Introduction
The Equal Pay Act of 1963 is a United States labor that modifies the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA). It aims at terminating payment disparity based on the gender pay gap. The policy was implemented on June 10, 1963, by John Kennedy during the activities he engaged in like New Frontier Program. Sex discrimination prevents high usage of the resources resulting to labor problems and causing an impact to the commerce. It also reduces the wages and living standard of the workers more essential for their personal health and efficiency. The law, therefore, provides that no employer with his subjects according to the policy shall discriminate within any firm in which employees are working.
The Issue that the Policy Addresses
The system addresses discrimination of the employees in a workplace. The policy, therefore, requires equal treatment for both men and women working in the same place to be given equal payments for the similar work they have done. For instance, according to the United State Census Bureau, women who worked tirelessly and full time were paid approximately 78% of the amount men earned. The jobs, therefore, need not be identical, but the must be considerably equal, and the work content determines it and not work titles (Eisenberg, 2010). The Equal Pay Act policy also provides that every worker may not pay fair salaries to both men and women who execute jobs that require much attention, effort and conducted under the same workplace.
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The Intended Audience of the Policy
The expected audience for the system is the employees working in the same area both men and women who need to be paid an equal amount of salary after a well-done job. Additionally, employers are involved and therefore, they are among the audience for the policy since they make policies in their respective firms.
Problems in the current policy
The law against compensation discrimination includes all the salaries made to or on behalf of the workers as remuneration for employment. Also, it covers all other forms of compensation such as basic salary, overtime pay, hotel accommodation, and vacation. Equal Pay Act policy plays a role as a payment equalizer between males and females for the jobs assigned, and it also has a potential of working as a price floor on the salaries of particular jobs. Various economists such as Thomas Sowell prove that Equal Pay Act system causes unemployment and also an additional discrimination against women through exclusion from the labor market. It is a challenge since no credible empirical evidence supports such an action (Ehrenberg and Smith, 2016). Also, setting up the price floors on the wages paid to women would play a negative role since it reduces the availability of work for females.
Solutions to help the Policy serve its population or respond to the selected issue better
Each and every employer must give equal treatment regardless of gender in the terms and conditions of the employment contract. Employees should also be aware of how the payments are made up for instance if there is bonus system, it should run across to all employees and the techniques that will be used to calculate the bonuses. With this, the policy will serve the population better, and each and every employer will gain from the system. Fairness in places of work is an essential part of a successful business organization. As supported by law. Since the aim of the policy is to enhance equal job opportunity and fairness for all the workers and applicants, it advises various organizations to make their policies to prevent discrimination. Under the policy, it does not encourage discrimination against the employees at work.
There are various ways that discrimination can be prevented. The employers need to be aware of the areas they work such as recruiting new members to the firm. During this stage, discrimination can be more like to take place. Another critical step is making workplace rules that guide all the staffs. In support of a policy, it will be paramount and advisable for every employer to plan his work as required by law on the techniques he will be using to encourage equality and diversity and try to prevent discrimination since every worker to expect to handle the assigned jobs (Koskinen, 2016). Also, the employee must clarify on how wages are paid to male and female workers. The workers must also perform substantially equal jobs that require a lot of skill, effort, and responsibility as they carry out their jobs under same working conditions.
What is at stake if we don't address the problems with this selected policy?
If the challenges are not addressed appropriately, equality between men and women will still lack, and people will still earn a lot of money as compared to that of women. It will also encourage discrimination in various places of works which are not a generous act for an organization serving the public.
Conclusion
Differences in the compensation of both men and women are as a result of several elements, and the raw payment gap should not be considered to justify corrective action. The United States government, therefore, has to take a step so as to improve this act and do away with discrimination. Equality is a major factor, and it has to be considered to motivate women in places of work since they do similar activities as men.
References
Ehrenberg, R. G., & Smith, R. S. (2016). Modern labor economics: Theory and public policy. New York: Routledge.
Eisenberg, D. T. (2010). Shattering the Equal Pay Act's glass ceiling. Southern Methodist University Law Review , 63, 17.
Koskinen Sandberg, P., & Koskinen Sandberg, P. (2016). Non-decision making in the reform of equal pay policy: The case of Finnish gender equality legislation. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, 35(4), 280-295.
McBride, D. E., & Parry, J. A. (2016). Women's rights in the USA: Policy debates and gender roles . New York: Routledge.
