You love your job. Every day you clock in at work, you hope to give your employer your best output and, in return, you expect a fair day’s wage. But you’ve recently learned that you are not earning as much as your co-workers with the same qualifications, experience and roles.
Workplace discrimination takes many forms. One of these is wage discrimination. Basically, this happens when, despite performing the same roles as your co-workers, your employer opts to compensate you differently based on your gender, race or other protected characteristics. If you are a victim of pay discrimination at work, you deserve justice.
Proving wage discrimination
You cannot simply allege wage discrimination without providing evidence to back up your claim. To argue wage discrimination, you will need to prove the following:
- There exists an employer-employee relationship between you and the employer in question
- The employer is compensating you differently from your co-workers of the opposite sex, race or other characteristics
- Your role requires the same skills, responsibility and effort as your co-workers
- You are working under similar conditions as your co-workers
If you are concerned about pay discrimination, and you can prove these elements, then you may pursue a wage discrimination claim against your employer.
How much time do you have to act?
Armed with evidence of pay discrimination, you need to seek an audience with your employer. Sometimes, all it takes is a one-on-one meeting with the HR department to rectify the anomaly.
However, if your employer is adamant, then the Equal Pay Act allows you to file a lawsuit within two years from the day you received the last discriminatory wage.
Wage discrimination can be demoralizing, to say the least. Learning more about California and federal labor laws can help you protect your rights and interests while litigating a pay discrimination claim.
