Both federal and state laws have been enacted to address the issue of pay inequity, particularly regarding gender and race-based disparities. The Federal Equal Pay Act of 1963 prohibits wage discrimination based on sex for equal work requiring equal skill, effort, and responsibility under similar working conditions. It provides four exceptions: seniority systems, merit systems, production-based earnings systems, and differentials based on factors other than sex. 

California’s Equal Pay Act law prohibits pay disparities based on sex, race, or ethnicity for “substantially similar work,” a broader standard than the federal law’s “equal work” requirement. California’s law allows for pay differences based on seniority, merit, production-based systems, or bona fide factors other than protected characteristics.