New York City Equal Pay Act Lawyers 

The New York Equal Pay Act exists to ensure that everyone gets paid according to their job duties and qualifications, not based on their gender, skin color or anything else protected under civil rights laws at both the state and federal level. But it’s an unfortunate reality that laws get violated, and the protections those laws offer can only mean something if a reliable New York City Equal Pay Act lawyer is there to prove violations and insist on proper compensation. 

Brown Kwon & Lam believes everyone deserves professional and reliable legal counsel, especially on something as basic as their right to be paid fairly. From our New York City office, we serve people throughout Long Island, Westchester County, New York State & New Jersey.

Call us at (212) 295-5828or reach out here online to set up a consultation. 

The Protections of The Equal Pay Act

The Equal Pay Act requires that employers have a legitimate, job-related reason for paying employees at different levels. Differences in education and experience can mean different compensation. Job performance, when properly documented, is a legitimate reason for a pay differential. 

What’s not a legitimate reason for pay gaps are being of a different gender, race, religion, sexual orientation, or having a different national background than the person(s) who is getting paid more. 

These broad protections are provided for under federal civil rights laws. The Equal Pay Act made some modifications that may seem slight, but they can be of practical benefit to employees who believe their pay is unfair. 

A prime example is a change in language from “equal work” to “substantially similar work”. Unfortunately, the spirit of the equal work language could be violated by giving people different job descriptions, and then paying less to the person whose title sounded less impressive. The focus to “substantially similar” calls on judges in Equal Pay Act cases to look at the actual duties performed by people earning disparate salaries .

The Equal Pay Act also offers victimized employees a potentially faster legal path than does federal law. To file a claim under federal civil rights laws, one must first lodge a complaint with the Equal Opportunity Commission (EEOC) before going to court. But a New York City Equal Pay Act attorney can get directly to court by filing under state statute. 

Get legal counsel that’s accessible, professional, and vigorous in fighting for your rights. Call the office of Brown Kwon & Lam at (212) 295-5828 or fill out our online contact form to arrange for a consultation. 

How To Prove Equal Pay Act Violations

Another positive step taken by the Equal Pay Act was to crack down an employer practice of restricting conversations between colleagues about salaries. In the state of New York, an employer may issue guidelines for how and when comparative pay might be discussed among co-workers, but these conversations cannot be outright prohibited. 

It’s this type of conversation that may first alert an employee to the possibility they are being underpaid. Means of proving this might be to have a New York City Equal Pay Act lawyer conduct formal interviews with workers about their pay. Attorneys may also be able to subpoena records and have other avenues of legal discovery that can uncover the truth. 

In the meantime, employees are encouraged to keep good notes about any oral conversations they have, and to maintain records of any emails that might strengthen their case.