Mike K.Essay on Equal Pay in the Workplace. In 1963, President Kennedy enacted the Equal Pay Act, making it illegal to discriminate against a worker on the basis of sex. Since then, the wage gap between men and women in the United States has narrowed by just 15 cents, now standing at 74 cents, as reported by the US Census Bureau. Equal pay is most widespread in the 16 to 24 age group, where women earn more than 90% of what men earn; however, the gap becomes 75% in the 25 to 54 age group, those at the peak of their career and life responsibilities. Numerous factors have contributed to the gap between men's and women's wages. These include: the occupational segregation of women into low-paid jobs; lower levels of unionization for women and attitudinal barriers that have prevented women from achieving equality in the workplace and undervaluing of women's work. The Equal Pay Act (part of the Fair Labor Standards Act), prohibits employers from compensating women differently for jobs that are “substantially equal,” that is, nearly identical. Traditionally, women have held different occupations than men; these occupations tend to be substantially different, pay less, and confer less authority. Equity means fairness and justice. Pay equity programs around the world attempt to legislate and regulate the elimination of systemic gender-based pay discrimination and ensure ongoing systems that maintain equitable pay ratios over time. Pay equity programs attempt to address the undervaluation of work traditionally or historically performed by women. Pay equity (also known as “comparable value”) programs require a comparative, gender-neutral job analysis. A variety of very different jobs are compared based on a job's set of skills, commitment and responsibility, and the conditions under which the job is typically performed. The comparison determines the relative value of such jobs to achieving a company's goals, based on the assumption that equal contributions deserve equal compensation. Where female-dominated jobs in the workplace are found to be of equal or comparable value to male-dominated jobs but paid below the level of the male-dominated jobs or payline, all employees in such female-dominated jobs are entitled to receive wage equity adjustments. But how to determine these adjustments in a work environment that already subjectively underestimates the effort and contribution of women and minorities??