Equal Pay Act
What is Equal?
Equal Skill. This factor concerns the skills the jobs require and the skills the incumbent employees possess. Differences in skills between employees might explain pay differentials on the basis of merit or some factor other than sex, but they do not relate to whether the jobs are equal. Thus, employers should look to whether the jobs are equal. Thus, employers should look at what the jobs being compared require in terms of experience, training, education and ability.
Equal Effort. This factor deals with the physical or mental effort required by the jobs being compared. To justify a pay differential, any additional effort under one job must be regular and significant and must have an economic value to the employer commensurate with the pay differential.
Equal Responsibility. This factor concerns the degree of accountability required in the performance of the jobs. In this regard, employers should look at such things as the number of employees or assets for which the incumbents are responsible or the relative importance of the jobs in the employer's overall operations.
Similar Working Conditions. sIn assessing whether jobs are performed under similar working conditions, the physical surroundings and hazards encountered in the jobs are taken into consideration. This assessment does not take into account such matters as shift differentials (although such differentials could be viewed as based on a factor other than sex).