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Equal Pay Act of 1963

The law does not promise a job or a promotion. It is jobs in order to maintain the status quo of men, and those
meant to level the playing field and make the rules the women who did break into the business world were get-
same for all applicants and employees. Equal employment ting paid less than men doing the same job.
opportunity programs include affirmative action for During World War II (1939–1945), many women
employment, as well as means for handling discrimination answered the call of the U.S. government and went to
complaints. The law applies to everyone who is in a posi- work in droves to produce needed supplies for the war
tion to hire individuals. effort. Prior to World War II, many women were
Laws relating to equal employment opportunity date expected to stay home to tend to their households; after
back to the Civil Rights Act of 1883, which prohibited the war, however, women found that they enjoyed work-
favoritism in federal employment. In 1940 Executive ing outside their home, they needed the income, or they
Order 0948 prohibited discrimination in federal agencies chose to work to supplement the family income for some
based on race, creed, or color. In 1961 Executive Order of the extras that disposable income could provide. The
10925 required that positive steps be taken to eliminate U.S. Congress determined that different pay based on
workplace discrimination in federal agencies. The next sex tended to cause many economic and social problems.
landmark act influencing equal employment opportunity Allowing wage differences based on sex kept the living
was the Equal Pay Act of 1963, which prohibited the pay- standards low, prevented the workforce from reaching its
ment of different wages to workers for substantially sim- full potential, and tended to cause labor disputes based
ilar work on the basis of sex. Title VII of the Civil Rights on the inequity of pay. By requiring equal pay, families
Act of 1964—which prohibited discrimination based on were able to buy more goods, thus boosting the econ-
race, color, sex, religion, or national origin and estab- omy.
lished the Equal Employment Opportunity Commis- During the 1970s two court cases further defined the
sion—was a very important piece of legislation for the Equal Pay Act of 1963. Schultz v. Wheaton Glass Company
movement. was heard by the Third Circuit of the U.S. Court of
The Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1995 Appeals, and Corning Glass Works v. Brennan was heard
prohibits discrimination based on the following items: by the U.S. Supreme Court. In Schultz v. Wheaton, the
impairment, marital status, political belief or activity, race, Third Circuit Court of Appeals determined that jobs
religion, sex, social status as a person, age, role in business do not need to be identical but rather “substantially
dealings, lawful sexual activity, physical features, preg- equal” in order to be protected under the Equal Pay
nancy, position or past employment position, and associ- Act.
ation with a person who is identified by reference to any Furthermore, in 1974 the Supreme Court deter-
of the foregoing thirteen grounds. Also prohibited is sex- mined in Corning Glass Works v. Brennan that women
ual harassment, which applies to both employers and could not be paid less simply because they would work at
employees. a lower pay rate than men. At the same time the Supreme
Court confirmed the constitutionality of the Equal Pay
SEE ALSO Diversity in the Workplace; Sexual Harassment
Act.
Even with the Equal Pay Act and the subsequent rul-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. ings by the Supreme Court and other lower courts, equity
has not been reached between men and women. Accord-
http://www.eeoc.gov/ retrieved February 3, 2006.
ing to the U.S. Census Bureau, women earned approxi-
mately 77¢ for every $1.00 their male counterpart earned
Lawrence F. Peters, Jr. in 2004.

SEE ALSO Diversity in the Workplace; Sexual Harassment

BIBLIOGRAPHY
EQUAL PAY ACT OF 1963 Butts, Cassandra Q. (2004, May 7). Marching on for equal pay.
Retrieved February 17, 2006, from Center for American
The Equal Pay Act of 1963, a federal U.S. law, was intro-
Progress Web site:
duced and passed to ensure that women and men involved
http://www.americanprogress.org/site/pp.asp?c=biJRJ8OVF&
in the same job, with the same job description, got paid b=68060
equally. The act was meant to address the wage gap U.S. Census Bureau. (2005, August 30). Income Stable, Poverty
between men and women. As the gap increased it became Rate Increases, Percentage of Americans Without Health
obvious that many women were excluded from certain Insurance Unchanged. (News Release). Retrieved March 1,

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