Pay Equity
IT'S THE LAW. BUT IS
IT REALITY?
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THE ISSUE
It's been 35 since the Equal Pay Act became law. Since then, the wage gap between men and women has narrowed, but not disappeared. Today, the average working woman makes 74 cents for every dollar a man makes. For women of color, the figures are even worse: 65 cents for African American women and 57 cents for Latinas. What can you do about this problem? Read on.
FACTS AND STATS:
From the AFL-CIO.
HOW MUCH WILL YOU LOSE OVER A LIFETIME?
The Working Women's Department of the
AFL-CIO wants each woman to understand
just how much income she'll lose over
the span of a career. That's why they've
developed a new pay equity web site where
you can enter your age, occupation, and
degree of education and find out what
the wage gap means for you.
RAISING YOUR EARNINGS
The Women's Bureau of the U.S. Department
of Labor has developed an Equal
Pay Checklist to help women think
about how they can improve their earning
power and opportunities.
THE LAW
Working women (and men) should know than
an employer who pays women less than men
or denies them job opportunities just
because of their gender is guilty of sex
discrimination. The following all protect
women's rights:
Under this Act, which covers most workplaces, it is against the law to pay women less than men for work that is "substantially equal" (almost identical) unless the pay difference is based on seniority, experience, or other legitimate factors.
This section of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which covers employers with 15 or more workers, prohibits paying women less than men--even when their jobs are different--if the reason for the pay difference is gender. (It also bars discrimination against women in hiring, promotion, training, discipline and other job aspects, and makes sexual harassment against women workers illegal.)
This is a long-standing presidential directive (which has the force of law) that applies the protections of the Equal Pay Act and Title VII to companies that receive federal contracts.
Many states and communities have their own fair employment laws and agencies that enforce equal pay protections and other prohibitions against sex discrimination on the job. These laws are similar to, and sometimes stronger than, federal laws.
From the Working Women's Department of the AFL-CIO.
TAKING ACTION
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
(EEOC) enforces the Equal Pay Act and
Title VII. If you believe you have been
discriminated against in the workplace
because you are a woman, contact the EEOC
at 1-800-669-4000.
The federal Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), part of the Department of Labor, enforces Executive Order 11246. For more information about filing a complaint with OFCCP, call 1-888-376-3227.
OTHER RESOURCES
