The Equal Pay Act of 1963, or EPA, prohibits discrimination based on sex in the payment of wages or benefits when male and female employees perform work of a similar skill, effort and responsibility for the same employer under similar working conditions. In other words, there must be equal pay for equal work. Further, it is illegal to pay an individual less than the individual who worked in the same job before him or her, if the wage difference is based on sex. Employers may not reduce the pay of either sex to equalize wages between male and female employees.
However, a wage difference is not illegal if 1) there is a merit system in place which is administered systematically across the board to all employees regardless of sex; 2) if earnings are measured by the quantity or quality of production (i.e. if earnings stem from the percentage of tips received by an individual waiter or waitress); or 3) if wages are determined by any other gender-neutral classification system.
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