50 years ago this week the Equal Pay Act was signed into law.
The purpose of the Equal Pay Act is to prohibit discrimination on account of sex in the payment of wages by employers to employees.
Under the Equal Pay Act, all employers must pay equal wages to women and men in the same establishment for performing substantially equal work.
When President John F. Kennedy signed the Equal Pay Act into law in 1963, women were earning about 40% less than their male counterparts for doing the same jobs.
Today with the help of the Equal Pay Act, the difference in earnings between men and women has decreased to 20%. However, that gap is larger for minority women and for women with disabilities.
Laws like the Equal Pay Act are still important today because our nation’s workforce includes more women than ever before. Women comprise almost half of the U.S. labor force and a growing number are the sole providers for their families. Women are now also working in positions and fields that have been traditionally dominated by men.
Despite continued progress toward gender equality in the workplace, there still exists a significant earnings gap between women and men.
If you feel that you are earning less money than your coworkers because of your gender or if you have questions about your rights under the Equal Pay Act, contact a Minneapolis employment lawyer with LeBlanc Law & Mediation at 612-819-9652.
