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Title VII and other laws relating to gender discrimination - Equal Pay Act

Equal Pay Act (EPA) is an Act that prohibits pay discrimination based on sex and states

that men and women must be paid equally for substantially equal work performed in the same

establishment. This Act allows individuals to file complaint for pay discrimination claims under 

Title !! of the "ivil #i$hts Act. Employers are le$ally barred from retaliatin$ a$ainst employees

who take action a$ainst discriminatory practice at work. %owever& the law allows for pay

differentials when employees are evaluated based on criteria such as seniority& production levels&

and experience. This act is administered and enforced by the '.. Equal Employment

pportunity "ommission (EE") ("ho #. * +ramer. A ,-/).

#elevance of Equal Pay in "urrent Time0 Till today& the $ender pay $ap& is prevalent and

 persistent in the '.. 1hen the EPA was si$ned in 23/& women earned on avera$e 425 of what

men were paid 6 which was& 42 cents for every dollar men made. After more than fifty years

from then0 women on avera$e earn 775 of what men are paid& or 77 cents for every dollar men

make (%ayes 8 & ,-/) .

The reason for this 9ap is the hi$hly :$endered; look of s workplace& which is also

known as occupational se$re$ation. <en work in industries predominantly occupied by men& and

women work in industries where lar$ely most women are. <ale=ma>ority industries tend to offer 

more better=paid positions versus more poorly paid positions in female=dominated industries this

is known as >obs $ap. A recent study in ,- found women are hi$hly observed to participate in

 positions like receptionist or administrative assistants occupyin$ ma>ority of the workforce.

%i$her paid positions like supervisor or mana$er of sales& accounts and finance depart often

 belon$ to <ale employees (%e$ewisch. A. and 1illiams . "& ,-). Accordin$ to economists this

$ap exists because of two reasons one is %uman capital theory that su$$ests some workers are

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 paid less because& they lack the required level of education& trainin$ or work experience

compared to their competitors& and other is ?iscrimination theory which says discriminatory

 practices induce differential treatments to different $roups of people& which leads to biased

assessments and expectations on productivity& performance evaluation& and appraisal towards one

$roup of workers over others (@lau. ?. . and +ahn. <. B&,--7 ).

The wa$e $ap varies considerably across occupations& but overall& women earn less than

men. The wa$e $ap knows has no bounds& and invariably& women are met with disparities in pay

in all sphere of occupational cate$ories. ccupational se$re$ation& >ust like wa$e discrimination&

is an issue of inequality. #educin$ both inequalities will mean reducin$ more barriers to

economic security and $ood middle class >obs. This means not only enforcin$ and stren$thenin$

laws& but also promotin$ systems and practices that value and compensate women as equal

 participants in the labor force. n Equal Pay ?ay April 4& ,-4 the '.. president requested

con$ress to pass a law that ensures woman is paid the same as that of man for doin$ the same

work in this a$e (Byles . B. ,-4).

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Reference:

@lau. ?. . and +ahn. <. B& (,--7). The gender pay gap, have women gone as far as they can? 

tandford 'niversity. #etrieved from

https0CCweb.stanford.eduC$roupCscspiCDmediaCpdfCkeyDissuesC$enderDresearch.pdf   on

eptember ,-& ,-4

"ho #. and +ramer. A(,-/). Everything You Need to Know about the Equal Pay ct! "etrieved 

from http0CCre$ender.or$CEqualPayAct on ept ,- ,-4

%e$ewisch. A. and 1illiams . "& (,-). The gender wage gap by occupation& !nstitute of 

1omen Policy #esearch. #etrieved from http0CCwww.iwpr.or$CpublicationsCpubsCthe=

$ender=wa$e=$ap=by=occupation=updated=april=,- on eptember ,- & ,-4

%ayes . 8. (,-/) 9ender wage gap pro#ected to close in year $%&'( most women wor)ing today

will not see equal pay during their wor)ing lives! !nstitute of 1omen Policy #esearch.

#etrieved from 0 http0CCwww.iwpr.or$CpublicationsCpubsC$ender=wa$e=$ap=pro>ected=to=

close=in=year=,-4=most=women=workin$=today=will=not=see=equal=pay=durin$=their=

workin$=lives on eptember ,- & ,-4

Byles . B. (,-4). !tFs time for equal pay now. '.. ?epartment of Babor blo$. #etrieved from 0

https0CCblo$.dol.$ovC,-4C-GC/Cits=time=for=equal=pay=nowC on eptember ,- & ,-4

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