WorkLifeLaw’s Employer Alerts Suggest Ways to Prevent Pay Discrimination Against Part-Time Employees
Featured Guest Blogger March 30th, 2009
Consuela Pinto is Senior Counsel at the Center for WorkLife Law. She has more than ten years of experience as an employment attorney. Her extensive experience and expertise in the employment field is a result of practicing in both the government and private sectors. Pinto has been an active member of the Women’s Bar Association of the District of Columbia (WBA) since 1996 and a member of the WBA Foundation’s Board of Directors for the past five years. In 2004, she was named one of Washington, D.C.’s top attorneys by Washingtonian magazine. Please note that the views of our guest bloggers do not necessarily reflect the views of the Sloan Work and Family Research Network.
This entry is a response to Adria D. Martinelli’s guest blog, Looking a Flexible Schedule Gift Horse in the Mouth.
As may be evident from the title, our Employer Alerts are advisories for employers, giving them updates about laws and rulings in the family responsibilities discrimination area that they should be familiar with to avoid liability. I am both the author of the Alert and a management-side employment attorney, and I want to be clear that the purpose of the Alert is not to advocate for litigation against employers.
The topic of discussion in the Alert you are referencing was the recent passage of the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 (the Ledbetter Act), which many organizations and attorneys on both sides of the issue agree will lead to an increase in the number of pay discrimination claims and calls for increased vigilance on the part of employers.
In keeping with its mission to eliminate FRD through education and prevention, we provided an example of how a pay discrimination claim may arise in the FRD context. The example of a female part-time employee who is paid at a lower rate than a full-time employee performing similar work is based on the decision Lovell v. BBNT Solutions (295 F. Supp. 2d 611 (E.D. Va. 2003); Lovell v. BBNT Solutions, 299 F. Supp. 2d 612 (E. D. Va. 2004) (plaintiff’s motion for reconsideration denied.)) After Lovell, a pay structure that pays part-time employees less than a proportional salary (i.e., 80% the salary for a full-time employee in the same or substantially familiar position for 80% of the hours) violates the Equal Pay Act (EPA). (The Ledbetter Act does not apply to the EPA. However, the holding in an EPA case may apply in a Title VII pay discrimination claim, which is impacted by the Ledbetter Act.) Thus, the potential for liability on the part of an employer is very real.
The Alert outlined steps employers can take to prevent liability for pay discrimination claims (i.e., avoid litigation). These steps included: (1) periodic compensation audits to determine whether pay decisions have an adverse impact on a protected category of employees, including women on reduced schedules; (2) properly documenting compensation policies, including the factors to be considered when making compensation decisions and the reasons for individual pay determinations and (3) implementing a centralized compensation process whereby Human Resource professionals review all compensation decisions before they are finalized.
WLL is a nonprofit research organization that seeks to eliminate family responsibilities discrimination in the workplace. WLL works with employers, employees, attorneys, legislators, journalists and researchers to identify and prevent FRD. For employers and their attorneys, WLL has developed a number of resources, including prevention checklists, key case lists, monthly e-mail alters, and training programs.
