The California Equal Pay Act has prohibited an employer from paying its employees less than employees of the opposite sex for equal work. Fill out and submit the "Equal Pay Act Complaint" Form (EPA ‐1).Please read the following Instructions to ensure that you are completing the Form correctly. Equal Work: To file a claim, you and the individual you compare your compensation to must perform substantially similar work. Employers may not pay employees less than other employees of the opposite sex, another race, or another ethnicity for substantially similar work. The Equal Pay Act requires that men and women in the same workplace be given equal pay for equal work. The Equal Pay Act is considered a strict liability statute that requires employers to pay men and women the same amount for similar or equivalent work. Employers cannot pay less to an employee based on gender, race, or ethnicity. Our experienced employment lawyers break it down for you. Equal pay, equal work.