To understand what is required to provide “equal pay,” it is first necessary to look at the Equal Pay Act’s specific language. In Section 206(d)(1), the law states:
“No employer having employees subject to any provisions of this section shall discriminate, within any establishment in which such employees are employed, between employees based on sex by paying wages to employees in such establishment at a rate less than the rate at which he pays wages to employees of the opposite sex in such establishment . . . .”
As you can see, this does not provide much specificity, but it does establish the fundamental requirement that men and women receive an equal “rate” under relevant circumstances. In the years after the Equal Pay Act’s enactment, court decisions and guidance from the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) have further clarified what is required.
In the words of the EEOC, “[a]ll forms of pay are covered by [the Equal Pay Act], including salary, overtime pay, bonuses, stock options, profit-sharing, and bonus plans, life insurance, vacation and holiday pay, cleaning or gasoline allowances, hotel accommodations, reimbursement for travel expenses, and benefits.” In short, if an employer provides any compensation or benefit, it must provide this compensation or benefit to men and women on equal terms. This applies to all employees who work at the same “establishment.” While this generally refers to one specific physical location, there are circumstances where employees who work at separate job sites will be considered to work from the same establishment.