Equal Pay For Equal Work

Equal Pay for Equal Work
Chiquita Graham
Wayland Baptist University
Compensation, Benefits, and Performance MGMT 5343
Dr. James Sandvig
January 27, 2018 Abstract
Whatever the reader’s personal reasons for working, the bottom line is that almost everyone works for money. Money provides housing, gives children clothing and food, sends teens to college, and allows vacations, and eventually, retirement. To minimize the importance of money and benefits as motivation for people who work is a mistake. Compensation and benefits plans play an important role in the satisfaction of the employer and employee alike. Unfortunately, women have been paid much less than men for doing the same job. Women are in a constant fight over equal pay for equal

1), women and men across different races, ethnicities, ages, and socioeconomic levels overwhelmingly support equal pay for equal work. Yet the lack of equal pay and persistent pay disparities remain a concern, particularly for working women, who continue to experience a significant wage gap compared with their male counterparts. The question to be asked is, is equal pay for equal work an ethical practice? The answer is yes it is an ethical practice. Men have been getting paid more than women for some time now and now there have been a substantial amount of lawsuits being filed against many different types of companies. Class Action (2009) noted, male and female employees who are performing equal work are entitled to equal pay. There are exceptions, however. For instance, it’s legal for a company to pay male counterparts more if it has a seniority system that increases pay based on how long the male has worked there. Similarly, if the company has a merit system or a system that grants additional pay based on the quantity or quality of work performed, it may be legal for male counterparts to earn more than women. According to (Harrington, 2016), Equal Pay Day “symbolizes how far into the year women must work to earn what men earned in the previous year,” according to the National Committee on Pay Equity. Despite efforts toward equitable pay in the United States over the past several decades, American women still face a considerable gap in pay when compared to their male counterparts. Rather than acknowledging the overwhelming evidence that American women are still paid less than men for the same work, conservative media have promoted myths and misinformation that obscure the truth about pay disparities. Harrington (2016), noted in figure 4, Women of all races and ethnicities face a pay gap when compared with men of the same race or ethnicity. However, women of color suffer both because of their