While there are laws in place to help ensure equal pay between men and women, it is not always the case. There can still be differences between employees when it comes to how much two people make when performing the same job. If you feel like you are legally entitled to receiving equal pay due to gender discrimination, here are some tips that will help you prepare a lawsuit.

Know That Equal Pay Is Not Limited To Wages

The first thing that you should know is that equal pay laws apply to more than how much you make per year. They also include other parts of your compensation package. For example, perhaps you have the exact same job as another employee of the opposite gender, but they receive more PTO days than you, better benefits, a company car, or something else that makes the compensation unequal. 

Know That You Must Find A Comparator

Part of having a successful equal pay lawsuit means that you must have a comparator in your workplace that you can use to justify the discrimination. This means that they must be the opposite gender as you and have the same job responsibilities as well. This can get confusing when there are people that are more senior employees with more years of experience or have slightly different job responsibilities. Having a comparator that is as close to you as possible will help strengthen your case. 

Another thing to keep in mind is that you need to look at more than the job description. For example, there may be a man and a woman who work in retail sales as a cashier and who have the exact same job responsibilities that require the same skill set. In that situation, the man may be considered a comparator for the woman. However, there may be additional responsibilities for the man that make the skill set not exactly equal, such as the man being required to do periodic heavy lifting. This may put the man's skill set outside of the woman's if she is unable to do it. 

Know That Jobs Can Be Ranked To Compare Them

If you are in a situation where there is not another employee that has the exact same job as you, it is possible to compare similar jobs by ranking them. Your lawyer can help perform an analysis where scores are given to each job based on various factors, such as the training or physical ability required, and if they are scored similarly, that can be used to justify if the pay is the same.