Pay Equity Overview
Major Laws and Court Cases Relating to Equal Pay for Equal Work
The persistence of gender-based wage disparities — commonly referred to as the pay or wage gap — has been the subject of extensive debate and commentary. Congress first addressed the issue more than four decades ago in the Equal Pay Act of 1963, mandating an “equal pay for equal work” standard, and addressed it again the following year in Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Collection of compensation data and elimination of male/female pay disparities are also integral to Labor Department enforcement of Executive Order 11246 (initially issued by President Lyndon Johnson), which mandates nondiscrimination and affirmative action…
