Paid Less Than a Coworker for the Same Job? What the Equal Pay Act Covers

Paid less than a coworker for the same job? What the Equal Pay Act covers

Finding out a coworker earns more for the same work is frustrating. Sometimes there’s a lawful reason, such as seniority, a merit system or a pay system based on production. But if the gap is based on sex, federal law may give you a claim, with a deadline that starts running with each paycheck.

What the law requires

The EEOC: Equal Pay/Compensation Discrimination page explains that the Equal Pay Act (EPA) requires men and women in the same workplace to be given equal pay for equal work. The jobs need not be identical, but they must be substantially equal, and job content, not job titles, decides that. An “assistant manager” and a “supervisor” doing the same work can be compared.

“Pay” is broad. The EEOC lists salary, overtime pay, bonuses, stock options, profit sharing and bonus plans, life insurance, vacation and holiday pay, allowances, travel reimbursement and benefits. And an employer can’t fix a gap by cutting the higher-paid person’s wages.

Deadlines

Per the EEOC: Time limits for filing a charge page, under the EPA you don’t need to file an EEOC charge first; you can go directly to court. The deadline is two years from the last discriminatory paycheck, or three years for willful discrimination. Filing an EEOC charge doesn’t extend the deadline for going to court.

Title VII also bans sex discrimination in pay, and the EEOC notes Title VII, the ADEA and the ADA also prohibit pay discrimination based on race, color, religion, national origin, age or disability. Those laws don’t require the jobs to be substantially equal, but they do have shorter charge-filing deadlines: generally 180 calendar days, extended to 300 days where a state or local agency enforces a similar law.

Steps to take

1. Gather facts: your pay stubs, offer letter, job description, and what you know about the comparison job’s duties.
2. Check posted ranges. Many states now require salary ranges in job postings (see pay transparency laws), which can show where you sit.
3. Ask HR how your pay was set, in writing and in neutral terms.
4. Make a raise case with market data (see benchmark your salary).
5. Watch the calendar, and talk to an employment attorney or the EEOC if the answer doesn’t add up.

General information, not legal advice. State laws vary; check your state labor department or an employment attorney for your situation.

Header image: Photo: “Janice Glenn Acting Director of Illinois Department of Human Rights Equal Pay Da” by Charles Edward Miller from Chicago, United States, CC BY-SA 2.0 (cropped).