Equal Pay Act
The Equal Pay Act of 1963 (EPA) is a part of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 which prohibits gender-based wage discrimination among men and women who work in the same organization and perform equal tasks that require the same level of responsibility, skills, and effort under the same working conditions. According to this act, no employer should pay wages to certain employees at a rate that is less than that used to pay the wages of their opposite-sex peers who work in the same working environment (Halbert et al., 67). Essentially, the kind of work must not be identical, but the amount of effort and responsibility is the same.
The EPA issues that such disparities in payments should only exist based on the merit system, seniority system, quality or quantity production system, or any other measure that is not based on an employee’s sex. Additionally, any amounts owing to employees withheld by the labor organization in violation of this act are deemed as unpaid overtime compensation or unpaid minimum wages.
The HR professionals, managers, and supervisors are significantly affected by this law in their day-to-day running of operations in labor organizations. First, when making decisions about wages and salaries, they must ensure that the pay rates are equal for all employees working under similar conditions and executing equal tasks (Halbert et al., 67). Also, they must ensure that there is absolutely no gender-based discrimination among employees especially when it comes to making payments.
Recently, a federal appeals court in the U.S. ruled in favor of the plaintiff in a lawsuit involving employment discrimination registered under Title VII of the Equal Pay Act. The case involved an employee by the name of Tracy Sempowich who worked for Tactile systems technology for several years. Despite the many roles she played including being a regional sales manager, her salary was paid at a much lesser rate compared to her male colleagues who executed similar roles. In the final ruling, the court ordered that all amounts owing to ms. Tracy is to be treated as unpaid minimum wage.
Age Discrimination in Employment Act
Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 prohibits age discrimination in employment against persons older than 40 years. Often, many labor organizations want to hire persons below the age of 40 years with the assumption that they are strong and can execute the tasks given to them much faster than those who seem a bit older. This leaves the older people jobless and discriminated against. The Age Discrimination in Employment Act issues that employers should be offered based on the potential employee’s ability to deliver to the task provided other than age (Spisakova, 47).
Also, the qualification must be the first consideration when the labor organizations hire new employees and should not sideline applicants because they are older. In this case, the HR professionals and managers should be careful not to dismiss employees based on age discrimination (Mathis et al., 28). The appropriate criteria must be applied during dismissal or hiring processes. This law purposely protects people of age 40 years and above, who often find it difficult to secure employment after job displacement due to the set arbitrary age limits by the labor organizations.
Currently, many organizations hire employees on the basis of qualifications, ability to deliver to the task, and experience. This approach has helped many “old” people secure jobs even when their age is beyond 40 years. Even so, there are still some industries that set arbitrary age limits for the employees forcing people above 40 years to undergo challenges when trying to secure employment.
Family and Medical Leave Act
Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) provides all employees with a job-protected and unpaid annual leave of up to twelve weeks. During the annual leave, the health benefits of an employee must be maintained. The main purpose of this leave is to allow employees to balance between their work and family responsibilities without many difficulties. This also covers medical reasons and promotes equal employment opportunities for both genders (Mathis et al., 29). The law applies to both private and public sectors with fifty or more employees.
FMLA provides the annual leave based on an employee’s birth and care of a newborn child, care of an adopted child, need to take care of a sick close family member, and personal medical issues. This leave provision is for both male and women employees.
The HR professionals, managers, and supervisors must plan appropriately to ensure that operations run smoothly even when one or more employees take their annual leave. Part of the planning may include contract hiring to fill the position, which must be terminated once the permanent employee is back from his/her FMLA leave.
Works Cited
Halbert, Terry, and Elaine Ingulli. Law and ethics in the business environment. Cengage Learning, 2020.
Mathis, Robert L., et al. Human resource management. Cengage Learning, 2016.
Spisakova, E. Dulova. “Position of employee benefits in remuneration structure.” Transformations in Business & Economics 18.2 (2019): 47.