Equal Pay And The Wage Gap
Leveling the Playing Field: The ins and outs of the wage gap and attaining equal pay for women and men
Author Note
This paper was prepared for Law for Managers, 4340-40, taught by Leslie S. Lukasik, Esq.
More and more in the media we are hearing about the discrepancies of pay between men and women, how men and women can hold the exact same position in a company and inevitably the woman is making substantially less than the man for the same exact work. It is as if the “glass ceiling” theory is really true, that there is an invisible barrier that keeps women from reaching certain heights in the corporate ladder and being able to obtain the pay of their equal male counterparts. The question is, …show more content…
is there something that protects women from such outright discrimination? The answer is yes, the laws are in the books but they aren’t necessarily being upheld.
In 1963, the Equal Pay Act was enacted. According to the U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Commission, the act was put into place to “prohibit sex-based wage discrimination between men and women in the same establishment who perform jobs that require substantially equal skill, effort and responsibility under similar working conditions” (n.d., para. 1). The establishment of this act should have eliminated these discrepancies among men and women’s pay but the truth is, men and women’s pay still has a notable gap. In Section 6, part d of The Equal Pay Act is the prohibition of sex discrimination:
SEC. 206. [Section 6]
(d) Prohibition of sex discrimination
(1) No employer having employees subject to any provisions of this section shall discriminate, within any establishment in which such employees are employed, between employees on the basis of sex by paying wages to employees in such establishment at a rate less than the rate at which he pays wages to employees of the opposite sex in such establishment for equal work on jobs the performance of which requires equal skill, effort, and responsibility, and which are performed under similar working conditions, except where such payment is made pursuant to (i) a seniority system; (ii) a merit system; (iii) a system which measures earnings by quantity or quality of production; or (iv) a differential based on any other factor other than sex: Provided, That an employer who is paying a wage rate differential in violation of this subsection shall not, in order to comply with the provisions of this subsection, reduce the wage rate of any employee.
(2) No labor organization, or its agents, representing employees of an employer having employees subject to any provisions of this section shall cause or attempt to cause such an employer to discriminate against an employee in violation of paragraph (1) of this subsection.
(3) For purposes of administration and enforcement, any amounts owing to any employee which have been withheld in violation of this subsection shall be deemed to be unpaid minimum wages or unpaid overtime compensation under this chapter.
(4) As used in this subsection, the term “labor organization” means any organization of any kind, or any agency or employee representation committee or plan, in which employees participate and which exists for the purpose, in whole or in part, of dealing with employers concerning grievances, labor disputes, wages, rates of pay, hours of employment, or conditions of work (n.d., para. 2).
Even though these strict guidelines are presented within the act, wage discrimination is still a very real issue within businesses.
According to the National Women’s Law Center, the current legal issue at hand regarding equal pay for men and women is that women are making only 77 cents compared to every dollar that their male counterparts are making (2014, para. 1). Seventy seven cents: $1 is a substantial ratio being that the Equal Pay Act was passed over 50 years ago and we are still seeing such a substantial difference in men and women’s pay. If the calculations are performed, it is seen that in 50 years, there is still a 23 cent pay gap between men and women and if the equation is calculated out even further, that is over a $10,000 loss for women in certain positions. Compiled by over 11 women that are part of the National Women’s Law Center, a report called “50 Years and Counting: The Unfinished Business of Achieving Fair Pay,” found that even 50 years later, women are still paid less in nearly every occupation (2013, pg. 1). This shows that the wage gap is very much alive and that the correct actions and steps have not been taken since the enactment of the Equal Pay Act to render the discrepancies.
