Are Males At Your Company Paid More Than Females With The Same Experience? If So, What Are Your Rights?

What should you do if you, a female, discover that male co-workers with the same or lesser experience are being paid more than you? Can you file a lawsuit?

The answer is yes, you can file a lawsuit under the Equal Pay Act of 1963. This law prevents gender-based discrimination in compensation. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, all forms of compensation are covered, including salary, overtime pay, bonuses, life insurance, vacation and holiday pay, cleaning or gasoline allowances, hotel accommodations, reimbursement for travel expenses, and benefits. If there is a wage disparity between individuals of different sexes performing essentially the same jobs, employers must increase wages to ensure equal pay but are not allowed to lower the wages of others.

So how do you go about proving that you are being underpaid because of your sex? First, you must look at the jobs in question to see if they require substantially equal skill, effort, and responsibility and are performed under similar working conditions within the same establishment. Skill is measured by factors such as the experience, ability, education, and training required to perform the job. The issue is what skills are required for the job, not what skills the individual employees may have. Effort is measured by the amount of physical or mental exertion needed to perform a job, while responsibility looks at the degree of accountability required to perform the job. Working conditions encompasses two factors: (1) physical surroundings like temperature, fumes, and ventilation; and (2) hazards.

"Equal" work doesn't mean identical roles; instead, the jobs must be "substantially equal" in terms of overall job content, even if the titles differ. To be deemed substantially equal, the job duties must be "closely related" or "very much alike." Therefore, minor differences in job duties, or the skill, effort, or responsibility required, won't make the work unequal. An employer does not have to pay all employees equally, however; it may base compensation on a seniority system, merit system, systems that measure earnings by quantity or quality of production, or any factor other than sex without violating the law.

If you beleive that you are being underpaid because of your sex, contact the Law Offices of Anthony J. Pantuso, III at 203-726-0284.