Employment Laws: Equal Pay Act - Essay Example

Running Head: EQUAL PAY ACT Background of the Act According to Meiners and others, the 1963’s Equal Pay Act was established as the first of its kind of law and its focus was on discrimination in the context of employment. The Act prohibits the discrimination of wages on sex basis. In the Act it is held that it is against the Federal law to pay women and men workers different wages in a situation where a job calls for equal effort, skill, responsibility as well as same conditions of work. Under this Act, Job totles stand irrelevant; the content of the Job is reviewed. However, the Act on Equal Pay allows for wage differences if such are as a result of: a system of merit, a system of seniority, a system where earnings are measured by quality or quantity of production or a wage differential that is based upon other factors besides sex. Since it has been argued that prior to the Equal Pay Act, then wages of male employees have been relatively higher in comparison to their female counterparts it comes with a condition. This condition requires that; differentials on pay on the sex basis are to be done away with by way of raising the women employees’ pay but not by way of decreasing the men employees’ pay. (Meiners, et al 2006 p 441) 1. The manager claimed that the men received raises because they were performing extra duties. Can you identify any potential problems in the manager’s response? In the Equal Pay Act, section 206 (d), there is the prohibition of discrimination based on sex. Paragraph (1) of this section states that no employer who has employees subject to the section’s provisions shall discriminate between such employees in any given establishment on the basis of their sex by way of paying them wages at a lower rate than the opposite sex’s employees. That is, for equal work done on jobs for which performance calls for equal skill, responsibility, effort as well as similar conditions of work. It goes further to state that wage differentials can be condoned under four conditions: A system of merit, A system of seniority, A system where earnings are measured by quality or quantity of, and A wage differential based on other factors other than sex. While looking at the manager’s claim that men workers received raises based on their performing extra work or duties, there are potential predicaments. This is because while further looking at the paragraph number (2) of the same section it is clearly stipulated that no organization of labor or its agents shall attempt or cause other employer to discriminate against any employee which is in violation of paragraph number (1) of the subsection. From the two paragraphs, content, there are problems bound to arise due to the response by the manager. (eeoc.gov, 2009) This organization ought to pay equal wages to both sexes since as per the Equal Pay Act; the scenario portrays that the skill required is that of secretaries, who can type 20 reports of five pages each- thus same effort and the organization is the same but for department’s issue which is not expounded- therefore, there are similar working conditions. Therefore, the phrase ‘performing extra duties’ is ambiguous. 2. The female secretaries decided to bring a suit against the corporation. They claimed that they did not receive raises because of their gender. Pretend that you are a lawyer and the female secretaries have come to you with their complaint. After talking with the secretaries, you realize that you need to find out some additional information. What additional information might be helpful in this case? Going by the manager’s response, that male employees were performing extra duties and also that the secretarial efforts required were 20 reports of five pages each on top of the completion of work for the particular respective departments of work, there is additional information required. This information may be with the inclusion of whether the organization is doing such an increment on merit or quality or quantity of production. There would also be confirmation of whether such an increment is based on another factor other than sex. My seeking for such information is to make sure that the female secretaries’ complaint on sex discrimination is in fact a violation of the Equal Pay Act such that the pay rise on their male counterparts is on job performance of work that requires equal effort, skill as well as responsibility. Also it is essential to prove beyond reasonable doubt that it is not a wage raise based on a system of seniority, a system of merit, a system which has earnings measured by quality or quantity of production or lastly if such was based on another factor other than sex. This is because the latter argument of the Sec.206 paragraph (1)’s which allows for wage differentials may have been applied by the manager. (eeoc.gov, 2009) 3. You discover only one case regarding equal pay that was decided in your district. In this case, both men and women performed hard labor in a factory, but only men received offers to work during the third shift. Those workers who worked the third shift received an additional $30 per hour. The women in this factory claimed that they were not asked to work the third shift because of their gender. The factory argued that the women who worked at the factory were not physically strong enough to endure the work of the third shift. The court ruled in favor of the women. Do you think that you should use this case as an analogy? Why or why not? According to the Equal Pay Act’s purpose declaration Section 2(a), there are specific declarations by the Congress. Here, the Congress says that the industries’ of commerce existence where wage differentials can be based upon sex. These are to ensure that the Congress’ exercise leads to the regulation of commerce among various states (as per Section 2(b)) as well as commerce with foreign countries. This is to correct situations as stipulated in Section 2(a). These are to curb the anomalies which led to; (1) the depression of wages as well as the standards of living for employees for their efficiency and health; (2) prevention of maximum utilization of labor resources that are available; (3) tending to cause disputes of labor, leading to efficiency, burdening and obstructing of commerce; (4) burdens the commerce as well as the free flow of commodities in such commerce; and (5) involves an unfair competition method. Based on this declaration, therefore, the female employees wanted to work in the third shift but were refused. Thus, they can apply the stipulation number (2). The female employees can use this case to move forward with their grievance. Both the cases are similar since the female employees were said not to have done the extra job the male employees had done that led to lower wages. Differences occur due to the fact that in the first case, the manager is ambiguous on the extra duties done by the male workers. The second case is tending toward the declaration number (5)- involves unfair competition method and the stipulation number (2) where there is prevention of maximum utilization of labor resources that are available. (eeoc.gov, 2009) References: eeoc.gov . (2009). The Equal Pay Act of 1963. Retrieved November 5, 2009 http://www.eeoc.gov/policy/epa.html Meiners, Roger E. et al. (2006). The Legal Environment of Business. Cengage Learning. Edition 9, illustrated. Read More