Tips For Women To Keep What They Earn In Wages And Overtime Pay

Some days it seems as if women have been scratching their way to the top for as long as men have been sitting there. We fought through women’s suffrage for the right to vote. We fought to be landowners, business owners, lawyers, doctors; anything and everything that men seemed to be handed on a silver platter. So why, especially in today’s age are we still fighting? Because things have yet to be equal for all people. Debates are raging around the country for equal rights and that include wage equality.

Slow Change For Women

The first time a bill came before Congress to shove the unequal wage fight was 53 years ago. The Equal Pay Act of 1963. This law states 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.”

This basically means that employers cannot discriminate against a worker based on their gender. A woman must be paid the same wage as her male counterpart if she is doing substantially the same job. Unfortunately we know that rarely is this law upheld. An article recently relayed that an actress was offered significantly less than her male counterpart for a six episode spin-off of a show they’d both worked on previously. That’s right, the show was X-Files spin-off. When pay gaps hit celebrities and Hollywood types, you know that the average woman is having the same  problem and more especially in industries that require overtime pay to be taken into consideration as well.

Tips For Changing The Tide

1. Know Your Rights– WageAdvocates.com states that thousands of American workers are shocked when they find out that they’ve been underpaid. The first and most important step is to know your rights. Employees have protection from discrimination, especially in their wages. Along with the Equal Pay Act of 1963, there is the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 and a slew of other Federal Laws that protect employees against wage inequality.
2. Records-Learn to keep good records. Keep your pay stubs, keep your tax returns, keep any and all disciplinary summons you receive. Anything that pertains to your job should be kept.
3. Retaliation-Retaliatory discipline is against the law. You are protected against retaliatory discipline for your participation in any sort of discrimination hearing or occurrence.

  4. Tipping and Overtime Pay-A lot of women make their income from earning tips. Waitresses, hostesses, spa workers, hair stylists and other service industry based employment positions have special circumstances when it comes to overtime work. If you have a job that tips you and gives you a wage credit, then your overtime pay would be calculated based upon the minimum wage, not upon the cash portion of your tips. Therefore, your pay should be calculated like this: Minimum wage (7.25/hour) times 1.5% minus your wage credit. This would give you the amount per hour you should be earning during your overtime period.

  5. Education-There is never an excuse for being uneducated. This is not just schooling, but rather an ability to learn outside the scope of what you’re told. Don’t just take your employer’s word when it comes to your wages and overtime pay. Learn about how wages are calculated, tax withholdings, your personal tax bracket and anything else that affects how much money you take home every pay period. Knowledge is power, the more you know the less they can get away with.

While business ethics should hold employers to a standard that means equal pay no matter your gender, that’s sadly not always the case. There are things women can do to protect themselves against workplace and wage discrimination.

The best and most effective defense against unfair practices is an informed offense. The more you know about your own situation, the sooner and more effectively you can battle your way to equal pay for equal time. Don’t let fear stand in your way.

Author Bio:

Tim Becker Partner at Minneapolis’ Johnson // Becker PLLC, and lead sponsor of WageAdvocates.com. He is committed to providing clients effective, aggressive legal representation, and has prosecuted numerous individual FLSA violation claims.

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