THINK it’s because of our skills, college education, and energy….but it’s about money saved by the employer that we are being given the advantage. I hardly think this is what the UK Suffragettes and USA Suffragists envisioned for us.

Women need to recognized that in the corporate world they are being hired to work less pay. They are being given the “advantage” but at what cost to their paychecks and their daughters to come?

Rosanne Ferreri-Feske, CEO
The NEW Tennessee Woman

http://www.thenewtnwoman.com

http://rferrerifeske.audioacrobat.com/rss/launch-of-the-new-tennessee-woman.xml

First, I have never experienced myself, or known of any other woman personally, that has had ANY success getting a mentor on the job. In fact, even those who were hired and given an “official” company mentor were not developed or helped by these individuals at all. In all of these cases, the supposed mentor was competitive and concerned that they would be replaced by their protegé. Either that or on a personal power mission, looking for a country to rule. Such is the tone of the workplace today.

Second, I think the topic of salary negotiations is a good one — and best used upon initial hire. My experience is that once a company gets you to accept a certain salary, these days you better save the CEO’s life to get anything more than a cost-of-living-like bump. The job market has been so tight for so long, and real wages in the US have stagnated. Managers know this, and take advantage of this shamelessly. I’ve gotten my very best pay increases upon initial hire when they’re excited about you and really motivated to bring you on. This is the time to do your research into your industry’s compensation and work out a way to justify the money you’re asking for.

Third, I don’t believe wage discrimination will be remedied by more legislation — although I applaud and support AAUW’s efforts. We have many labor laws now that deal with overtime pay, working hours, etc. that go entirely unenforced. It doesn’t matter how many laws you have, if no one is committed to (or interested in) policing them. Besides, how can a woman know whether or not she is being paid less, and by how much, when no one in a company will ever discuss their compensation! The biggest tragedy in white-collar work is the fact that it’s considered taboo to discuss your pay — and most companies actually have written policies prohibiting disclosing your compensation. Convenient, isn’t it? And we all go along with it. It has become socially unacceptable to discuss your pay in polite company. We’re practically Victorian about it. Most American women I know have no problem telling a group of coworkers all about the intimate details of their love-life, but would never dream of telling anyone how much she makes.

Lastly, more and more companies are looking to hire women precisely because of the wage gap. I know of a company who hires women almost exclusively so they can save money on salaries — and they speak openly and pat themselves on the back about this strategy. The only men in this company are in the top two spots, and a couple in sales. They routinely fire people who are earning more pay, and replace them with younger women at half the cost. And there’s plenty of women in line to take these jobs.

How can the government police a company like this? What’s the solution? I wish I knew.

AAUW’s position on FMLA states,

“…Public Policy Program supports ‘greater availability of and access to benefits and policies that create a family-friendly workplace environment,’ which are critical for women for ‘equitable access and advancement in employment.’…

Despite the FMLA and a patchwork of state laws and employer-based benefits, family and personal sick leave remain elusive to many working Americans. And despite the relative wealth of the United States, family-oriented workplace policies in this country lag dramatically behind those in much of the rest of the word, including all high-income countries and many middle- and low-income countries as well. For example, of the 173 countries surveyed by Harvard and McGill University researchers, the U.S. is one of only five countries that do not guarantee some form of paid maternity leave, a distinction it shares with Lesotho, Liberia, Swaziland, and Papua New Guinea. 2 Clearly, there is still much room for improvement to make our workplaces more family friendly.”

To read the complete position statement, go to http://www.aauw.org/advocacy/issue_advocacy/actionpages/upload/AAUW-family-friendly-workplace-110.pdf