Equal Pay
Equal pay is based on fairness. People who perform the same job with comparable results deserve the same compensation.
When pay rates are based on stereotypes, incorrect assumptions about workers’ abilities, or bias, equal pay lawyers in California can help unfairly treated workers understand the legal contours of the California Equal Pay Act and the federal Equal Pay Act of 1963.
The equal pay laws in California compensate workers for the pay disparities they’re subjected to and penalize employers for discriminatory compensation practices.
Equal Pay Laws in California
There are laws for equal pay in both the California Code and the U.S. Code. Under California’s fair pay laws, wage discrimination on the basis of sex, race, or ethnicity is illegal. An employer that violates the state’s Equal Pay Act must compensate the employee for the missing pay plus interest.
The employer can also face punishment by paying additional liquidated damages equal to the missing pay plus interest. In other words, the worker gets double pay plus interest when they win their California unequal pay claim.
Federal law also prohibits pay discrimination. The Equal Pay Act of 1963 blocks gender-based wage discrimination, while the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of sex, race, national origin, color, or religion, including pay discrimination.
“Sex” includes both gender and sexual orientation. It may also include gender identity, but the U.S. Supreme Court has not yet addressed this specific matter.
Race and color arise from a person’s ethnic identity. These categories aren’t always well defined. However, you can often discern a pattern by identifying which employees are paid less.
Religion might seem like a more straightforward classification, but faith often intersects with color, national origin, beliefs, values, and culture. If you’ve been paid differently based on personal characteristics or habits arising from your religion, you may have grounds for an equal pay lawsuit.
National origin has become one of the most important protections of the Civil Rights Act. This classification isn’t based on race or color; rather, it’s based on ethnicity, ancestry, or immigration of the subject and their family. For example, it’s unlawful to pay someone less because they’re Mexican.
The Importance of Pay Equity
Pay equity complies with state and federal laws. However, it implements an important social policy that men and women who perform equal work deserve equal wages.
Employers can’t provide compensation based on gender, race, ethnicity, or other protected characteristics. Instead, they must pay substantially equal pay when jobs require substantially equal skill, effort, and responsibility under the same working conditions.
Offering fair pay to all workers who perform a particular job requiring equal work ensures loyalty and reduces employee conflicts. Instead of focusing on wage discrimination claims, workers can focus on improving productivity. At the same time, companies can fairly reward certain accomplishments.
Importantly, an employer doesn’t commit wage discrimination every time it provides unequal pay. Employers are allowed to implement merit systems, seniority systems, or productivity incentives to reward an employee’s quality or quantity of work.
These programs may lead to unequal pay, but this pay is distributed fairly based on the employee’s work rather than an immutable characteristic like sex, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, religion, or national origin.
Ultimately, equal pay lawyers in California may not be able to take legal action against employers that pay wages based on work-related standards rather than personal attributes.
Employer Obligations
Employers have several obligations under the law. First and foremost, they must create pay structures free from disparities based on classifications such as sex, race, ethnicity, religion, national origin, disability, or age.
The restrictions on these forms of discrimination arise from many regulations, including fair pay laws, civil rights laws, and the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA). Employers are expected to understand these laws and comply with them.
Employers are also obligated to supervise managers responsible for making decisions that affect pay to ensure that those decisions comply with state and federal law. If an employer intends to create pay incentives, it must ensure that its merit system, seniority system, or productivity system complies with equal pay laws.
Finally, employers must take employee pay complaints seriously.
Employers that hire more than two workers have a responsibility to investigate complaints of pay disparities. They must determine whether jobs requiring substantially equal physical or mental exertion result in substantially equal pay, regardless of the employees’ sex, race, or ethnicity.
When employers receive complaints, they must refrain from retaliating against the complainant and the witnesses who support them.
Employee Rights
Employees have a fundamental right to fair pay.
California’s Equal Pay Act allows workers to talk to others about their compensation without fear of retaliation. The anti-retaliation provisions also protect employees’ right to ask their employers about what their fellow workers are paid, though the employer also has the right not to divulge that information.
Additionally, employees have the right to ask coworkers to testify in cases involving pay gaps. The employer can’t retaliate against coworkers who help an employee pursue their claims. Workers can document these pay disparities using their own pay records and by asking coworkers to voluntarily disclose theirs.
The law gives employees the right to file a Labor Commission claim if they have evidence of a substantial pay differential based on sex, race, or ethnicity. They may also pursue an Equal Employment Opportunity Commission charge if their employer violated their federal civil rights laws. These procedures can provide valuable evidence of discrimination on the part of the employer.
Under the California Equal Pay Act, workers aren’t required to file a Labor Commission claim. Instead, they have the option to proceed directly to a lawsuit.
If you file a lawsuit, you have the right to present evidence of the pay gap. If the court delivers a verdict in your favor, you may receive the following compensation:
- The pay differential for up to two years for unintentional violations and up to three years for willful violations
- Interest on the pay differential
- Liquidated damages equal to the pay differential plus interest
Finally, you have the right to pursue these claims even if you no longer work for the employer. In other words, you can get another job while preserving your claim for unequal pay for equal work.
The Role of Equal Pay Attorneys
An equal pay attorney can offer objective legal advice and aggressive advocacy as you pursue your claims under state and federal equal pay laws. Early in your case, your lawyer will analyze the strength and value of your claim. This analysis will help you make informed decisions about potential legal strategies.
You and your attorney will work together to gather the evidence you need to prove your case. This might include witness testimony, pay records, and internal communications. Your lawyer can use discovery requests, depositions, and subpoenas to collect information relevant to your case.
