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What happened during the Equal Pay Act of 1963?
The Equal Pay Act, signed in to law by President John F. Kennedy on June 10, 1963, was one of the first federal anti-discrimination laws that addressed wage differences based on gender. The Act made it illegal to pay men and women working in the same place different salaries for similar work.
What did the Equal Pay Act do?
The Equal Pay Act of 1963, amending the Fair Labor Standards Act, protects against wage discrimination based on sex.
What is the Equal Pay Act in simple terms?
The Equal Pay Act requires that men and women in the same workplace be given equal pay for equal work. If there is an inequality in wages between men and women, employers may not reduce the wages of either sex to equalize their pay.
Who did the Equal Pay Act affect?
Enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the law applies to employers with 20 or more employees and to federal government, interstate agencies, employment agencies and labor unions.
How was the Equal Pay Act created?
To prohibit discrimination on account of sex in the payment of wages by employers engaged in commerce or in the production of goods for commerce. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act may be cited as the “Equal Pay Act of 1963.”
Who has right to equal pay for equal work?
A federal law, the Equal Pay Act (EPA), requires employers to pay men and women equally for doing the same work — equal pay for equal work. The Equal Pay Act was passed in 1963 as an amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act and can be found at 29 U.S.C. § 206.
Why did the Equal Pay Act start?
Equal Pay Act of 1963 (EPA), landmark U.S. legislation mandating equal pay for equal work, in a measure to end gender-based disparity. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act into law. It was enacted as an amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938, which regulates minimum wages, overtime, and child labour.
What employers are subject to the Equal Pay Act?
Effective January 1, 2018, public employers, such as state, county, and local agencies and entities, are covered by the Equal Pay Act. Beginning January 1, 2018, an employee of a public employer may file an Equal Pay Act claim against his or her employer.
What is an unfair wage?
Unfair wages, also known as wage discrimination, is generally defined as the failure to fairly compensate employees for their work or in an amount that falls below the standard minimum wage. Unfair wage claims provide the basis of most employment law cases. Withholding a paycheck or underpaying an employee.
What was the purpose of the Equal Pay Act?
The Equal Pay Act is a labor law that prohibits gender-based wage discrimination in the United States. Signed by President Kennedy in 1963 as an amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act, the law mandates equal pay for equal work by forbidding employers from paying men and women different wages or benefits for doing jobs
Who was against the Equal Pay Act of 1963?
Segments of the business community opposed the Equal Pay Act. These included the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the National Retail Merchants Association (NRMA) both of whom argued that women were more expensive to employ than men. This was supposedly due to added costs associated with female workers.
Who was in charge of equal pay for women?
The act had been drafted by Esther Peterson, head of the Women’s Bureau of the Department of Labor. It prohibited employers who were subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (under which the new law fell) from paying employees differently, on the basis of gender, for work that required “equal skill, effort, and responsibility.”
When do employers have to raise pay for equal work?
If there is an inequality in wages between men and women who perform substantially equal jobs, employers must raise wages to equalize pay but may not reduce the wages of other individuals. What is Required to Substantiate an Equal Pay Act Claim?