Every Los Angeles employment discrimination lawyer is aware that unequal pay and compensation is still one of the most enduring issues in many American workplaces. Such issue is even more a topic of discussion if one considers the aspects of sex and gender. This is despite the Equal Pay Act being a chief employment law that “prohibits discrimination on account of sex in the payment of wages by employers.”
It has been half a century since then-President John F. Kennedy signed into law the Equal Pay Act, on June 10, 1963. Said law requires both men and women with the same work description and duties and responsibilities be paid equally. This also applies even if the jobs involved are substantially the same. The Equal Pay Act covers all pay and compensation, ranging from salaries, overtime pay, bonuses, vacation and holiday pay, and benefits, among others.
Fast forward fifty years later, President Barack Obama and his administration is pushing Congress to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would promote transparency in the issue of differences in wages. For many, this legislative development would hopefully bridge the gap of male and female workers in terms of equal pay for equal work even further.
Still, the facts remain that many women with the same work as that of their male counterparts are still paid around 77 cents for every dollar that men earn. Such figure, however, might not be the same nowadays, thanks to various research findings. But there is one that is quite surprising.
In 2010, Reach Advisors, an analytics firm, found out that the median salary of women who don’t have children yet and are under the age of 30 was 8 percent higher than their male counterparts. This is due to the fact that women within the said age group are pursuing college education than men. What’s surprising in this 2010 finding is that women under 30 were the only ones who have a pay advantage than men, and that such advantage decreases as they reach motherhood.
Indeed, the gender gap in wages and in employment overall is still a big issue in the country. The Equal Pay Act may still be in effect, but many businesses often take advantage of their employees, some of them women, by paying them less than their male counterparts. Such adverse action can be classified as employment discrimination on the basis of sex.
It has been half a century since then-President John F. Kennedy signed into law the Equal Pay Act, on June 10, 1963. Said law requires both men and women with the same work description and duties and responsibilities be paid equally. This also applies even if the jobs involved are substantially the same. The Equal Pay Act covers all pay and compensation, ranging from salaries, overtime pay, bonuses, vacation and holiday pay, and benefits, among others.
Fast forward fifty years later, President Barack Obama and his administration is pushing Congress to pass the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would promote transparency in the issue of differences in wages. For many, this legislative development would hopefully bridge the gap of male and female workers in terms of equal pay for equal work even further.
Still, the facts remain that many women with the same work as that of their male counterparts are still paid around 77 cents for every dollar that men earn. Such figure, however, might not be the same nowadays, thanks to various research findings. But there is one that is quite surprising.
In 2010, Reach Advisors, an analytics firm, found out that the median salary of women who don’t have children yet and are under the age of 30 was 8 percent higher than their male counterparts. This is due to the fact that women within the said age group are pursuing college education than men. What’s surprising in this 2010 finding is that women under 30 were the only ones who have a pay advantage than men, and that such advantage decreases as they reach motherhood.
Indeed, the gender gap in wages and in employment overall is still a big issue in the country. The Equal Pay Act may still be in effect, but many businesses often take advantage of their employees, some of them women, by paying them less than their male counterparts. Such adverse action can be classified as employment discrimination on the basis of sex.