In 2009 President Obama signed into law the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act (The Whitehouse, n.d.). The major provisions of this Act prohibits wage discrimination based on sex, race, or national origin among employees for work in equivalent jobs. According to National Committee on Pay Equity (n.d.), the Act defines “equivalent jobs are those who’s composite of skill, effort, responsibility, and working conditions are equivalent in value, even if the jobs are dissimilar.” Today women earn roughly seventy-nine cents for every dollar earned by men. Atchinson, Belcher, and Thornsen (2013) state that women have entered the workforce not only because of increased educational opportunities but also because of the need for two paychecks in many families …show more content…
Another way of stating this would be it is how employees in an organization are equally paid in relation to those who perform similar jobs within their organization and in relation to those performing similar jobs in other organizations. There are several factors that must be considered. These factors include skill level, responsibility of the role, and working conditions.
One would think that the concept of equal pay for equal work is a fundamental human right. The Fair Act Law has as its goal to stop discrimination related to the under-valuation of work traditionally performed by women. Equal pay for women and men levels the playing field that has been suppressed by pay imbalances over the past decades. If people are, as we continually state, our most valuable resource, we should pay women in a way comparable to their worth as we do men in the job they perform.
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It can also lead to greater motivation among employees. By compensating workers for the fair value of their work, businesses are able to recruit and retain the best-qualified workers. Additionally, Indiviglio (2011) states that pay equity makes the labor market more efficient.
On the other side, inequality or unfairness in pay whether internal or external can result in low morale and decreased organizational effectiveness. For example, if employees feel they are being paid unfairly, they may restrict their efforts or leave the organization which damages the organization’s overall