Equal Pay
VickyB
10 Posts
One of my clients has a supervisor, female, 56, 10 years service who
is paid less than a male, who has 1 1/2 years of service, less experience
and has had a bumpy 18 months of employment and she is his supervisor.
They both perform work at the same establishment and the work is "equal" except for the supervisory aspect. How do I convience this client that he is very likely out of compliance when he hasn't seen that in the past year.
is paid less than a male, who has 1 1/2 years of service, less experience
and has had a bumpy 18 months of employment and she is his supervisor.
They both perform work at the same establishment and the work is "equal" except for the supervisory aspect. How do I convience this client that he is very likely out of compliance when he hasn't seen that in the past year.
Comments
The equal pay act provides that men and women doing the same work for an employer must be paid the same. The employer can defend a claim by coming up with a strong business justification as to why one employee makes more (for example, if one employee had a special job related degree or certification, that may make the employee more valuable). But the company needs to know that a claim that market forces are causing the difference (the male employee costs more because others will pay more) would be soundly rejected by any court. Basically, the court would say that the discrimination of other employers does not justify more discrimination.
But I am wondering if age discrimination may be at work her. You do not say the age of the newer employee, but he is probably younger than the female. If so, that could be a claim the employer would have to face.
What you need to find out, to determine if there is a compliance issue is why the difference in pay? If the company does not have a strong business reason, it should equalize the pay (by bringing the female up to the pay level of the male employee).
Good Luck!!