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Compensation Discrimination
February 2009
As a manager,
part of maintaining a fair and inclusive work place means preventing
compensation discrimination. Simply put, we as an organization must
provide equal pay for equal services to all of our new hires and current
associates - regardless of diverse backgrounds. Not only is fair pay the
ethical and professional thing to do, but laws exits to prohibit
compensation discrimination.
Some of the primary federal laws are:
- The Equal Pay Act of 1963
- Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
- The Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967
and
- Title I of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
Laws against compensation discrimination include all payments made to or
on behalf of associates in return for employment. All forms of
compensation are covered, including salary, overtime pay, bonuses, stock
options, profit sharing and bonus plans, insurance and benefits,
vacation and holiday pay, allowances, and reimbursement for travel
expenses.
Unfortunately, despite these long-standing laws, pay disparities
continue to persist among workers across America. According to the EEOC,
recent U.S. statistics revealed:
- Women who worked full-time had median weekly earnings that were
75.7% of the median for men
- Median earnings for African Americans working at full-time jobs were
75.9% of the median for whites
and
- The median earnings of Hispanics were 65.9% of the median for whites
and 86.8% of the median for African Americans.
There also is evidence that median earnings for individuals with
disabilities are significantly lower than median earnings for
individuals without disabilities.
Because of these alarming statistics, it is even more vital as a manager
that we strive to prevent compensation discrimination throughout all
levels of our organization.
Below is a checklist that we, as managers, can use to assist in the
prevention process.
Compensation Discrimination Checklist:
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Relay organizational policies that clearly
explain discrimination and the rights and responsibilities of
all staff |
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Consistently monitor your work environment for signs of compensation
discrimination |
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Investigate any problem quickly, fairly and confidentially |
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Regularly explain and reiterate organizational policies and procedures
during in-person meetings |
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Mentor and support programs for minority development and equal pay
programs |
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Evaluate whether there are differing pay rates for jobs at a similar
level |
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Be clear in any/all job descriptions, responsibilities, qualifications
needed, and compensation |
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Make all overtime pay, bonuses, stock options, profit sharing and bonus
plans, insurance and benefits, vacation and holiday pay, allowances, and
reimbursement programs open and available to those that entitled by
company policy, local, state, and federal law. |
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Assist in promoting that all jobs be accessible to people with all types
of disabilities at equal pay |
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Make sure pregnant employees and those on
parental leave are not disadvantaged |
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Help maintain a process where promotion and training opportunities are
based on merit |
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Remain flexible about hours of work for people with career
responsibilities, disabilities or religious requirements |
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Promote affirmative action strategies to help groups of workers who have
previously been disadvantaged reach the same competitive level and
compensation as others. |
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Prevent retaliation for those who may have filed or are involved in a
discrimination complaint and/or investigation |
The right of employees to be free from discrimination in their
compensation is protected under several federal laws, including the
following enforced by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
For more information on these laws please click on the links below.
This topic and more can be found within our Diversity and Inclusion e-learning
product.
To request more information or for a no-obligation trial of our
products, please email
info@knowledgestart.com or call
toll-free 877.650.0454.
Who We Are
KnowledgeStart is an employee development company which, for the past seven
years, has specialized in online training for its U.S. and global clients.
We are a leading provider of award-winning e-learning programs and platforms
that maximize learning, increase collaboration and retention, and improve
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enhancing organizational and individual productivity in topics such as
Diversity and Inclusion,
Generational Differences,
Harassment Prevention,
Business Ethics, and
Substance Abuse Prevention.
KnowledgeStart understands that every decision made by your employees eventually
crosses someone's path somehow and can often have a "ripple effect" across your
entire organization. Even the smallest of decisions can have a BIG impact on
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Through this understanding and our collective skill sets and experiences with
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Visit our website:
http://www.knowledgestart.com
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