[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 29, Volume 4]
[Revised as of July 1, 2007]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 29CFR1620.16]

[Page 316-317]
 
                             TITLE 29--LABOR
 
          CHAPTER XIV--EQUAL EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY COMMISSION
 
PART 1620_THE EQUAL PAY ACT--Table of Contents
 
Sec.  1620.16  Jobs requiring equal effort in performance.

    (a) In general. The jobs to which the equal pay standard is 
applicable are jobs that require equal effort to perform. Where 
substantial differences exist in the amount or degree of effort required 
to be expended in the performance of jobs, the equal pay standard cannot 
apply even though the jobs may be equal in all other respects. Effort is 
concerned with the measurement of the physical or mental exertion needed 
for the performance of a job. Job factors which cause mental fatigue and 
stress, as well as those which alleviate fatigue, are to be considered 
in determining the effort required by the job. ``Effort'' encompasses 
the total requirements of a job. Where jobs are otherwise equal under 
the EPA, and there is no substantial difference in the amount or degree 
of effort which must be expended in performing the jobs under 
comparison, the jobs may require equal effort in their performance even 
though the effort may be exerted in different ways on the two jobs. 
Differences only in the kind of effort required to be expended in such a 
situation will not justify wage differentials.
    (b) Comparing effort requirements of jobs. To illustrate the 
principle of equal effort exerted in different ways, suppose that a male 
checker employed by a supermarket is required to spend part of his time 
carrying out heavy packages or replacing stock involving the lifting of 
heavy items whereas a female checker is required to devote an equal 
degree of effort during a similar portion of her time to performing 
fill-in work requiring greater dexterity--such

[[Page 317]]

as rearranging displays of spices or other small items. The difference 
in kind of effort required of the employees does not appear to make 
their efforts unequal in any respect which would justify a wage 
differential, where such differences in kind of effort expended to 
perform the job are not ordinarily considered a factor in setting wage 
levels. Further, the occasional or sporadic performance of an activity 
which may require extra physical or mental exertion is not alone 
sufficient to justify a finding of unequal effort. Suppose, however, 
that men and women are working side by side on a line assembling parts. 
Suppose further that one of the men who performs the operations at the 
end of the line must also lift the assembly, as he completes his part of 
it, and places it on a waiting pallet. In such a situation, a wage rate 
differential might be justified for the person (but only for the person) 
who is required to expend the extra effort in the performance of his 
job, provided that the extra effort so expended is substantial and is 
performed over a considerable portion of the work cycle. In general, a 
wage rate differential based on differences in the degree or amount of 
effort required for performance of jobs must be applied uniformly to men 
and women. For example, if all women and some men performing a 
particular type of job never perform heavy lifting, but some men do, 
payment of a higher wage rate to all of the men would constitute a 
prohibited wage rate differential if the equal pay provisions otherwise 
apply.