Equal Pay

You may perform the same tasks and responsibilities as a co-worker and yet be paid less. In New York, it is illegal for an employer to pay you less because of any protected status, including gender, race, religion, and sexual orientation.

The New York Equal Pay Act governs how wages are paid; there cannot be a disparity in wages and fringe benefits paid to people of different genders, races, religions, sexual orientations, or other protected statuses who perform the same role in the same workplace. This compensation refers to salary and wages, as well as perks like expense accounts, travel reimbursements, bonuses and insurance coverage. The federal Equal Pay Act provides similar protections for gender-based pay differentials. The key factor in evaluating unequal pay is the actual content of the work performed, rather than the job title or description. You can rely on the assistance of the attorneys at Joseph & Kirschenbaum LLP to assist you in evaluating your claim for equal pay.

Most pay discrimination is actionable under anti-discrimination laws such as the Civil Rights Act and the New York State and New York City Human Rights Laws and the federal or New York Equal Pay Act. However, several factors make it advantageous for victims of wage discrimination to seek redress under the EPA or New York EPA whenever possible:

• The EPA allows victims of wage discrimination to proceed directly to court; it does not require the victim first to file a charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
• Under the EPA and NY EPA, a plaintiff need only prove that she was paid less for substantially the same work, whereas under other anti-discrimination laws, she must also prove that the pay disparity was due to her gender or other protected status.
• The statute of limitations period under the EPA is longer than that under the Civil Rights Act, and the statute of limitations period under the NY EPA is longer than the statute of limitations for New York State and New York City Human Rights Laws.

Our results with equal pay claims include:

• $695,00 settlement for seven employees
• Settlement of more than $290,000 for financial services employees
• $225,000 settlement for an operations employee
• $160,000 for financial services employee
• $150,000 for restaurant employee with equal pay and wage and hour claims
• $125,000 settlement for professional employee
• $90,000 settlement for human resources manager
• Recovery of full backpay damages and retroactive salary adjustment for a project manager

If you believe you are being or were compensated at a level below your coworkers despite doing substantially the same work, the Equal Pay Act, New York Equal Pay Act or other anti-discrimination laws may provide you with legal recourse. Consult the equal pay attorneys at the law firm of Joseph & Kirschenbaum LLP to evaluate whether you have experienced unlawful pay discrimination.

Call 212-688-5640 today, email info@jk-llp.com or contact us using this form. Se habla español.