The Equal Pay Act (EPA) prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in the payment of wages, or other benefits, where men and women perform work of similar skill, effort, and responsibility for the same employer under similar working conditions.  Employers may not reduce wages of either sex to equalize pay between men and women.  A violation of the EPA may occur where a different wage was/is paid to a person who worked in the same job before or after an employee of the opposite sex.

The Equal Pay Act requires that men and women be given equal pay for equal work in the same establishment. The jobs need not be identical, but they must be substantially equal.  It is job content, not job titles, that determines whether jobs are substantially equal.