Florida Law Governing
- Discrimination
Equal Pay Legislation in Florida
Florida's Equal Pay statute, Florida Statutes, Section 448.07 parallels the Federal Equal Pay Act of 1963 (EPA). Both statutes provide that victims of gender-based discrimination may recover the differential between the wages paid and the wages which should have been paid for a maximum of one year prior to filing suit. Both statutes permit the claimant to bring a civil action directly without the requirement of exhausting the administrative processes.
In addition, both the FCHR and the EPA provide for recovery of costs and reasonable attorneys' fees by the prevailing party. The EPA, however, permits backpay recovery for two years (three if the action is willful) compared with a one year recovery under Florida Statutes, Section 448.07. Moreover, the successful claimant may recover an amount equal to the back wages as "liquefied damages" under the EPA while Florida Statutes, Section 448.07, offers no such protection. Finally, the statute of limitations for bringing an action under the EPA is two years, compared with what appears to be a six month period under Florida Statutes, Section 448.07.
Another piece of Florida legislation touching upon equal pay is Florida Statutes, Section 725.07(l). This statute makes it unlawful to discriminate on the basis of "sex, marital status or race in the areas of loaning money and granting credit or" by failing to provide "equal pay for equal services."
It is significant to note that this statute affords a remedy for wage discrimination on grounds other than gender.
Like Section 448.07, Section 725.07 provides for the recovery of compensatory damages and reasonable attorney's fees. However, this statute is inconsistent with Florida Statutes, Section 448.07, supra in that it provides for punitive damages.
Finally, Florida law provides that neither Section 448.07 nor Section 725.07, as it relates to sex discrimination in wages, is applicable to any employer, labor organization or employee whose employer is subject to the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA), as amended.