Employment Law the Equal Pay Act Refers

Employment Law The Equal Pay Act refers by the Federal Government outlawing any form of discrimination committed by employers based on sex in the payment of salaries and wages. EPA was enacted as an amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act. It was aimed at dealing with the shortcomings created from the pay inequities that were rampantly being practiced based on sex. Specifically, there were rampant pay disparities that were faced by female workers.

The Title VII of the Civil Rights Act (CRA) was enacted one year after the enactment of the EPA by the congress, which was in 1964. According to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, it is an illegal practice and punishable by law to discriminate an employee in terms of compensation, terms of employment, privileges or conditions based on color, race, national origin, sex or religion (42 U.S.C. 2000e).

Although the two laws serve to ensure equality in employment for both genders, the EPA and CRA of 1964 differ in terms of their coverage, scope, and operation. The Act tends to be partly broader and partly narrower in comparison to the Title VII. On one hand, much of the employment relationship is well covered within the Act's provisions taking into consideration that the definition of the 'employer' act encompassed by the Act is broader that its definition in the Title VII.

The two legislations differ in that the EPA is limited to outlawing salary and wage discrimination based on sex. CRA outlaws any form of discrimination against employees during their time of employment (including hiring, promotion, firing and wage) based on their race, gender, religion, color, sex or national origin. In addition, Title VII outlaws not only discrimination, but also retaliation measures committed to punishing persons who speak against the vice.

In fact, individuals who are unfairly treated as a form of punishment for speaking against gender discrimination in the workplace have the opportunity to seek relief under Title VII (Lockton, 2003). In most cases, people who feel that they are subjected to sexual discrimination in the payment of their salaries and wages have the option of filing a suit under either the EPA or CRA. When an individual files a suit under the EPA may not necessarily have to file an EEOC charge, but can go directly to the court.

This presents one of the advantages of filing under the EPA, unlike the Title VII. The duration provided for filing an EPA charge with the EEOC and the duration provided for going to court are similar: they must be filed within two years of the supposed illegal compensation. When filing under the Title VII, an individual must first comply.