(Editor’s note: The following commentary was first published
Aug. 29, 2001. It is being re-run in light of the Michigan House
of Representatives’ April 22 passage of House Bill 4625.) What
is "comparable worth? What is its purpose, how frequently is it
used, and what are some advantages and disadvantages? Comparable
worth—known also as "pay equity"—is not to be confused with
"equal pay for equal work," which is the law of the land. Equal
pay for "comparable" work is an entirely different animal. Equal
pay for equal work requires that a woman be paid the same as a
man, or another woman, who is doing exactly the same job.
Comparable worth, by contrast, seeks to expand the concept of
fairness in ways that clearly violates simple economic reality.
It focuses on paying an entire profession or occupation the same
wage as another, very different, profession or occupation that
is determined by some outside authority to be of the same
"worth" or value to an employer. The idea is that individual
workers who perform job