After much talk and numbers that do not lie, the White House published a report in June of 2013 called “Fifty Years After the Equal Pay Act.” It was a 45 page report about where women were in 1963 when the Equal Pay Act was passed, where they are currently, and where we would like them to be in the future in terms of equal pay in comparison to men. The report quoted President Obama’s January 2010 State of the Union address where he pledged ‘to crack down on violations of equal pay laws so that women get equal pay for an equal day’s work’. It was in this State of the Union address that the President called for the creation of the National Equal Pay Taskforce to investigate the businesses or individuals that were violating the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and enforce the law as it was written. The Taskforce is composed of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Department of Labor (DOL), and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). The Taskforce was put in motion to use all of these federal agencies resources and to have jurisdiction over the laws that protect workers. In this same report the White House made an announcement about the Taskforce that explained: The President is establishing a National Equal Pay Task Force. To make sure we uphold our nation’s core commitment to equality of opportunity, the Obama Administration is implementing an Equal Pay initiative to improve compliance, public education, and enforcement of equal pay laws. The Task Force will ensure that the agencies with responsibility for equal pay enforcement are coordinating efforts and limiting potential gaps in enforcement. The Administration also continues to support the Paycheck Fairness Act, and is increasing funding for the agencies enforcing equal pay laws and other key civil rights statutes (2013, pg. 29).
It was clear that the National Equal Pay Taskforce was a huge step in achieving equal pay and enforcing violations that had been going on for years.
Since the establishment of the National Equal Pay Taskforce in 2010, many milestones have been met, but there are many to still meet in moving forward to close the gap that is still a remarkable 23 cents. One of the most notable milestones is the creation and the continuation of working to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act that is according to the National Women’s Law Center, “a bill that would aim to give workers the tools that they need to combat wage discrimination, bar retaliation against workers for discussing salary information, and ensure full compensation for victims of gender-based pay discrimination” (2014, pg.1). Currently the creation and approval of the bill has been sent to Congress in hopes that they will pass it and that it will be one more step in leveling the wage gap playing field. Another issue that the Taskforce is focusing on is how to enforce the violation of labor laws and how gathering better data will help improve enforcement. According to the “Fifty Years After the Equal Pay Act” report published by the White House,
One of the biggest obstacles to combating pay discrimination is that so many women do not know they are being underpaid due to discrimination and many employers prohibit the sharing of pay data. To address the implications of pay secrecy norms and policies, the Task Force continues to focus on the importance of pay data collection. The EEOC, OFCCP and DOJ continue to work closely together as they consider the use of pay data in enforcement efforts (2013, pg. 34).
A case that was substantial in bringing the issue of equal pay into the forefront was Walmart vs. Dukes in 2001. The case was tried in the United States Supreme Court and represented over 1.6 million women including Betty Dukes. Confirmed by the Legal Information Institute, Dukes and the other women represented in the case claimed that women working at Wal-Mart receive less pay and are unable to find the opportunities for advancement that their male equals are able to. “The employees requested that the United States District Court for the Northern District of California certify a class which would include ‘all women employed at any Wal-Mart domestic retail store at any time since December 26, 1998 who have been or may be subjected to Wal-Mart’s challenged pay and management track promotions policies and practices’” (n.d. para. 6). In June of 2011 the Supreme Court ruled against the women plaintiffs. The ruling prevented the group of women from forming a class to challenge the discrimination that Dukes and many of them had endured. This is one of many cases that has been tried in the U.S. Supreme Court that has sought correction by companies who have either violated the Equal Pay Act or have acted in such a way that gender discrimination created a notable pay wage gap between men and women.
What was once never thought about being argued about or spoken of is now a huge issue surrounding business law and how businesses conduct themselves As more and more cases of gender discrimination, wage gap, and Equal Pay Act violations are being tried in court and brought into the limelight by the media and on to the public, more and more women are becoming aware of the potential for the wage gaps in their work place..
As the cases show, the wage gap is far from closed. Some argue that closing the wage gap is the morally right thing to do, and also that closing it will have far lasting, positive effects on our economy. As recognized in the White House report, “Fifty Years After the Equal Pay Act,” these positive effects on our economy could help ignite upward economic growth by reducing poverty and growing the middle class. Also stated in the report, “Economists widely agree that reducing inequality is a net economic positive – both in terms of the ability of individual workers to get better jobs at better pay, and in terms of the overall beneficial effect on our economy” (2013, pg. 36).
