Paycheck Fairness Act

[Will E Worm]

Mikulski’s ‘Paycheck Fairness Act’ Would Allow Employees to Discuss Salaries

A ‘Paycheck Fairness Act’ introduced in Congress last week would require employers to show pay disparity is related to job-performance and prohibit employer retaliation for sharing salary information with coworkers.

Senator Barbara A. Mikulski and Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro, both Democrats, said their legislation is aimed at closing the pay gap between men and women and would also address loopholes in the 1963 Equal Pay Act.

Currently, the law allows employers to sue or otherwise punish employees for sharing their salary information and women still make just 77 cents on their male counterpart’s dollar, according to Sen. Mikulski’s office.

In President Barack Obama’s Inaugural address on Jan. 21, he said a priority in his current term would be effectively closing the pay gap. During the first few weeks of his first term, Obama’s signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, which overturned the 180-day statute of limitations for women to contest pay discrimination.

Mikulski and DeLauro said the Paycheck Fairness Act would also allow women to seek punitive damages for pay discrimination, establish a grant program to strengthen salary negotiation and other workplace skills and require the Department of Labor to enhance outreach and training efforts to eliminate pay disparities.

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Not really a great idea.

I don't see a problem with talking about your salary.

What if someone had been at the company longer? They should be making much more money.

What if they do a job that pays more in the company?

Too many variables to discuss. A pay gap can be justified. Some can't.

 

[Sam Fisher]

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Not really a great idea.

I don't see a problem with talking about your salary.

What if someone had been at the company longer? They should be making much more money.

What if they do a job that pays more in the company?

Too many variables to discuss. A pay gap can be justified. Some can't.

:goodpost:

Because.....Women have no place in politics, ***************, boards of education, etc. Women need to be in their home taking care of the tasks at hand - caring for their husband, ********, housework, grocery shopping, cooking, laundry, etc.

 

[Johan]

A pay gap can be justified. Some can't.

If a boss can't justify a pay gap between two of his employees, the gap shouldn't exist.
Same jo, same seniority, same performances, same pay-check

:goodpost:

Because.....Women have no place in politics, ***************, boards of education, etc. Women need to be in their home taking care of the tasks at hand - caring for their husband, ********, housework, grocery shopping, cooking, laundry, etc.

Someone really needs to jump in the Delorean and go back to 1955 where he belongs...

 

[vajohnie]

If a boss can't justify a pay gap between two of his employees, the gap shouldn't exist.
Same jo, same seniority, same performances, same pay-check

He shouldn't have to justify it. He's the boss. There may be plenty of intangible factors that make an employee more valuable to the company.

Even if a pay gap is justifiable, having to do so publicly would only create friction in the workplace.

If Obama's so worried about closing the pay gap, he should look in the mirror.

 

[vodkazvictim]

Me and BJB discussed this in ethics.

 

[Rey C.]

Not really a great idea.

I don't see a problem with talking about your salary.

What if someone had been at the company longer? They should be making much more money.

What if they do a job that pays more in the company?

Too many variables to discuss. A pay gap can be justified. Some can't.

I agree with you, Will. Without knowing more about the specifics of that "women still make just 77 cents on their male counterpart’s dollar" claim, I'm not sure how one would think they could legislate that stat away. Even in cases where two people have similar years of service, their skill levels may not necessarily be the same... and that's assuming they have identical job titles/functions. I'm well aware that there continues to be various types of discrimination in the workplace (some male/female... and some female/male). But I also know that it's very easy to throw around stats from 1000 feet and make something seem like a problem when it may or may not be. I simply don't know in this case. But a couple of companies ago, I was contacted by a recruiter for a position. I named my price. They eventually met my price. Once there, I found out that I was making substantially more than a person who had been with that company, in a very similar job, for 15 years or so. He happened to be a male. But had he been a female, would that have been considered gender bias or something along those lines??? :dunno:

In my opinion, if you have marketable skills, and you're not happy with what you're making, ask for a raise. And if you don't get it, find another job or go with another company. I tend to do that about every three years. I just did that, in fact. And this place is paying me about 20% more than the last place I worked for in a similar job. But we went back & forth for almost six months before they met my salary demands. Your career is just like a business. You have to negotiate to get what you want. No one is going to give you anything that they don't have to give you. If a woman joins this company in a similar position as mine, and is able to negotiate a higher salary than I did, then good for her. That doesn't take money out of my pocket, so why should I care? And if I want more, then I have to negotiate for it... or leave. So unless a company is found to be paying female employees less than male employees on a broad scale, for similar/identical jobs and levels of performance, I'm not sure that I see a problem that can be addressed by legislation or laws.

 

[Straight Shooter]

I agree with you, Will. Without knowing more about the specifics of that "women still make just 77 cents on their male counterpart’s dollar" claim, I'm not sure how one would think they could legislate that stat away. Even in cases where two people have similar years of service, their skill levels may not necessarily be the same... and that's assuming they have identical job titles/functions. I'm well aware that there continues to be various types of discrimination in the workplace (some male/female... and some female/male). But I also know that it's very easy to throw around stats from 1000 feet and make something seem like a problem when it may or may not be. I simply don't know in this case. But a couple of companies ago, I was contacted by a recruiter for a position. I named my price. They eventually met my price. Once there, I found out that I was making substantially more than a person who had been with that company, in a very similar job, for 15 years or so. He happened to be a male. But had he been a female, would that have been considered gender bias or something along those lines??? :dunno:

In my opinion, if you have marketable skills, and you're not happy with what you're making, ask for a raise. And if you don't get it, find another job or go with another company. I tend to do that about every three years. I just did that, in fact. And this place is paying me about 20% more than the last place I worked for in a similar job. But we went back & forth for almost six months before they met my salary demands. Your career is just like a business. You have to negotiate to get what you want. No one is going to give you anything that they don't have to give you. If a woman joins this company in a similar position as mine, and is able to negotiate a higher salary than I did, then good for her. That doesn't take money out of my pocket, so why should I care? And if I want more, then I have to negotiate for it... or leave. So unless a company is found to be paying female employees less than male employees on a broad scale, for similar/identical jobs and levels of performance, I'm not sure that I see a problem that can be addressed by legislation or laws.

Agreed

 

[Jack Davenport]

I like to do the [NOBABE]cha cha. [/NOBABE]