The Equal Pay Act: The First 30 Years

1997 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 335-344 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suzanne M. Crampton ◽  
John W. Hodge ◽  
Jitendra M. Mishra
Keyword(s):  
Civil Rights ◽  
Wage Differentials ◽  
Equal Pay ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Civil Rights Act ◽  
Pay Disparity ◽  
Women's Wages ◽  
Equal Work ◽  
Equal Pay Act

Historically, women have been paid less than men. This pay disparity between men and women exists even when women hold similar jobs and are comparable to men with regard to seniority and experience. The goal of the Equal Pay Act of 1963 and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was to change this situation. The Equal Pay Act states that men and women should receive the same pay for equal work. Three decades have passed but women's wages remain less than wages for men in equal positions. The focus of this paper is a discussion of the Equal Pay Act on wage differentials between men and women. Strategies will be presented that organizations can follow to minimize compensation disparities.

Changes in the US Gender Gap in Wages in the 1960s

2021 ◽  
Vol 111 ◽  
pp. 143-148
Author(s):  
Martha J. Bailey ◽  
Thomas Helgerman ◽  
Bryan A. Stuart
Keyword(s):  
Civil Rights ◽  
Gender Gap ◽  
Labor Standards ◽  
Equal Pay ◽  
The Us ◽  
Fair Labor Standards Act ◽  
Women's Wages ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Equal Pay Act ◽  
The 1960S

The 1960s witnessed landmark legislation that aimed to increase women's wages, including the Equal Pay Act of 1963, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, and the 1966 amendments to the Fair Labor Standards Act. Although the gender gap in pay changed little at the mean/median during the decade, our distributional analysis shows that women's wages converged sharply on men's below but diverged above the median. However, the bulk of women's relative pay gains are not explained by changes in observed attributes. Our findings suggest an important role for legislation in narrowing the gender gap in the 1960s.

Employer “Business” and “Job” Defenses in Civil Rights Actions

1994 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 573-586
Author(s):  
Paul S. Greenlaw ◽  
John P. Kohl
Keyword(s):  
Civil Rights ◽  
Prima Facie ◽  
Employee Relations ◽  
Equal Pay ◽  
Prima Facie Case ◽  
Civil Rights Act ◽  
Legitimate Business ◽  
Discrimination In Employment ◽  
Equal Pay Act ◽  
Merit System

In civil rights actions, employee-plaintiffs alleging discrimination must attempt to prove a prima facie case;1 and if accomplished the employer-defendant must attempt to rebut such cases with some type of defense. These defenses may be very narrow and specific in scope such as the seniority or merit system defenses explicitly provided for under the 1963 Equal Pay Act (EPA). On the other hand, broader “business” and or “job” defenses (and the wording and meaning varies from situation to situation) have been both devised by the courts as standards of behavior for employers, and stipulated for employers by legislation. This article will analyze four important of these employer defenses: (1) the legitimate business reason and its antecedents in EPA litigation; (2) the Bona Fide Occupational Qualification (BFOQ) “reasonably necessary” defense provided in both the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and in the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967; (3) the business necessity and job related standards promulgated in Griggs v. Duke Power, 401 U.S. 424 (1971), as eventually codified by the Civil Rights Act of 1991; and (4) the job relatedness/business necessity/reasonable accommodation defense of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). All of the above defenses pose current challenges to employers except probably the BFOQ, so that their examination should be of value to all those involved in employee relations law.

scholarly journals Sex Discrimination, the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Equal Pay, and Title IX as Applied to the Women’s National Soccer Team

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 55
Author(s):  
Richard J. Hunter, Jr. ◽  
Hector R. Lozada ◽  
Gary H. Kritz
Keyword(s):  
Civil Rights ◽  
Title Ix ◽  
Sex Discrimination ◽  
The United States ◽  
Equal Pay ◽  
Civil Rights Act ◽  
Course Of Action ◽  
The Us ◽  
Soccer Team ◽  
Equal Pay Act

This article presents the issues of sex discrimination, working conditions, and equal pay raised in the legal dispute between the United States Soccer Federation and the Women's National Soccer Team. The authors study the application of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Pay Act of 1963, and the implications of applying Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 to the U.S. Soccer Federation. The authors conclude by offering some observations and suggestions on the practical course of action that the US Women’s Soccer Team may consider in attempting to solve its dispute with the Federation.

