Unequal Pay

Unequal Pay

Unequal pay involves both how you are treated and how you were paid by your employer.  If you think your employer is paying male or White employees more than it is paying you for doing substantially similar work, you could be right.

According to a study by the U.S. Government Accountability Office , in 2021:

• Women earned an estimated 82 cents for every dollar that men earned (an overall pay gap of 18 cents on the dollar).
• Compared to the overall pay gap, the gender pay gap was greater for full-time female managers, who earned an estimated 77 cents for every dollar earned by full-time male managers (a pay gap of 23 cents on the dollar).
• Women earned an estimated 82 cents for every dollar that men earned (an overall pay gap of 18 cents on the dollar).
• Compared to the overall pay gap, the gender pay gap was greater for full-time female managers, who earned an estimated 77 cents for every dollar earned by full-time male managers (a pay gap of 23 cents on the dollar).
• Compared to pay for White men, the pay gap was greater for certain racial and ethnic groups. For example, for every dollar earned by White men, Hispanic or Latina women earned an estimated 58 cents (a pay gap of 42 cents on the dollar), and Black or African American women earned an estimated 63 cents (a pay gap of 37 cents on the dollar), while White women earned an estimated 79 cents (a pay gap of 21 cents on the dollar).

California has one of the strictest equal pay laws in the country. The California Equal Pay Act combats unequal pay by:

1. Prohibiting wage discrimination based on gender, race, and ethnicity for “substantially similar” work.
2. Requiring employers to prove that wage differences are based on legitimate, non-discriminatory factors.
3. Allowing workers to discuss their wages without retaliation from their employer.
4. Providing remedies for workers who have been subjected to wage discrimination, including back pay and damages.

The CEPA applies to employers of any size. You need only show that you were paid less for performing substantially similar work than any single employee of a different gender, race, or ethnicity, in any of your employer's locations. Work is substantially similar when viewed as a composite of skill, effort, and responsibility and performed under similar working conditions. If you can make that showing, your employer then bears the burden of proving that the pay disparity is based on either: as a seniority system, a merit system, or a system that measures earnings by quantity or quality of production; that the factor is not based on or derived from a gender-based differential; that the factor is applied reasonably; and that it accounts for the entire wage differential.

The definition of wages is broad and includes all forms of compensation, including hourly pay or salary; deferred compensation, including profit sharing plans; expense accounts and gasoline allowances, uniform cleaning allowances, and similar reimbursements and other allowances; use of a company car; bonuses; vacation and holiday pay; premium pay for working weekends and holidays; and fringe benefits such as medical insurance, life insurance, and retirement benefits.

Your employer is required to provide you with the pay scale for your job position, meaning the salary or hourly wage range that your employer reasonably expects to pay for the position.

If your employer violated the CEPA, you can recover unpaid wages, interest, liquidated damages (which doubles the amount of unpaid wages), and attorney's fees and costs. You need not prove that the pay differential exists because of intentional discrimination. But if there is proof of intentional discrimination, you might also be able to recover emotional distress damages and punitive damages.