Given the national spotlight on pay equity, in 2016 there was a radical change in the equal pay legal landscape, as federal administrative agencies and states implemented laws and regulations to improve and enforce pay equity for individuals in protected classes (i.e., sex, race, ethnicity, gender identity, color, religion, national origin, and sexual orientation). Prior to 2016, equal pay claims were largely enforced via Title VII. In some cases, equal pay claims were also enforced via the Equal Pay Act (EPA), which only protects pay inequity between the sexes. The recent changes in state equal pay laws post-2016 not only seek to aggressively close the pay gap, but lower the bar for employees to bring equal pay lawsuits.
