When Are Pay Disparities Unlawful?

There are many different reasons that employees in South Florida workplaces earn different amounts of money, and many if not all of those reasons can be valid and lawful in a particular workplace. However, there are also pay disparities that are unlawful because they exist for discriminatory reasons. The most common example is a circumstance in which a male employee is paid more for the same work as a female employee. Yet unlawful pay disparities can also be based on other forms of discrimination, including discrimination on the basis of race, religion, age, or disability, for example. To be clear, an employer might be violating federal and state law if they are paying workers with certain disabilities less than other employees doing the same work who are able-bodied. Or, for instance, a Black employee might be the victim of unlawful discrimination if they are being paid less for the same work that a white employee is performing.

Not all pay disparities are unlawful, but it is essential to understand when they might be unlawful so that you can seek legal advice. A Palm Beach Gardens discrimination lawyer at our firm can tell you more about unlawful pay disparities and discrimination claims in South Florida.

Types of Pay That Can Be Considered 

When thinking about pay disparities that may be unlawful, it is important to know that any form of compensation can be considered, including:

• Hourly wage;
• Salary;
• Overtime pay;
• Bonuses;
• Benefits;
• Vacation days or paid time off; and
• Reimbursements for expenses.

Simply earning a different pay than another employee is not unlawful since employees are often paid on the basis of their skill, educational level, and required job tasks. However, if you perform the same job as another person and receive a substantially dissimilar rate of pay or compensation, you could be experiencing unlawful discrimination.

Wage Discrimination Based on Sex

 The federal Equal Pay Act protects employees of all sexes against wage discrimination based on sex. There are multiple elements of this time of claim that an employee must meet to prove wage discrimination based on sex. As the US Department of Labor explains, the employee seeking to prove unlawful wage discrimination based on sex must show that the jobs being compared “require substantially equal skill, effort, and responsibility and be performed under similar working conditions within the same establishment.”

Other laws also protect against sex and gender discrimination, which can include employment discrimination in pay. Those laws include Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Florida Civil Rights Act (FCRA).

Laws Prohibiting Discrimination in Pay and Compensation on Other Bases 

There are several other important federal laws, in addition to the FCRA. Title VII also protects against pay-related or compensation-related discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, and genetic information. The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protects against discrimination on the basis of a disability, and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA) prohibits discrimination on the basis of age for employees aged 40 and up.

Contact Our Palm Beach Gardens Employment Discrimination Lawyers 

If you have any concerns about wage discrimination or pay disparity, you should seek advice from one of the experienced Palm Beach Gardens employment discrimination attorneys at Sconzo Law Office as soon as possible. Contact us today for more information about how we can help you.

Sources:

dol.gov/agencies/oasam/centers-offices/civil-rights-center/internal/policies/equal-pay-for-equal-work

eeoc.gov/statutes/title-vii-civil-rights-act-1964#:~:text=Title%20VII%20prohibits%20employment%20discrimination,several%20sections%20of%20Title%20VII

dol.gov/general/topic/disability/ada

eeoc.gov/statutes/age-discrimination-employment-act-1967