Legal Overview of Equal Pay and Comparable Worth
| Publication year | 1986 |
| Pages | 1201 |
| Citation | Vol. 15 No. 7 Pg. 1201 |
1986, July, Pg. 1201. Legal Overview of Equal Pay and Comparable Worth
Equal pay and comparable worth, two major civil rights issues of this decade, often are the subject of employment discrimination litigation. The topics have been used as a rallying cry for various activist groups and remain a question of concern for legislative debate. This article presents a brief overview of equal pay and comparable worth, two areas often confused by both practitioners and the courts.
A claim for equal pay is governed by the Equal Pay Act ("Act").(fn1) A violation of the Act may be shown by establishing that an employer pays different wages to employees of opposite sexes within the same establishment for equal work on jobs that require equal skill, effort and responsibility, and are performed under similar working conditions.
Comparisons may only be made between wage rates paid to employees of opposite sexes within the same "establishment." The principal test for determining if a separate establishment exists is whether an employer's facility constitutes a distinct physical place of business.(fn2) Also relevant are whether the employer maintains separate work forces, records, bookkeeping and payrolls, and whether an employer's facility functions relatively autonomously.(fn3)
Wages are broadly defined to include "all payments made to or on behalf of the employee as remuneration for employment."(fn4) Thus, included are all time, piece, incentive, job or other rates, overtime compensation, vacation and holiday pay, shift differential, paid lunches, commissions, draws and advances.
An Act violation exists if different wages are paid to males and females at different times(fn5); for example, if a female is hired at a lower wage rate to do the same work previously done by a male at a higher wage rate. To be "equal work" under the Act, jobs do not need to be identical but only substantially equal.(fn6) The determination of whether work is substantially equal necessitates a comparison of the skill, effort and responsibility required in the jobs and the working conditions under which they are performed. The courts also consider whether the employees involved perceive their jobs as involving equal functions.(fn7)
Skill includes such factors as experience, training, education and ability. Skill possessed but not used cannot be considered in determining the quality of jobs. However, if employees in two jobs are required to possess the same skills, but employees in one job use them more often than employees in the other job, the two jobs will be considered equal.(fn8)
Effort includes both physical or mental exertion undertaken in the tasks involved in the performance of a job.(fn9) To justify a wage differential, the extra effort by employees of one sex must occur often rather than sporadically.(fn10)
A determination of whether jobs are of equal responsibility involves analyzing accountability and examining the importance of the job. Minor additional responsibility does not generally justify wage differential. Calling one employee and not another a "supervisor" does not relieve an employer of liability if the jobs are of equal responsibility.(fn11)
Working conditions do not need to be...
To continue reading
Request your trial