When two people do the same job and the same work, they are supposed to be paid the same amount for that work. An employer cannot discriminate due to their age, gender, race or some other such factor.
So how do you decide if the job is actually the same or not? Many people would assume that you simply look at the job title. If two people are given the same title, that’s the same job, and they need the same wages.
That’s not exactly how it works, though. The issue with using job titles is that companies could use them as a way to get around equal pay. All they have to do is make up another title.
For instance, imagine that a man has the title of Head of Sales, running the sales department for the company. However, the company is quite large and he’d have too many people directly under him, so the company splits the job in two. Half of the responsibilities go to a woman who is promoted from within the company. However, in order to pay her less money, they give her the title of Sales Supervisor and claim that it’s an inferior position, even though she does the exact same work and has the exact same responsibilities.
To keep this from happening, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission states that “job content (not job titles) determines whether jobs are substantially equal.”
Do you think that your rights have been violated because you have not been paid enough for your work? Make sure you know what legal steps you can take.
