Best Ohio Equal Pay Attorney Answer: Can my job pay women less than men? Do I have a claim for gender discrimination if my boss pays men more than women? How do I prove that my employer is discriminating against women in respect to pay?
It is not a difficult concept. Quite the contrary, it is rather simple. If two people are doing the same job with the same time on the job and relatively the same experience, they should be paid the same wage. Employers cannot decide to pay employees of particular genders or races less. When your boss or manager decides to pay women less because of their gender, this is a form of gender discrimination. Your boss or employer cannot discriminate against you by giving you less pay for the same job.
Our employment attorneys have frequently written about the numerous federal and state laws that prohibit employers from discriminating against one gender in favor of another in matters of pay and benefits. (Gender Discrimination Attorney Reply: What Can I Do If My Job Pays Me Less Than Men?, What Can I Do If My Employer Pays Me Less Than Men For The Same Job? I Need A Lawyer!, Can I Sue Because My Employer Pays Blacks And Women Less? Best Equal Pay Lawyer Reply.)
A regular reader of our employment discrimination attorneys‘ blog will know that The Equal Pay Act of 1963 requires that men and women, in the same workplace and who do substantially similar work, must be paid equally. To establish a claim under the Equal Pay Act, an employee must establish that (1) the employer is subject to the Act; (2) the employee performed work in a position requiring equal skill, effort, and responsibility under similar working conditions; and (3) that the employee was paid less than the employees of the opposite sex providing the comparison. Additionally, because equal pay violations are a subspecies of gender discrimination, an aggrieved employee may also have a claim under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibits employment discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. Likewise, Ohio’s R.C. § 4112.02(A) makes it unlawful to pay male and female employees at different rates when they perform the same work.
As we blogged about last February, despite federal and state laws prohibiting gender discrimination in employee wages and benefits, there still exists a pronounced pay gap between men and women. In fact, according to the White House, full-time working women only make 77 cents for every dollar that their male counterparts make. The news is even worse for African American and Latino women, who earn at rates of just 64% and 56%, respectively, of comparable male Caucasian workers.
Recently, President Obama announced an executive action that will require employers with 100 or more employees to report to the federal government what they pay their employees and break down those figures according to race, gender, and ethnicity. The proposed regulation is a joint effort between the White House, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Department of Labor. Obama’s announcement coincided with seventh anniversary of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which allows employees to bring lawsuits concerning equal pay violations for up to 180 days after a their last discriminatory paycheck. At the same time, Obama is calling upon Congress to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would punish employers for retaliating against employees who discuss wage information, place the burden on employers for why they pay certain classes of employees less money, and allow employees to seek punitive damages in suits for wage discrimination.
According to an EEOC press release, the jointly proposed regulation, “will assist the agency in identifying possible pay discrimination and assist employers in promoting equal pay in their workplaces.” Secretary of Labor Thomas Perez predicts, “…that reporting this data will help employers to evaluate their own pay practices to prevent pay discrimination in their workplaces.” Perez is likely right. Last year, Salesforce, a cloud-based software company reviewed the salaries of all 17,000 of its employees following complaints by two female employees of discriminatory pay practices. Following the review, the company added an additional $3 million in payroll to bring female employees’ pay in line with that of male employees.
While the recently announced proposed regulation is a step in the right direction, and while we can be encouraged by the actions of forward-thinking employers like Salesforce, the reality is that many employers will still discriminate on the basis of gender when it comes to pay.
If you feel that you are being discriminated based on your gender or sex, then call the right attorney. It is never appropriate to discriminate against female employees. Discrimination against women includes being harassed, fired, wrongfully terminated, discriminated against, demoted, wrongfully disciplined, denied a promotion, and denied wages or not receiving equal pay. When you call the right attorney to schedule a free and confidential consultation at 866-797-6040, you will meet with an attorney from Spitz, The Employee’s Law Firm to discuss wrongful discrimination claims and help you determine the best way to pursue your gender/sex discrimination claims.
Disclaimer:
The materials available at the top of this page and on this employment law website are for informational purposes only and not for the purpose of providing legal advice. Your best option is to contact an Ohio attorney to obtain advice with respect to gender discrimination questions or any particular employment law issue. Use and access to this employment law website or any of the links contained within the site do not create an attorney-client relationship. The legal opinions expressed at or through this site are the opinions of the individual lawyer and may not reflect the opinions of Spitz, The Employee’s Law Firm, Brian Spitz, or any individual attorney.