slnlaw
  • Home
  • Employment Law
    • Guide To Employment Law Content
    • Employment Contracts in Massachusetts
    • Discrimination in the Workplace
    • Employment Termination >
      • Massachusetts Paid Family Leave
      • Severance Pay
      • Unemployment in Massachusetts
    • Sexual Harassment at Work >
      • Sexual Harassment in a Small Business
      • Sexual Harassment and Non Disclosure Agreements
      • Sexual Harassment and Remote Work
    • Wage and Hour Laws
    • Independent Contractor Law
    • Non Compete Agreements >
      • Are non competes enforceable
      • Massachusetts Non Compete Act
      • Pre 2018 Massachusetts Non Competes
  • Estate Planning
    • Guide To Estate Planning Content
    • Legacy Protection
    • Why You Need an Estate Plan
    • Why You Don't Have an Estate Plan
    • Estate Planning Documents >
      • Children with Special Needs
    • Planning for Assisted Living
    • Probate Process
  • Business Law
    • Guide To Business Law Content
    • Small Business Law
    • Business Contract Basics
    • Civil Suit Defense
    • Legal Issues for Start Ups
    • Trademark Basics
    • How to Incorporate
    • Sale of Business
  • About
    • Reviews
    • Slnlaw Offices
    • slnlaw core values
    • Publications and Interviews
    • New Client Intake and Consultation
    • Contact
  • Attorneys
    • Emily Smith-Lee >
      • 2018 Lawyer of the Year
    • Jenna Ordway
    • Rebecca Rogers
    • Sharleen Tinnin
    • Elijah Bresley
  • Legal FAQs
    • Estate Planning FAQs
    • Probate FAQs
    • Small Business FAQs
    • Wage Act FAQs
    • Commission Pay FAQs
    • Overtime FAQs
    • Independent Contractor FAQs
    • Non Compete FAQs
    • Employment Discrimination FAQs
    • Employment Termination FAQs
    • Massachusettts Unemployment FAQs
    • Severance Package FAQs
    • Medical Leave FAQs
    • Sexual Harassment FAQs
    • Employer FAQs
    • Civil Lawsuit FAQs
  • Blog

Addressing the Gender Gap With an Equal Pay Audit

Good Faith Employer Equal Pay Audit

Is there a gender gap in the compensation in your company?  Most employers have no specific intention of paying people unequally based on gender, but it can happen.  This is especially true if you have employees who have joined at different ties, and negotiated different pay and benefit terms when they came on board.  It can also develop quite unintentionally as a result of bonus policies that may happen to impact men differently than women.  Under the Massachusetts Equal Pay Act a good faith equal pay audit can protect an employer against a wage discrimination claim. This is not expressly stated in the federal statute, but conducting such an audit can still provide a benefit.

What is an Equal Pay Audit?

An equal pay audit is defined under Massachusetts law as a good faith reasonable self evaluation of pay practices and pay equity. The purpose of the audit is to determine if the company is paying men and women equally for equal work.

How Can the Audit Identify Wage Gaps?

You should compare pay for those whose work requires substantially similar skill, effort, and responsibility, and is performed under similar working conditions. The job titles do not need to be the same, and the work does not need to be identical.

You should look at total compensation, including base salary and also bonuses or incentive payments. If you are paying employees equally in salary but there are large differences in bonuses, this should be reviewed. These differences should be tied to a seniority system, a merit system, or some other measurement of productivity.

You will also want to look at your hiring practices. Many employers don't know that under Massachusetts law, you are not allowed to ask potential employees about their salary history. The reasoning is that the wage gap is sometimes perpetuated by the difference in salary history.

Another reason is to encourage employers to set compensation based on the qualifications of the applicant and the nature of the job, not based on a potentially artificially deflated salary history.


If you have people doing comparable work with pay differences you should assess whether the differences are due to one of the above reasons. If you conclude that there might be a violation of equal pay laws, you can still protect yourself. State law allows you to use this defense if you make "reasonable progress" towards resolving any issues you uncover.

Need Help With an Equal Pay Audit?

Call (781) 784-2322
OR
Schedule a Free information Call

Just Looking for Information?

Massachusetts Employment Law
Request Our Free E-Book

Why Do an Equal Pay Audit?

If you do this right, it will provide an affirmative defense to claims under the Massachusetts equal pay laws. An affirmative defense means you can avoid liability even if the employee proves an equal pay violation.

It is not an affirmative defense to federal claims. It is also not an affirmative defense to claims under other law including discrimination law. Even under those laws, however, showing that you investigated and took reasonable steps to correct any problems found will be helpful in your general defense.

Who Should do the Equal Pay Audit?

