Equal+Pay+Act

Karissa Aldinger Period 1 Civil Rights

**Below you can read the actual document stating what the EPA is, and what all it includes:**
(d) Prohibition of sex discrimination (1) No employer having employees subject to any provisions of this section shall discriminate, within any establishment in which such employees are employed, between employees on the basis of sex by paying wages to employees in such establishment at a rate less than the rate at which he pays wages to employees of the opposite sex in such establishment for equal work on jobs the performance of which requires equal skill, effort, and responsibility, and which are performed under similar working conditions, except where such payment is made pursuant to (i) a seniority system; (ii) a merit system; (iii) a system which measures earnings by quantity or quality of production; or (iv) a differential based on any other factor other than sex: Provided, That an employer who is paying a wage rate differential in violation of this subsection shall not, in order to comply with the provisions of this subsection, reduce the wage rate of any employee. (2) No labor organization, or its agents, representing employees of an employer having employees subject to any provisions of this section shall cause or attempt to cause such an employer to discriminate against an employee in violation of paragraph (1) of this subsection. (3) For purposes of administration and enforcement, any amounts owing to any employee which have been withheld in violation of this subsection shall be deemed to be unpaid minimum wages or unpaid overtime compensation under this chapter. (4) As used in this subsection, the term “labor organization” means any organization of any kind, or any agency or employee representation committee or plan, in which employees participate and which exists for the purpose, in whole or in part, of dealing with employers concerning grievances, labor disputes, wages, rates of pay, hours of employment, or conditions of work. **(1)**

**What JFK Had to Say:**
“I AM delighted today to approve the Equal Pay Act of 1963, which prohibits arbitrary discrimination against women in the payment of wages. This act represents many years of effort by labor, management, and several private organizations unassociated with labor or management, to call attention to the unconscionable practice of paying female employees less wages than male employees for the same job. This measure adds to our laws another structure basic to democracy. It will add protection at the working place to the women, the same rights at the working place in a sense that they have enjoyed at the polling place. While much remains to be done to achieve full equality of economic opportunity--for the average woman worker earns only 60 percent of the average wage for men--this legislation is a significant step forward.” -June 10, 1963

John F. Kennedy shows his enthusiasm while talking about approving the Equal Pay Act of 1963. He notes that the unjust treatment of women has been ongoing for far too long and this amendment just put America another step closer to full democracy, giving women a sense of security in the workplace. Yet, he also notes that even with this, much more must be done in order to reach absolute equality economically for women. **(2)**

What is the EPA?
The Equal Pay Act of 1963 is actually an amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act. It was made to try and put an end to “wage disparity” based on sex. A difference in salary based upon sex only initiates an unjust feud in the work force. Congress wanted to protect employees from gender discrimination, and rectify the timeworn belief that men should be paid more than women simply because their “role in society” is more vital or important. One could say that the EPA has helped tremendous gains in women’s pay, but in reality the percent of women’s pay (compared to a mans’) has only went from 62% in 1970 to 80% in 2004, which is still 20% away from EQUAL. Nevertheless, the EPA was a great thing for society the American economy, and will hopefully only continue to grow. **(3)**

**Leading Up to the EPA:** === The EPA was pushed by other historical instances prior to 1963. For example, a large number of women in America took jobs during World War II to generate needed war supplies. Backing them, the National War Labor Board made strong suggestions to all employers of America to make “adjustments which equalize wage or salary rates paid to females with the rates paid to males”. Employers threw out these requests and even had the audacity to lay almost all of the women off so that their veteran workers had a position when they returned. It was very clear back then that when it came to the workforce, there was no level of equality between genders. Newspapers even printed separate job listings for men and women up until the 1960’s. Of course, almost all of the higher paying jobs were listed under the male listings. (6) ===

Violations of the EPA:
After the EPA was established, many cases were heard across America, and two major cases helped the people understand to what limits the EPA went. Heard before the United States Court of Appeals in 1970, Schultz v. Wheaton Glass Company ruled that for equal pay, the job must be “substantially equal” in terms of what is expected of the employee, but does not have to be identical in name or description.

