohibiting employers from asking applicants for their previous wages, a loophole that has historically imposed gender pay inequality. [31] Cuomo signed the bill at the same time as the 2019 Women`s World Cup victory parade in New York. [31] [32] The Supreme Court ruled in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. the 180-day limitation period for a wage discrimination complaint under Title VII began to run with the first violation or as soon as the employer made the decision to pay an employee less. In this scenario, women who learned about their unequal pay after receiving paycheques for 180 working days would not have been entitled to Title VII.

In the 20th century, women made up about a quarter of the U.S. workforce, but were still paid far less than men, whether it`s the same job or a different job. Some states had different laws for women, such as night work and restrictions on their working hours. Women began to hold more factory jobs when World War II began to replace men who had been drafted into the military. The wage gap continued to widen during the war. The National War Labour Council introduced policies to ensure equal pay for women who directly replaced men. [24] Equal pay or equal work refers to the requirement that men and women be paid equally when performing the same work in the same organisation. For example, a female electrician must be paid the same as a male electrician in the same organization. Reasonable deviations are permitted if they are due to length of service or merit.

Once you`ve committed to fair and equitable compensation systems, make sure your efforts are in the best interest of your business. Any employer who infringes Article 206 (6) or Article 207 (7) of this Title shall be liable to the worker or workers concerned for the amount of their minimum wage or unpaid wages. their remuneration for unpaid overtime and, in addition, the same amount as lump sum damages. Any employer who violates the provisions of Section 215(a)(3) [Section 15(a)(3)] of this Title is liable for such legal or equitable remedies as may be reasonable to achieve the objectives of Section 215(a)(3) [Section 15(a)(3) of this Title, including, but not limited to, employment, reinstatement, promotion, and payment of lost wages and an additional amount equal to the lump sum amount. Damages. An action in enforcement of the liability prescribed in any of the preceding sentences may be brought against any employer (including a public authority) in any federal or state court of competent jurisdiction by one or more employees for and on behalf of themselves and other employees who are in a similar situation. No employee may be a party to such an action unless he has given his written consent to become a party and such consent is filed with the court before which the action is brought. The court in such an action shall, in addition to any judgment rendered to the plaintiff(s), allow the defendant to pay reasonable attorneys` fees and costs of the action. The right under this subsection to bring an action by or on behalf of an employee and the right of any employee to become a plaintiff in such an action shall terminate upon the filing of a complaint by the Secretary of Labor in an action under section 217 [section 17] of this Title for: (1) withhold any further delay in the payment of the unpaid minimum wage; or the amount of unpaid overtime pay due to that employee under section 206 [section 6] or section 207 [section 7] of this title by an employer liable under the provisions of this subdivision, or (2) legal or equitable relief is sought for alleged violations of section 215(a)(3) [section 15(a)(3) of this title.

Documenting your decisions allows you to measure their impact and show that you have considered equal pay. No, for decades, California`s equal pay law prohibited an employer from paying its employees less for equal work than employees of the opposite sex. However, in 2015, Governor Brown signed the California Fair Pay Act, which strengthened the Equal Pay Act in many ways and signaled California`s commitment to true gender pay equality. To use another example, if, in January 2016, an employer begins to pay a female employee less than a male employee for substantially similar work, but the employer subsequently begins to pay the employee in the same way as the male employee as of January 2017, and the application under the Equal Pay Act is filed in January 2019, The employee can only go back two years or go back to January 2017 because of an unintentional violation. In this example, the employee did not meet the deadline to request corrective action. All forms of compensation are covered, including salary, overtime pay, bonuses, life insurance, vacation and vacation pay, cleaning or gas pay, hotel accommodation, travel reimbursement and benefits. If there is wage inequality between men and women who do essentially the same work, employers must raise wages to equalize wages, but must not lower the wages of others. The DFEH enforces California`s Employment and Housing Equity Act, which prohibits discrimination based on sex, race, national origin, ancestry and other protected categories. You can, but are not obliged, file a complaint with the DFEH if you only claim unequal pay based on gender, race or ethnic origin. Since the Office of the Labour Commissioner only investigates the Equal Pay Act, you can also lodge a complaint with the FDEH if you lodge additional complaints (e.g. if you also complain about discrimination on grounds of sex or if you also complain about discrimination based on another protected status). For information on the deadlines for filing a complaint with the DFEH, call www.dfeh.ca.gov/complaint-process/ or call 800-884-1684.

At national level, the principle of equal pay is generally reflected in the legislation of the 28 EU Member States and the other countries of the European Economic Area (EEA), Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway.