Equal Pay Act of 1963
The Equal Pay Act of 1963 is a United States labor law amending the Fair Labor Standards Act, aimed at abolishing wage disparity based on sex (see Gender pay gap). It was signed into law on June 10, 1963, by John F. Kennedy as part of his New Frontier Program. In passing the bill, Congress stated that sex discrimination:The law provides (in part) that:
Equal Pay Act and Prior Salary
In contrast, the 7th Circuit held that employers may rely on an employee’s prior salary to justify wage differentials between genders, without needing to provide an “acceptable business reason” for basing starting pay on this factor. The Seventh Circuit reasoned that requiring employers to have an “acceptable business reason” to base pay on prior salary would be extending the Equal Pay Act from the disparate treatment context to disparate impact. The 8th Circuit follows similar analysis to the 7th Circuit.