For the moment, ignore the genders: if gender was not an issue, then the employer could do this--there is no law requiring consistent or fair treatment of employees, and some can be paid less while being worked harder or longer than others. So at base, this is legal.However, gender IS an issue here, based on what you write. The law is very clear that an employer may not treat employees differently based on sex or gender. If the women had their pay cut and have to work harder, and also bear up under more restrictions than the me (e.g. submitting their schedules), that is very likely illegal discrimination.The women should file a complaint with the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or EEOC for sex-based employment discrimination: the EEOC enforces the anti-discrimination laws in employment. The employer can try to prove that there is a non-sex-based reason for this, and if it can prove that, it will not be liable: it is not discrimination if the reason the women were treated differently or worse has nothing to do with their sex. So if the employer can show the men have relevant credentials, education, or experience the women lacked, or the women have more customer complaints, or some other objective, non-sex-based difference, then they can do this. But if there is no legitimate reason for the differential treatment other than sex, this would appear to be illegal and the women may be entitled to compensation and/or an order that this disparate treatment stop.