There is no requirement that you hire an attorney or outside company to do your audit. The law only requires that it be performed in good faith. It is a good idea, though, to get some outside assistance, for several reasons.

First, part of the analysis will be about the legal standards in the equal pay laws. Equal or comparable work is defined as "substantially similar skill, effort, and responsibility, and is performed under similar working conditions." Understanding what these words mean according to the courts is not something most business people know.

Second, it can be hard to see your own business the same way an outsider would. If you ever face an equal pay complaint, it will be outside eyes judging your pay practices. The best way to assess what you have is by bringing in someone from the outside to assist.

Third, if you are ever in a lawsuit, you may want to have the person who helped with the audit testify to the legitimacy of your practices. This is more credible coming from someone outside the business than if it came from you or your team.

Finally, having an employment lawyer help you with the audit may have some additional benefits. It may turn up other employment law risks in your business you were not aware of. Those could include employees in other protected classes being treated differently, or other wage and hour risks. Knowing this before litigation gives you a chance to manage risk and correct anything that needs correcting.

What if an Employee Complains About Pay Inequity?

This could come up during an audit, or an employee could separately bring up a question or concern. If you are not already working with an attorney for your audit, you should reach out for legal advice immediately. There are a lot of missteps you could make innocently in the process.

You need to know that the equal pay laws make it illegal to punish someone for asserting rights under those laws. Things like terminating the employee, demoting her, or passing her over for additional compensation could be considered retaliation.

You also should know that in Massachusetts you are not allowed to prevent your employees from sharing compensation information with each other. Chances are if someone has raised a concern, they are already speaking with one or more co-workers about their compensation. You need to be careful you do not take any action against these employees for engaging in those conversations.

How We Can Help

Gender Wage Gap and Equal Pay Audit in MA
Equal pay for equal work audit in MA
Wage Gap and Equal Pay Audit in MA
We can help you navigate these issues and get clarity on your rights and obligations, and to help with your self evaluation if you are an employer who would like to avoid future liability under the Massachusetts Equal Pay Act.  You can use the button below to schedule a call back from a member of our team, or give us a call at  781-784-2322.
Schedule a Free Information Call

Sharon MA

46 South Main Street
​Sharon MA 02067

(781) 784-2322
Serving Eastern and Central Massachusetts
Greater Boston Referral Resources
slnlaw solutions
Refer a Friend
slnlaw publications and interviews
​slnlaw privacy policy
Chester MA
26B Main Street
Chester MA 01011
(413) 667-2322
Serving Western Massachusetts
Western MA Referral Resources

Copyright 2022, slnlaw
  • Home
  • Employment Law
    • Guide To Employment Law Content
    • Employment Contracts in Massachusetts
    • Discrimination in the Workplace
    • Employment Termination >
      • Massachusetts Paid Family Leave
      • Severance Pay
      • Unemployment in Massachusetts
    • Sexual Harassment at Work >
      • Sexual Harassment in a Small Business
      • Sexual Harassment and Non Disclosure Agreements
      • Sexual Harassment and Remote Work
    • Wage and Hour Laws
    • Independent Contractor Law
    • Non Compete Agreements >
      • Are non competes enforceable
      • Massachusetts Non Compete Act
      • Pre 2018 Massachusetts Non Competes
  • Estate Planning
    • Guide To Estate Planning Content
    • Legacy Protection
    • Why You Need an Estate Plan
    • Why You Don't Have an Estate Plan
    • Estate Planning Documents >
      • Children with Special Needs
    • Planning for Assisted Living
    • Probate Process
  • Business Law
    • Guide To Business Law Content
    • Small Business Law
    • Business Contract Basics
    • Civil Suit Defense
    • Legal Issues for Start Ups
    • Trademark Basics
    • How to Incorporate
    • Sale of Business
  • About
    • Reviews
    • Slnlaw Offices
    • slnlaw core values
    • Publications and Interviews
    • New Client Intake and Consultation
    • Contact
  • Attorneys
    • Emily Smith-Lee >
      • 2018 Lawyer of the Year
    • Jenna Ordway
    • Rebecca Rogers
    • Sharleen Tinnin
    • Elijah Bresley
  • Legal FAQs
    • Estate Planning FAQs
    • Probate FAQs
    • Small Business FAQs
    • Wage Act FAQs
    • Commission Pay FAQs
    • Overtime FAQs
    • Independent Contractor FAQs
    • Non Compete FAQs
    • Employment Discrimination FAQs
    • Employment Termination FAQs
    • Massachusettts Unemployment FAQs
    • Severance Package FAQs
    • Medical Leave FAQs
    • Sexual Harassment FAQs
    • Employer FAQs
    • Civil Lawsuit FAQs
  • Blog