For generations, it was legal to pay women and people of color just a fraction of what majority-group men were paid for the same job. Federal, State, and local laws require equal pay for equal work for the same employer, but today most women work in jobs that are different from those that men do. Advocates are currently trying to change the law so that it covers jobs that may be different from men's jobs, but are still equal or equivalent. Fair pay or pay equity eliminates sex and race discrimination in wage-setting practices. It means equal pay for work of equal value, even when that work is different.
Fair pay corrects the historical practice of paying less for work performed by women.
Increasingly, many employers realize that if they don't increase the pay for predominantly female jobs, they can no longer attract and retain a skilled work force. More employers understand the need to review their wage-setting practices to make sure they are paying equal wages for work that is of equal or equivalent value. It is also the cornerstone of a good fair pay study. It measures accurately several factors including the inherent skill, effort, responsibility, and working conditions of each job and measures these factors for each position in the organization. Combined with analysis of job descriptions and of pay practices, these studies can identify and fix wage practices that do not reward work of equal value with equal pay.