The Equal Pay Act of 1963 was set in motion to “prohibit sex-based wage discrimination between men and women in the same establishment who perform jobs that require substantially equal skill, effort and responsibility under similar working conditions” (U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Commission, n.d., para. 1). We have witnessed time and time again violations being made against the Equal Pay Act and the detriment that it can have on our society and economy. The answer is clear and simple: businesses need to change the way they’re doing business and abide by the law, women and society as a whole need to continue to demand equal pay until it is delivered, and the taskforces and federal branches of government need to do their job so that businesses do not think this is one law or act that can be swept under the table. As mentioned earlier, until equal pay is established, our economy will continue to hurt and as citizens, we have to demand and establish a change.
References
DeWeese, N., & Rumpf, J.
(n.d.). Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Betty Dukes (10-277). LII / Legal Information Institute. Retrieved June 16, 2014, from http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/cert/10-277
Equal Pay and the Wage Gap. (2014, January 1). National Women 's Law Center. Retrieved June 16, 2014, from http://www.nwlc.org/our-issues/employment/equal-pay-and-the-wage-gap
Fifty Years After the Equal Pay Act: Assessing the past, taking stock in the future. (2013, January 1). . Retrieved June 17, 2014, from http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/equalpay/equal_pay_task_force_progress_report_june_2013_new.pdf
Office of the Press Secretary. “Remarks by the President in the State of the Union Address.” The White House. (2010). Retrieved June 16, 2014, from http://www.whitehouse.gov/thepresoffice/remarkspresidentstateunionaddress.
Sutphen, M.“Putting Washington at the Service of the Middle Class.” The White House Rural Council. (2010). Retrieved June 16, 2014, from http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/01/27/puttingwashingtonservicemiddleclass.
U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Commission. The Equal Pay Act of 1963. (n.d.). (EPA). Retrieved June 16, 2014, from
http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/statutes/epa.cfm
Author Note
This paper was prepared for Law for Managers, 4340-40, taught by Leslie S. Lukasik, Esq.
More and more in the media we are hearing about the discrepancies of pay between men and women, how men and women can hold the exact same position in a company and inevitably the woman is making substantially less than the man for the same exact work. It is as if the “glass ceiling” theory is really true, that there is an invisible barrier that keeps women from reaching certain heights in the corporate ladder and being able to obtain the pay of their equal male counterparts. The question is, …show more content…
is there something that protects women from such outright discrimination? The answer is yes, the laws are in the books but they aren’t necessarily being upheld.
In 1963, the Equal Pay Act was enacted. According to the U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Commission, the act was put into place to “prohibit sex-based wage discrimination between men and women in the same establishment who perform jobs that require substantially equal skill, effort and responsibility under similar working conditions” (n.d., para. 1). The establishment of this act should have eliminated these discrepancies among men and women’s pay but the truth is, men and women’s pay still has a notable gap. In Section 6, part d of The Equal Pay Act is the prohibition of sex discrimination:
SEC. 206. [Section 6]
(d) Prohibition of sex discrimination
(1) No employer having employees subject to any provisions of this section shall discriminate, within any establishment in which such employees are employed, between employees on the basis of sex by paying wages to employees in such establishment at a rate less than the rate at which he pays wages to employees of the opposite sex in such establishment for equal work on jobs the performance of which requires equal skill, effort, and responsibility, and which are performed under similar working conditions, except where such payment is made pursuant to (i) a seniority system; (ii) a merit system; (iii) a system which measures earnings by quantity or quality of production; or (iv) a differential based on any other factor other than sex: Provided, That an employer who is paying a wage rate differential in violation of this subsection shall not, in order to comply with the provisions of this subsection, reduce the wage rate of any employee.
(2) No labor organization, or its agents, representing employees of an employer having employees subject to any provisions of this section shall cause or attempt to cause such an employer to discriminate against an employee in violation of paragraph (1) of this subsection.