Sentiment and Prejudice

2021 ◽  
pp. 799-832
Author(s):  
Cléo Chassonnery-Zaïgouche ◽  
Annie L. Cot
Keyword(s):  
World War I ◽  
Presidential Address ◽  
Women's Work ◽  
British Association ◽  
Equal Pay ◽  
Women’S Work ◽  
Women's Wages ◽  
Equal Work ◽  
Economic Journal

This article describes the evolution of Edgeworth’s thought on women’s wages and on the principle of “equal pay for equal work.” We first document Edgeworth’s early works on “exact utilitarianism” as an epistemic basis for his reflections upon women’s wages. Second, we review his first writings on women’s work and wages: early mentions in the 1870s, his book reviews published in the Economic Journal, and the substantial preface he wrote for the British Association for the Advancement of Science 1904 report on Women in Printing Trades. Third, we document his 1922 British Association presidential address in relation to the burgeoning literature on women’s work and wages within political economy at the time. Finally, we show that his 1923 follow-up article on women’s wages and economic welfare constitutes an update of his “aristocratical utilitarianism” in the post–World War I context.

Men and Women Should Receive Equal Pay for Equal Work

1975 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 53-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chin Chi-tsu ◽  
Hung Sung
Keyword(s):  
Equal Pay ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Equal Work

scholarly journals Women's Approaches to Negotiation: The Role of Negotiation in the Gender Pay Gap

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Delaney Arth
Keyword(s):  
Wage Structure ◽  
Workplace Culture ◽  
Gender Pay Gap ◽  
Equal Pay ◽  
Pay Gap ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Compensation Packages ◽  
Equal Pay Act ◽  
Depth Interviews

The gender pay gap has a long and well-documented history. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 was passed in an attempt to combat this gap in wages between men and women, but as of 2019 women still on average earn less than 80% of what their male counterparts do. Countless factors contribute to this discrepancy, from gender norms to workplace culture to wage structure and so much more. Though there is a significant literature discussing the gender pay gap, the majority of it focuses on external barriers to equality, including but not limited to institutional inequality, social norms, and workplace discrimination. Fewer scholars have addressed the internalized barriers to equality in the workplace that women face—such as how gendered norms and expectations may affect workplace behaviors such as negotiating compensation packages. My project employs qualitative content coding and individual breakdown of semi-structured, in-depth interviews to investigate if, how, and why women’s approaches to negotiation may contribute to pay inequity in professional positions. My findings confirm a discrepancy in rates of negotiation between male and female respondents. They also suggest that divergences in the circumstances surrounding negotiations as well as in approaches to negotiation exist between men and women, and among workers with various levels of seniority. Finally, my findings in combination with existing literature suggest a link between negotiation and the gender pay gap.

Equality of Terms

2021 ◽  
pp. 209-223
Author(s):  
Rhodri McDonald ◽  
Sophie Buckley
Keyword(s):  
Pension Scheme ◽  
Occupational Pension ◽  
Eu Law ◽  
Equal Pay ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Sex Equality ◽  
Equal Work ◽  
Pension Benefits ◽  
Conditions Of Employment

This chapter explores Part 5, Chapter 3 of the Equality Act 2010, which deals with equality in contractual terms and conditions of employment and occupational pension scheme rules. It deals with all aspects of equal pay law, i.e. the rules requiring that men and women doing equal work should have equal contractual and pension benefits. The chapter begins by briefly setting these provisions in context, addressing their relationship with discrimination law and EU law. It then looks at the sex equality clause (contract terms) and sex equality rule (pensions). Finally, the chapter concludes with a consideration of the maternity equality clause and maternity equality rule.

