Wage Gaps and
Equal Pay
We are dedicated to eliminating the wage gap between men and women’s salaries, and for people of color and LGBTQ individuals, whether it takes the form of helping you negotiate your salary, or of an equal pay lawsuit. We know how to take full advantage of California’s uncompromising pay equity laws, which are designed to close this gap.
The California Equal Pay Act
What does it require?
Employers must pay their male and female employees who perform substantially similar work at rates that are the same.
What is substantially similar work?
It is a combination of the following three elements, as required to do the job, under similar working conditions:
Skill: experience, ability, education and training
Effort: physical or mental exertion
Responsibility: the degree of accountability or duties
Can there be other reasons for paying people differently?
Only if an employer can show that the wage difference results from one of the following “legitimate” reasons
- seniority
- merit
- a system that measures production
- a job-related factor other than sex that is consistent with a business necessity such as education, training or experience
It is the employer’s obligation to establish one of these things, which is meant to be difficult, as the law is designed to get rid of the wage gap.
