OFCCP Enforcement Efforts on Sex Discrimination in Compensation

Sex discrimination in compensation is traditionally understood within a pay equity framework. Quite simply, “Are women paid the same as men in similarly situated jobs after controlling for legitimate explanatory factors?” In application, pay differences that cannot be accounted for by reasonable explanatory factors (e.g., tenure, performance) is evidence of sex discrimination in compensation and violation of federal laws (Civil Rights Act 1964 Title VII, Equal Pay Act). Federal enforcement agencies (Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs; EEOC and OFCCP, respectively) and private plaintiffs have traditionally applied linear regression methods when investigating for pay discrimination. Overall, the process and methods for pay discrimination investigations within this traditional framework are well established and understood.