Even before the Equal Pay Act of 1963 (yes over 60 years ago!), the struggle for pay equity has been a long, slow process. More recently, pay transparency and salary inquiry restrictions have been employed as a tool in this fight. Restrictions on inquiring about salary history have expanded to 28 states and municipalities as of this year. Laws that mandate the posting of salary ranges for positions are on the rise too. Here is a terrific overview of Pay Equity we prepared for our monthly newsletter.
Why is it so hard to make pay equitable? A simple idea: equal pay for equal work? It is complicated… .
In most workplaces, jobs are filled and created to meet a pressing need. The pay is set based on the job but also the market and sometimes even the candidate. At the same time, job tasks start to vary from their dusty old job descriptions, making the comparisons for pay for the same job even tougher. Over time, inequities emerge. Meanwhile, your workforce hums along–until it doesn’t. A complaint is filed which can trigger a state or federal audit.
Based on what we have seen and what the law requires, we have developed fixed fee services to help you comply with pay equity mandates. Our Turn Key Pay Equity Audit will help you achieve compliance and establish all possible affirmative defenses. We do the heavy lifting–evaluating and analyzing current pay scale, grades, ranges and differentials– for a fixed fee. If you do not need as much help, we have an Affirmative Defense Audit & Report Service. For a fixed fee, we will analyze your self-audit and issue a report with recommendations and affirmative defenses. All our services are provided by experienced attorneys.
If you have questions about these services or any other workplace law topic, contact us. We can help.