In some situations, employers may be unaware of their duties when paying wages. These employers may be willing to reform their practices after having pay violations pointed out to them. If your employer falls into this category, your lawyer can likely settle your case relatively easily.
However, if your employer intentionally created a discriminatory pay system, it might not back down after receiving a letter from your lawyer.
If this is the case, your attorney can outline how to proceed, including the differences between filing a lawsuit and a Labor Commission claim. You can also discuss whether the violation involves federal employment discrimination laws or just California’s expansive Equal Pay Act.
Regardless of whether you pursue litigation or a Labor Commission claim, your lawyer will document the violation thoroughly.
Your employer may present defenses, such as trying to fit its practices into the exceptions for unequal pay under a seniority or merit system. Your attorney can challenge these defenses with evidence showing that the pay discrimination is based on sex, race, or ethnicity.
As the lawsuit progresses, your attorney will have ongoing discussions with your employer to try to settle your case.
A settlement can eliminate the uncertainty and expense of a trial for both sides. However, if your lawyer can’t negotiate a fair settlement, they’ll proceed to trial, presenting compelling evidence and pushing for full compensation under California law.
Finding an Equal Pay Attorney in California
If you believe your employer may have violated the state or federal Equal Pay Act, a team of equal pay attorneys can help you pursue your claims.
However, not every lawyer understands the Equal Pay Act or has experience dealing with race or sex-based wage discrimination claims. You need a legal professional who has previously handled pay inequality cases and has a record of obtaining positive results.
Start by gathering the names of firms with strong reputations for advocating for workers. Referrals from friends and coworkers can be highly valuable in your search for a lawyer. You can also search “equal pay lawyers California” to find and research additional firms.
Once you’ve compiled a list of law firms, review their websites to see what kind of cases they typically handle. Many employment law attorneys only represent employers. You need someone dedicated to handling the workers’ side of these disputes.
Read through the results posted on each firm’s website. Lawyers who accomplish positive outcomes, such as large settlements, court verdicts, or Equal Employment Opportunity Commission awards, will usually display them prominently.
Schedule consultations with the law firms remaining on your list. An initial consultation will allow you to discuss your case and ask questions about the lawyer’s experience, record, and approach. You can also learn more about your rights and the remedies the attorney can pursue under the Equal Pay Act.
This is also an excellent time to ask questions about the following:
- The lawyer’s fees
- The potential timeline for your case
- The compensation you may recover
- The strengths and weaknesses of your case
- Legal strategies for obtaining a fair outcome
Take time after your consultations to carefully consider which lawyer to hire. However, keep in mind that Equal Pay Act claims have a two or three-year deadline, depending on whether your employer committed a willful violation.
Thus, the quicker you act, the better your odds of recovering compensation for past paychecks and receiving fair pay going forward.
California Civil Rights Law Group Knows How to Handle Equal Pay Act Claims
Unequal pay isn’t just bad business. In cases where the pay disparity is linked to sex, race, ethnicity, or other suspect classifications, it can provide the basis for an equal pay claim.
The skilled attorneys at California Civil Rights Law Group have decades of experience spearheading compensation discrimination cases. Contact us today to discuss your situation and learn how we can help you recover your lost wages through an unequal pay lawsuit.
FAQ
Suppose that a restaurant hires both female and male servers. However, for reasons only known to the employer, the male servers receive $16.50 per hour plus tips, while female servers receive $17.50 per hour plus tips. This pay structure likely violates the California Equal Pay Act unless the employer can prove that it falls under an exception.
An employer can defend its pay structure when disparities result from the following:
- Differences in seniority
- Distinctions in merit
- Differences in the quantity or quality of work performed
- Bona fide factors arising from something besides sex, race, or ethnicity
In this context, “bona fide” means the justification isn’t a proxy for discrimination.
Under the state’s equal pay law, unfair pay is when two people are paid differently even though they perform substantially equal work.
Equal pay lawyers in California only need to prove that workers performing substantially similar work receive different wages. Your employer may defend its pay structure by arguing that it falls into one of the four aforementioned exceptions. As such, your lawyer will also gather evidence to overcome these defenses.
Generally, two employees doing the same job must be paid the same wage. However, you must verify that the combination of skill, effort, and responsibility is comparable and that the working conditions are similar. An employer may pay two workers differently if any of these elements differ substantially.
It’s illegal for employers to pay workers differently based on gender. This doesn’t mean that you’re automatically entitled to the same pay, as employers can recognize differences in merit, seniority, or productivity. If the only difference is gender, however, the pay must be the same.
Under the California Equal Pay Act, the location of the workers doesn’t matter. Consequently, you can use the pay of a counterpart at a different location to back up your pay discrimination claim.
That said, under the federal Equal Pay Act of 1963, you can only compare the wages of coworkers at the same establishment. Your lawyer can explain this distinction in greater detail.
Substantially similar work occurs when work tasks involve roughly equal skill, effort, and responsibility performed under similar working conditions. The law allows some wiggle room when comparing workers and their wages.
“Similar” doesn’t mean “same.” The law allows comparisons between workers by viewing jobs as composites of their parts.
The most extreme form of retaliation is termination. Other forms may include the following:
- Suspension
- Demotion
- Denial of benefits
- Refusal to provide additional opportunities, such as training or travel
However, the law is written broadly to account for any discrimination in the terms and conditions of employment.
The California Equal Pay Act prohibits retaliation against workers who exercise their rights. Since you have the right to equal pay, you also have the right to gather information about your compensation by asking coworkers what they earn and discussing any differences with your employer.
