Editing Equal pay for equal work (section)

====Federal law: Equal Pay Act of 1963 and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964====

{{Main|Equal Pay Act of 1963|Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964}}

By the 20th century, women made up about a quarter of United States workforce but were still paid far less than men, whether it was the same job or a different job. There were different laws for women in some states such as, not working at night and restriction of their working hours. Women started entering more factory jobs when World War II began to replace men who were enlisted in the military. The wage gap continued to escalate during the war. The National War Labor Board put policies in place to help provide equal pay for women who were directly replacing men.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Equal Pay Act|url=https://www.history.com/topics/womens-rights/equal-pay-act|access-date=2020-11-22|website=HISTORY|language=en}}</ref>

The first attempt at equal pay legislation in the United States, H.R. 5056, "Prohibiting Discrimination in Pay on Account of Sex", was introduced by Congresswoman [[Winifred C. Stanley]] of Buffalo, New York, on June 19, 1944.<ref name="National Archives">{{cite book | url=https://research.archives.gov/description/4397822 | archive-url=https://archive.today/20150424143806/http://research.archives.gov/description/4397822 | url-status=dead | archive-date=April 24, 2015 | title=H.R. 5056 Prohibiting Discrimination in Pay on Account of Sex, HR 78A-B1, 06/19/1944, Records of the U.S. House of Representatives (ARC 4397822) | access-date=April 24, 2015 | date=1944-06-19 | series=Series: Bills and Resolutions Originating in the House, 1789 - 2015 }}</ref>  Twenty years later, legislation passed by the federal government in 1963 made it illegal to pay men and women different wage rates for equal work on jobs that require equal skill, effort, and responsibility, and are performed under similar working conditions.<ref>[http://finduslaw.com/equal_pay_act_of_1963_epa_29_u_s_code_chapter_8_206_d Equal Pay Act of 1963] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111123114909/http://finduslaw.com/equal_pay_act_of_1963_epa_29_u_s_code_chapter_8_206_d |date=2011-11-23 }}, finduslaw.com</ref>  One year after passing the Equal Pay Act, Congress passed the 1964 Civil Rights Act.  Title VII of this act makes it unlawful to discriminate based on a person's race, religion, color, or sex.<ref>"Civil Rights Act of 1964."  42 U.S.C. § 2000e-2000e-17</ref>  Title VII attacks sex discrimination more broadly than the Equal Pay Act extending not only to wages but to compensation, terms, conditions or privileges of employment.  Thus with the Equal Pay Act and Title VII, an employer cannot deny women equal pay for equal work; deny women transfers, promotions, or wage increases; manipulate job evaluations to relegate women's pay; or intentionally segregate men and women into jobs according to their gender.<ref>Williams, Robert et al.  Closer Look at Comparable Worth: A Study of the Basic Questions to be Addressed in Approaching Pay Equity.  National Foundation for the Study of Equal Employment Policy: Washington, DC, 1984, pg. 28.</ref>

Since Congress was debating this bill at the same time that the Equal Pay Act was coming into effect, there was concern over how these two laws would interact, which led to the passage of Senator Bennett's Amendment.  This Amendment states: "It Shall not be unlawful employment practice under this subchapter for any employer to differentiate upon the basis of sex ... if such differentiation is authorized by the provisions of the [Equal Pay Act]."   There was confusion on the interpretation of this Amendment, which was left to the courts to resolve.<ref>Webber, Katie.  "Comparable Worth—Its Present Status and the Problem of Measurement."  Hamline Journal of Public Law, Vol. 6, No. 38 (1985), pg. 37.</ref>
Thus US federal law now states that "employers may not pay unequal wages to men and women who perform jobs that require substantially equal skill, effort and responsibility, and that are performed under similar working conditions within the same establishment."<ref name=EEOC>U.S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. [http://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/publications/fs-epa.cfm ''EEOC Facts About Equal Pay and Compensation Discrimination''], accessed on August 26, 2011.</ref>