If your firm handled any employees’ pay claims in the past three year, it’s probably a good idea to get together with Payroll and HR to dust off those files.
Why? Obama’s Ledbetter Fair Pay Act is making it easier for old pay complaints to come back to haunt firms.
After learning that a male fiscal manager was making $7,000 more per year, a female employee asked that her title be changed to manager status — with an equal or greater salary than the fiscal manager.
She first asked for a raise three and a half years after joining the firm, and she asked again a year later.
Neither raise request drew a response from the company, so she sued for pay discrimination.
It seemed like the company would be in the clear — but then the Ledbetter Fair Pay Act was passed. Because the Act was made retroactive to all cases pending on or after May 2007, the court ruled that the woman’s case could move forward. Result: The company will have to hunker down for a costly legal battle — or settle the suit.