Another case, heard before the United States Supreme Court in 1974, argued that equal pay should be given to women working the day shift of inspection versus the men working the night shift inspection. This case was Corning Glass Works v. Brennan. The men were being paid more, so the company put in effect a new “job evaluation” system so that all new inspectors worked for the same wage. Although, the men that already worked as inspectors and were being paid more, continued to be paid higher than all others. The Supreme Court ruled that the company had violated the Equal Pay Act. This showed the people of America that even if a company tries to make adjustments to make it seem like they are paying equally, a certain group of people doing the same job may continue to make higher wages, and that is illegal. **(6)**


 * How it Affects Families Now:**

Because of this gender wage-gap, women have to work longer hours just to make the same amount of money as a man. It is almost like 20 cents out of every dollar just disappear compared to a mans’ full “100 cent” dollar. An “Equal Pay Day” was actually established to occur one a year on a given Tuesday. This day is meant to bring light on this important topic to all workers to show its large presence in today’s society. The wage-gap actually narrowed during the 1980’s. Some might say this is a good thing, but in reality it is just a sad thing. It is sad because it only narrowed due to the fact that men’s wages in general fell substantially during this time. Women try and do what they can to show that they are just as competent to earn the same as men, but even as women’s college attendance and completion rates exceeded men’s, the gap didn’t budge. Looking at the wage-gap from full-time, year-round workers, (which should not be the only place this gap needs to narrow) women’s wages reached its’ peak in 1993 compared to men’s at only 81%. **(5)**

How it Affects Businesses Now:
The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) has done some of their own surveys to see how far the Equal Pay Act is really resolving the wage-gap issue. Their results prove that the gap is still a very big problem and will continue to be if further action is not taken. They believe that the gap still shows largely within certain groups of the supply management profession. The surveys were done on men and women in the supply management profession, based on number of years of experience in the same career. Men with 11 to 20 years of experience had an average salary of $99,854 in 2007 in contrast with women’s $69,588. But as recently stated, the gap is growing smaller in different fields. This is shown from another survey taken a year later showing men with the same years experience to have an average salary of 103,908 compared to a women’s average salary in the same position with the same years experience of only $82,813. Paul Novak, a CEO at ISM states, “Gender should not be a factor at all”. But then why is the gap there, one might ask. Recently, ISM released a statement admitting to knowledge of the gender wage-gap, but that they believe it should not exist at all. **(4)**

Excuses, Excuses..
There are no excuses when it comes to this gender wage-gap. One could not blame it on skill levels or college degrees, for both have been proven to still show a large wage-gap when high levels of both “excuses” were present. Other actions have been taken to try and lower the wage-gap, but yet it still persists. It is clear that these things are only minor solutions, and what America needs is not something to make the wage-gap more narrow, but to eliminate it all together. From the beginning of time, there have been certain jobs associated with gender, and it is ridiculous to say that in today’s society these stereo-types still exist. The wage-gap could have been seen from the start, because the jobs associated with women are typically lesser paid than that of jobs associated with men. For example, a woman could go to school for years and receive a very high level of education for nursing, which is quite underpaid for the amount of certification it takes. **(5)**

**Improvement:**
It must be mentioned, though, that the gender wage-gap has made tremendous bounds to try and make the workplace a better environment for women. In the 1950’s, women only made about 61.5 cents for every dollar earned by a male at that time. Compared to now, with women making about 80 cents on every male dollar, one must see the great improvement. **(7)**

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 * (1)** [|http://www.dol.gov/oasam/regs/statutes/equal_pay_act.htm__]


 * (2)** John T. Woolley and Gerhard Peters, //The American Presidency Project// [online]. Santa Barbara, CA. Available from World Wide Web: [].


 * (3)** []


 * (4)** Zubko, Nick. "ISM addresses Equal Pay: compensation disparities still prevalent for supply management professionals." //Industry Week// 258.1 (2009): 29. //Student Resource Center - Gold//. Web. 23 Feb. 2010.


 * (5)** Boushey, Heather. "Comparable Worth Policies Promote Social Justice." //Opposing Viewpoints: Social Justice//. Ed. William Dudley. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, 2005. //Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center//. Web. 23 Feb. 2010.


 * (6)** []


 * (7)** [|http://www.speaker.gov/issues?id=0065]