Human Resources

What are the key differences between the former Equal Pay Act and the current Equal Pay Act?

The main differences are that the current law:

  • also prohibits race-, or ethnicity-based wage discrimination;
  • eliminates the requirement that the jobs that are compared must be located at the same establishment;
  • replaces a comparison of “equal” work with a comparison of “substantially similar” work;
  • makes it more difficult for employers to justify unequal pay based on sex, race, or ethnicity;
  • adds new express anti-retaliation protections for workers that assist employees with bringing claims under the Act;
  • provides that an employer cannot prohibit workers from disclosing their wages, discussing the wages of others, or inquiring about others’ wages;
  • prohibits employers from relying solely on an employee’s prior salary to justify the sex-, race-, or ethnicity- based pay difference

October 2018

Tags: California