Equal pay claims are legal actions taken by employees to address pay discrimination based on sex. The primary focus of these claims is to ensure that men and women in the same workplace receive equal pay for performing substantially equal work, regardless of their job titles. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 (EPA) is a federal law in the United States that prohibits pay discrimination on the basis of sex. In the context of equal pay claims, "substantially equal work" refers to jobs that have similar nature, skills, effort, responsibilities, and working conditions, even if the job titles are different.
The Equal Pay Act applies to various forms of compensation, including:
- Basic pay
- Non-discretionary bonuses
- Overtime rates and allowances
- Performance-related benefits
- Severance and redundancy pay
- Access to pension schemes
- Benefits under pension schemes
- Hours of work
- Company cars
- Sick pay
- Fringe benefits such as travel allowances
- Benefits in kind
To bring an equal pay claim, an employee must demonstrate that a female employee and a male employee are receiving different wages for performing substantially equal work in the same establishment and under similar working conditions. If successful, the employee may be entitled to back pay, future pay adjustments, and other remedies as determined by the court or relevant enforcement agency.