Human Rights Activists and the Question of Sex Discrimination in Postwar Ontario

2021 ◽  
Vol 102 (s3) ◽  
pp. s802-s824
Author(s):  
Ruth A. Frager ◽  
Carmela Patrias
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Sex Discrimination ◽  
Religious Discrimination ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Employment Practices ◽  
Equal Pay ◽  
Fair Employment ◽  
Equal Work ◽  
The Government ◽  
Equal Pay Act

This article examines the varied understandings of human rights in Ontario in the immediate aftermath of the Second World War. The article compares the social origins and implementation of Ontario’s Fair Employment Practices Act – which combatted racist and religious discrimination – with Ontario’s Female Employees Fair Remuneration Act – which mandated equal pay for women who did the same work as men. Although a few feminists called for the Fair Employment Practices Act to prohibit sex discrimination as well, their pleas fell mainly on deaf ears in this period. Men and women who fought against racist injustice were frequently unaware of gender injustice, for they, like so many others, subscribed to the deeply embedded ideology of the family wage. Conversely, some of the most outspoken advocates of women’s rights were unconscious of – or chose to ignore – racism. At the same time, some of the most committed advocates of equal pay for equal work actually reinforced certain conventional assumptions about men’s gender privilege at work and at home. Moreover, while the enforcement of both acts was constrained by the conciliatory framework embedded within them, the government officials who were charged with applying both acts interpreted the equal pay act quite narrowly and were significantly more diligent in tackling racist and religious employment discrimination.

Privacy, Efficiency, and the Equality of Men and Women: A Revisionist View of Sex Discrimination in Employment

1981 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 585-636
Author(s):  
Mayer G. Freed ◽  
Daniel D. Polsby
Keyword(s):  
Sex Differences ◽  
Los Angeles ◽  
Civil Rights ◽  
Sex Discrimination ◽  
Men And Women ◽  
Civil Rights Act ◽  
Maintenance Of Sex ◽  
Considerable Debate ◽  
Discrimination In Employment ◽  
Per Se

The Supreme Court's decision inCity of Los Angeles Department of Water and Power v. Manharthas engendered a considerable debate, much of which has appeared in the pages of thisJournal. Defenders of theManhartdecision take its critics to task for failure to appreciate the place of that decision in the overall jurisprudence of employment discrimination. In this article, the authors challenge the underlying conception of the law of sex discrimination that is said to dictate the result inManhart. Far from erecting a per se rule against all sex classifications, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is shown to recognize both the relevance of prevalent social norms about sex differences and the legitimacy of certain interests of employers as limited justifications for the maintenance of sex-conscious lines in some circumstances, a recognition that contrasts sharply with the statute's categorical prohibition on racial classifications. It follows from this discussion thatManhart'soutcome was not ordained by the ethos of the laws against sex discrimination.

Understanding Affirmative Action: From the Practitioner's Perspective

1995 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph Michael Pace ◽  
Zachary Smith
Keyword(s):  
Affirmative Action ◽  
Civil Rights ◽  
Minority Groups ◽  
Public Administrators ◽  
Federal Law ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
Equal Pay ◽  
Legal Concept ◽  
Equal Pay Act ◽  
Municipal Level

Affirmative action was originally meant to remove by law, as required by the Equal Pay Act and the 1964 Civil Rights Act, “artificial barriers” that often prevented women and minority groups from entering the workforce. By the late 1960's and early 1970's affirmative action had been altered to become the governmental attempt to provide compensatory opportunities for groups who experience discrimination when seeking employment. More recently the legal essence of affirmative action refers to specific guidelines and rules to recruit, hire, and promote disadvantaged groups for the purpose of eliminating the existing effects of past discriminatory practices. Despite a plethora of U.S. Supreme Court decisions, affirmative action has yet to be clearly defined as a cohesive public policy. The Court's failure to define affirmative action as a coherent constitutional and legal concept has led to widespread misinterpretation of affirmative action goals among public administrators. This notion is substantiated by examining the results of a survey of local government officials at the county and municipal level which measures their understanding and perception of federal law pertaining to affirmative action's meaning and purpose.

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