Equal Pay Act Enacted Fifty Years Ago

Today marks the 50th anniversary of the Equal Pay Act ("EPA") signed into law by President John F. Kennedy.  The Equal Pay Act of 1963 is a federal law amending the Fair Labor Standards Act.  The provides that no employer shall discriminate between employees on the basis of sex by paying wages to employees at a rate less than the rate at which employees of the opposite se are paid, to which the performance of the work requires equal skill, effort, and responsibility and performed under similar working conditions. Although the EPA was enacted out of "concern for the weaker bargaining position of women," the Act protects both men and women.  To establish a violation of the EPA, an employee must show that:

1. different wages are paid to employees of the opposite sex;

2. the employees perform substantially equal work on jobs requiring equal skill, effort and responsibility; and

3. the jobs are performed under similar working conditions.

Once the employee meets that burden, the employer may avoid liability by one of four defenses - that the wages were set pursuant to:

1. a seniority system;

2. a merit system;

3. a system which measures earnings by quantity or quality of production; or

4. any other factor other than sex.

Although progress has been made within the last 50 years, pay discrimination remains a pressing problem for women in the U.S.  As such, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) has made equal pay laws one of its priorities in its Strategic Enforcement Plan for fiscal years 2013-2016.  The EEOC is also an important member of the National Equal Pay Enforcement Task Force, which was launched by President Obama to "improve compliance, public education, and enforcement of equal pay laws."

The EEOC has also filed a number of lawsuits for pay discrimination:

EEOC v. Forrest City Grocery

EEOC v. National Railroad Passenger Corporation

EEOC v. Hyundai Ideal Electric Co.

EEOC v. Texas Department of Rural Affairs

Please feel free to contact our office should you have any questions or need additional information about the Equal Pay Act at 855-LABORFL.