Two home healthcare companies have agreed to pay $105,000 and provide other relief to settle a pay discrimination lawsuit brought by the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the federal agency announced on July 13, 2023.
According to the EEOC’s lawsuit, the companies provide home healthcare coordination services to patients at a northern Virginia health system, including through the services of their post-acute care coordinators (PACCs). The EEOC alleged the companies paid female PACCs less than male coworkers for performing equal work under similar working conditions. Female PACCs with no performance issues were paid less than their newly-hired male counterparts despite having more job-related experience in the healthcare field and more seniority in the PACC position. The companies also refused to adjust female PACCs’ wages after receiving a complaint of pay discrimination.
This alleged conduct violates Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Equal Pay Act of 1963, which prohibit pay discrimination based on sex. The EEOC filed suit in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia after first attempting to reach a pre-litigation settlement through its conciliation process.
In addition to the $105,000 in monetary relief paid to three female PACCs named in the lawsuit, the consent decree resolving the litigation requires the companies to take affirmative steps to prevent pay discrimination in the future. This includes implementation of enhanced compensation and discrimination policies, training for human resources and management officials involved in compensation decisions, notices to employees about their rights, and an internal compensation audit. The companies have also agreed to raise the pay of still-employed aggrieved individuals to correspond with their male counterparts.
“Pay disparities persist in many workplaces,” said EEOC Washington Field Office District Director Mindy Weinstein. “Employers should be proactively assessing their own compensation systems, identifying any disparities between employees of the opposite sex who perform the same work, and determining whether real, job-related factors actually explain the disparity.”
Compliance Perspective
Issue
The Equal Pay Act (EPA) requires that men and women in the same workplace be given equal pay for equal work. The jobs need not be identical, but they must be substantially equal. Job content (not job titles) determines whether jobs are substantially equal. Specifically, the EPA provides that employers may not pay unequal wages to men and women who perform jobs that require substantially equal skill, effort, and responsibility, and that are performed under similar working conditions within the same establishment. All forms of pay are covered by this law, including salary, overtime pay, bonuses, stock options, profit sharing and bonus plans, life insurance, vacation and holiday pay, cleaning or gasoline allowances, hotel accommodations, reimbursement for travel expenses, and benefits. Pay differentials are permitted when they are based on seniority, merit, quantity or quality of production, or a factor other than sex. These are known as “affirmative defenses” and it is the employer’s burden to prove that they apply. In correcting a pay differential, no employee’s pay may be reduced. Instead, the pay of the lower paid employee(s) must be increased.
Discussion Points
- Review policies and procedures for prevention of any type of discrimination, including in hiring practices, wage, or benefit assignment.
- Train staff about their right to be free from discrimination in the workplace. Teach staff to report any concerns of discrimination to their immediate supervisor or through the facility’s hotline.
- Audit wages of all levels of workers to ensure there is no evidence of sex-based compensation discrimination or violations related to other protected categories, e.g., race, ethnicity, religion, disability, etc. Periodically audit by anonymously polling staff to determine if they may be experiencing discrimination. Ask if they feel free to report such instances without fear of retaliation or retribution.
*This news alert has been prepared by Med-Net Concepts, LLC for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide legal advice.*