(3) For purposes of administration and enforcement, any amounts owing to any employee which have been withheld in violation of this subsection shall be deemed to be unpaid minimum wages or unpaid overtime compensation under this chapter.
(4) As used in this subsection, the term “labor organization” means any organization of any kind, or any agency or employee representation committee or plan, in which employees participate and which exists for the purpose, in whole or in part, of dealing with employers concerning grievances, labor disputes, wages, rates of pay, hours of employment, or conditions of work (n.d., para. 2).
Even though these strict guidelines are presented within the act, wage discrimination is still a very real issue within businesses.
According to the National Women’s Law Center, the current legal issue at hand regarding equal pay for men and women is that women are making only 77 cents compared to every dollar that their male counterparts are making (2014, para. 1). Seventy seven cents: $1 is a substantial ratio being that the Equal Pay Act was passed over 50 years ago and we are still seeing such a substantial difference in men and women’s pay. If the calculations are performed, it is seen that in 50 years, there is still a 23 cent pay gap between men and women and if the equation is calculated out even further, that is over a $10,000 loss for women in certain positions. Compiled by over 11 women that are part of the National Women’s Law Center, a report called “50 Years and Counting: The Unfinished Business of Achieving Fair Pay,” found that even 50 years later, women are still paid less in nearly every occupation (2013, pg. 1). This shows that the wage gap is very much alive and that the correct actions and steps have not been taken since the enactment of the Equal Pay Act to render the discrepancies.
After much talk and numbers that do not lie, the White House published a report in June of 2013 called “Fifty Years After the Equal Pay Act.” It was a 45 page report about where women were in 1963 when the Equal Pay Act was passed, where they are currently, and where we would like them to be in the future in terms of equal pay in comparison to men. The report quoted President Obama’s January 2010 State of the Union address where he pledged ‘to crack down on violations of equal pay laws so that women get equal pay for an equal day’s work’. It was in this State of the Union address that the President called for the creation of the National Equal Pay Taskforce to investigate the businesses or individuals that were violating the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and enforce the law as it was written. The Taskforce is composed of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Department of Labor (DOL), and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM). The Taskforce was put in motion to use all of these federal agencies resources and to have jurisdiction over the laws that protect workers. In this same report the White House made an announcement about the Taskforce that explained: The President is establishing a National Equal Pay Task Force. To make sure we uphold our nation’s core commitment to equality of opportunity, the Obama Administration is implementing an Equal Pay initiative to improve compliance, public education, and enforcement of equal pay laws. The Task Force will ensure that the agencies with responsibility for equal pay enforcement are coordinating efforts and limiting potential gaps in enforcement. The Administration also continues to support the Paycheck Fairness Act, and is increasing funding for the agencies enforcing equal pay laws and other key civil rights statutes (2013, pg. 29).
It was clear that the National Equal Pay Taskforce was a huge step in achieving equal pay and enforcing violations that had been going on for years.
Since the establishment of the National Equal Pay Taskforce in 2010, many milestones have been met, but there are many to still meet in moving forward to close the gap that is still a remarkable 23 cents. One of the most notable milestones is the creation and the continuation of working to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act that is according to the National Women’s Law Center, “a bill that would aim to give workers the tools that they need to combat wage discrimination, bar retaliation against workers for discussing salary information, and ensure full compensation for victims of gender-based pay discrimination” (2014, pg.1). Currently the creation and approval of the bill has been sent to Congress in hopes that they will pass it and that it will be one more step in leveling the wage gap playing field. Another issue that the Taskforce is focusing on is how to enforce the violation of labor laws and how gathering better data will help improve enforcement. According to the “Fifty Years After the Equal Pay Act” report published by the White House,
One of the biggest obstacles to combating pay discrimination is that so many women do not know they are being underpaid due to discrimination and many employers prohibit the sharing of pay data. To address the implications of pay secrecy norms and policies, the Task Force continues to focus on the importance of pay data collection. The EEOC, OFCCP and DOJ continue to work closely together as they consider the use of pay data in enforcement efforts (2013, pg. 34).
