Equal Pay Act Violations​

The Equal Pay Act (EPA) requires that men and women in the same workplace be given equal pay for jobs that require “substantially equal” skill, effort, and responsibility under similar working conditions.  Job content (not job titles) determines whether jobs are “substantially equal.”

All forms of pay are covered by this law, including salary, overtime pay, bonuses, stock options, profit sharing and bonus plans, life insurance, vacation and holiday pay, gasoline allowances, hotel accommodations, reimbursement for travel expenses, and benefits.

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• A female employee worked her way up from the position of cook’s helper to chef.  A male chef with similar training and work experience was recently hired, and he will be paid more than the female employee.
• A female employee is a top salesperson for her company, but she is moved to a less desirable territory while a male with much lower sales is given her territory and client base, enabling him to make much more in commissions than she will make for several years.
• A female employee’s health insurance policy does not cover her spouse, because it is assumed that he will have his own benefits, while her male coworkers have their wives covered by the policy.  Because the female employee’s husband is between jobs, she has to pay increased health benefits on his behalf that her male coworkers do not pay for their wives.