Equal Pay Act of 1963

The Equal Pay Act of 1963
Great Seal of the United States
Acronyms (colloquial)EPA
Enacted bythe 88th United States Congress
Citations
Public lawPub. L. 88–38
Statutes at Large77 Stat. 56
Codification
Acts amendedFair Labor Standards Act
Titles amended29
U.S.C. sections amended206
Legislative history
United States Supreme Court cases

The Equal Pay Act of 1963 is a United States labor law amending the Fair Labor Standards Act, aimed at abolishing wage disparity based on sex (see gender pay gap). It was signed into law on June 10, 1963, by John F. Kennedy as part of his New Frontier Program.[3] In passing the bill, Congress stated that sex discrimination:[4]

  • depresses wages and living standards for employees necessary for their health and efficiency;
  • prevents the maximum utilization of the available labor resources;
  • tends to cause labor disputes, thereby burdening, affecting, and obstructing commerce;
  • burdens commerce and the free flow of goods in commerce; and
  • constitutes an unfair method of competition.

The law provides in part that "[n]o employer having employees subject to any provisions of this section [section 206 of title 29 of the United States Code] shall discriminate, within any establishment in which such employees are employed, between employees on the basis of 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 for equal work on jobs[,] the performance of which requires equal skill, effort, and responsibility, and which are performed under similar working conditions, except where such payment is made pursuant to (i) a seniority system; (ii) a merit system; (iii) a system which measures earnings by quantity or quality of production; or (iv) a differential based on any other factor other than sex [...]."[4]

  1. ^ Rizo v. Yovino, 887 F.3d 453, 464 (9th Cir. 2018).
  2. ^ 77 Stat. 56
  3. ^ "The Equal Pay Act Turns 40". U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Archived from the original on June 26, 2012.
  4. ^ a b "Equal Pay Act of 1963". U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Archived from the original on October 5, 2017. Retrieved June 11, 2013.