Women earn approximately 80 cents for every dollar men make, frequently referred to as the gender pay gap, but the difference in pay is often discussed under terms with other definitions, CNNMoney reports.
Here are three definitions of the gender pay gap, according to the report.
1. Pay secrecy. Fifty-one percent of women said their workplace discourages or prohibits the discussion of wage and salary information, according to a survey from the Institute of Women's Policy Research. Pay secrecy is when an employer penalizes workers or discourages them from discussing wages with colleagues, said Maya Raghu, director of workplace equality and senior counsel at the National Women's Law Center. "Many times the penalties include being fired," Ms. Raghu said.
2. Pay transparency. Pay transparency involves creating easier ways for employees to find out about pay in their workplaces as a way to avoid pay discrimination or uncover it, Ms. Raghu said. "It could be things like banning employers from relying on someone's prior salary in setting a new salary for a job," she said. "It could mean requiring employers to provide a salary range or a minimum rate of pay at some point during the interview, so it equalizes that power imbalance and that information imbalance between a job applicant and an employer."
3. Pay equity. Although the gender pay gap persists in the American workforce, the Equal Pay Act requires men and women in the same workplace be given equal pay for equal work. "The jobs need not be identical, but they must be substantially equal," the act reads.