Small-business owners urged to check their compliance
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit recently issued a ruling it behooves all small-business owners in the court’s region to acquaint themselves with on the issue of equal pay.
“Even though the Ninth Circuit is headquartered in San Francisco, its jurisdiction spans nine states, including Hawaii,” said NFIB Hawaii State Director Melissa Pavlicek. “I highly recommend reading NFIB Senior Staff Attorney Luke Wake’s advice to small-business owners about the implications in the Rizo decision on equal pay. And while I’m at it, let me strongly suggest that NFIB members make a regular habit of checking the NFIB Small Business Legal Center webpage for articles and information that might help stop that joker in the deck of all you have to worry about from being dealt to you: A Lawsuit.”
Excerpt from the article:
“Even if an employer no longer asks applicants about wage and salary history, previous pay decisions might have relied on this sort of information. So Rizo should encourage employers to reexamine existing employees’ salaries to ensure that legitimate business reasons – absent information about past wages or salaries – justify any pay differentials. In any event, employers should consult with outside legal counsel to determine whether it makes sense to conduct an internal audit for illegal pay disparities.”
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