A case that was substantial in bringing the issue of equal pay into the forefront was Walmart vs. Dukes in 2001. The case was tried in the United States Supreme Court and represented over 1.6 million women including Betty Dukes. Confirmed by the Legal Information Institute, Dukes and the other women represented in the case claimed that women working at Wal-Mart receive less pay and are unable to find the opportunities for advancement that their male equals are able to. “The employees requested that the United States District Court for the Northern District of California certify a class which would include ‘all women employed at any Wal-Mart domestic retail store at any time since December 26, 1998 who have been or may be subjected to Wal-Mart’s challenged pay and management track promotions policies and practices’” (n.d. para. 6). In June of 2011 the Supreme Court ruled against the women plaintiffs. The ruling prevented the group of women from forming a class to challenge the discrimination that Dukes and many of them had endured. This is one of many cases that has been tried in the U.S. Supreme Court that has sought correction by companies who have either violated the Equal Pay Act or have acted in such a way that gender discrimination created a notable pay wage gap between men and women.
What was once never thought about being argued about or spoken of is now a huge issue surrounding business law and how businesses conduct themselves As more and more cases of gender discrimination, wage gap, and Equal Pay Act violations are being tried in court and brought into the limelight by the media and on to the public, more and more women are becoming aware of the potential for the wage gaps in their work place..
As the cases show, the wage gap is far from closed. Some argue that closing the wage gap is the morally right thing to do, and also that closing it will have far lasting, positive effects on our economy. As recognized in the White House report, “Fifty Years After the Equal Pay Act,” these positive effects on our economy could help ignite upward economic growth by reducing poverty and growing the middle class. Also stated in the report, “Economists widely agree that reducing inequality is a net economic positive – both in terms of the ability of individual workers to get better jobs at better pay, and in terms of the overall beneficial effect on our economy” (2013, pg. 36).
The Equal Pay Act of 1963 was set in motion to “prohibit sex-based wage discrimination between men and women in the same establishment who perform jobs that require substantially equal skill, effort and responsibility under similar working conditions” (U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Commission, n.d., para. 1). We have witnessed time and time again violations being made against the Equal Pay Act and the detriment that it can have on our society and economy. The answer is clear and simple: businesses need to change the way they’re doing business and abide by the law, women and society as a whole need to continue to demand equal pay until it is delivered, and the taskforces and federal branches of government need to do their job so that businesses do not think this is one law or act that can be swept under the table. As mentioned earlier, until equal pay is established, our economy will continue to hurt and as citizens, we have to demand and establish a change.
References
DeWeese, N., & Rumpf, J.
(n.d.). Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. v. Betty Dukes (10-277). LII / Legal Information Institute. Retrieved June 16, 2014, from http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/cert/10-277
Equal Pay and the Wage Gap. (2014, January 1). National Women 's Law Center. Retrieved June 16, 2014, from http://www.nwlc.org/our-issues/employment/equal-pay-and-the-wage-gap
Fifty Years After the Equal Pay Act: Assessing the past, taking stock in the future. (2013, January 1). . Retrieved June 17, 2014, from http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/equalpay/equal_pay_task_force_progress_report_june_2013_new.pdf
Office of the Press Secretary. “Remarks by the President in the State of the Union Address.” The White House. (2010). Retrieved June 16, 2014, from http://www.whitehouse.gov/thepresoffice/remarkspresidentstateunionaddress.
Sutphen, M.“Putting Washington at the Service of the Middle Class.” The White House Rural Council. (2010). Retrieved June 16, 2014, from http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2010/01/27/puttingwashingtonservicemiddleclass.
U.S. Equal Opportunity Employment Commission. The Equal Pay Act of 1963. (n.d.). (EPA). Retrieved June 16, 2014, from
http://www.eeoc.gov/laws/statutes/epa.cfm