The Equal Pay Act requires that men and women receive equal pay for equal work that is performed within the same establishment. The law does not require that the jobs be identical, only that they be substantially equal in terms of skill, effort, responsibility and working conditions.

Comparison of Work

You may believe that you are being discriminated against on the basis of sex in violation of the Equal Pay Act (EPA) because your male coworker is receiving a higher hourly rate than you are receiving, and that both of you are doing substantially similar work.

You may claim that you should be paid the same wage because you have a college degree or have acquired more experience with a prior employer and your male coworker has neither. The only problem with your comparison is that it is about you and not your job. In determining whether your work is substantially equal to the work performed by your male coworker, any difference between your skills and your male coworker's skills is irrelevant and unimportant.

In evaluating whether your job is substantially equal to your male coworker's job, the following analyses should be made:

  • Do the jobs share a common core of tasks that are substantially the same?
  • Does performance of the common core of tasks require substantially equal skill, effort and responsibility?
  • Do the jobs share the same working conditions?

Common Core of Tasks

The only valid comparison for EPA purposes is the comparison between your actual duties or job content and the actual duties of your male coworker. You and your male coworker perform substantially equal work if the actual duties assigned to the two jobs share a common core of tasks, that is, a significant portion of the tasks performed are the same. Minor differences in assigned duties does not make the work unequal, neither do differences in job titles or classifications.

Equal Skill

The performance of your job and your male coworker's job must require equal skill. This requirement is met if the two jobs substantially require the same experience, ability, education and training. Your possession of a skill that is not needed to perform the job will not be considered.

If the two jobs require different levels of experience, ability, education or training, then the jobs are not equal, and you are not entitled to equal pay. However, if the two jobs require the same experience, ability, education and training, then you move on to the next step of the analysis.

Equal Effort

In order to show that the two jobs require equal effort, you must show that the amount (not the kind) of physical or mental exertion needed to accomplish both jobs is the same. For example, if your male coworker is regularly required to perform heavy lifting and you are not required to perform any amount of heavy lifting, then the work is not equal. If your male coworker is occasionally required to perform heaving lifting, then the amount of physical exertion is minimal and you proceed to the next step.

Equal Responsibility

Does the performance of your job and your male coworker's job share the same level or degree of responsibility? Factors to consider in determining the level of responsibility include:

  • The extent to which the employee works without supervision
  • The extent to which the employee exercises supervisory or decision making authority
  • The impact of the employee's exercise of assigned duties on the employer's business

If you and your male coworker are performing otherwise equal jobs, but your male coworker is assigned a task that requires a significant amount of responsibility or accountability that may result in losses to your employer, then the two jobs are not equal because the male coworker's level of responsibility is greater than yours. However, if the additional task assigned to your male coworker has little impact on your employer's business, then the jobs are substantially equal because the difference in responsibility is minor.

Similar Working Conditions

If you and your male coworker perform your jobs in the same physical surroundings and deal with the same types of hazards, then your jobs share similar working conditions. Physical surroundings is a factor that takes into account the intensity and frequency of exposure to heat, cold, wetness, noise, fumes, odors, dust and ventilation. Hazards is a factor that takes into account the frequency and severity of dangerous conditions encountered in your work. While the factor of working conditions is important in determining whether jobs are substantially similar, it is rarely the subject of dispute in EPA actions.