Does comparable worth obscure the real issues?
Article Abstract:
Job demands and working conditions are responsible for wage differentials between men and women. To better explain wage disparity between men and women, a survey was conducted among employees of the production and packaging departments of an Eastern manufacturing company in which women appeared to be excluded from the production department, where the salaries were higher and opportunities existed for shift and overtime work. The only other difference between the two jobs was the requirement for heavy lifting in the production department. Of the individuals surveyed in the packaging department, 50 percent of the men and 35 percent of the women indicated that they were interested in jobs in production. Women in packaging had free access to knowledge of job openings and there were no arbitrary work rules or union agreements. However, heavy lifting and responsibilities at home were the two items that were perceived as definite advantages by both men and women. Women had household responsibilities that men did not have and, for them, the correlation between the time spent in the house and unavailability for work was opposite than for men. Thus, women translated their household responsibilities into limitations for work availability, in contrast to men.
Publication Name: Personnel Journal
Subject: Human resources and labor relations
ISSN: 0031-5745
Year: 1987
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How will reform tax your benefits?
Article Abstract:
The 1986 Tax Reform Act has changed the rules governing employer compensation policies and employee benefits, especially in the areas of employee benefit plans and the assumptions underlying employer-provided pension and welfare programs. The areas of change (that relate to compensation and benefits) discussed include: executive compensation; employee stock ownership plans; Section 415 limits on employee contributions to qualified plans; vesting in employee profit-sharing plans; plan integration rules; nondiscrimination rules relating to retirement benefits; distributions and loans to employees; 401(K) and thrift-savings plans; individual retirement accounts; and cafeteria plans. The impact of the new law on benefits, the best employer response, the immediacy of needed attention, compliance, and predicted employee responses in each of these areas are reviewed.
Publication Name: Personnel Journal
Subject: Human resources and labor relations
ISSN: 0031-5745
Year: 1986
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Compensation: pay equity loses to Chicken Little and other excuses
Article Abstract:
Employers are beginning to accept the fact that the compensation practice for women is changing and that wage discrimination is a thing of the past. Several arguments exist that are opposed to comparable worth objectives: the supply and demand argument (which influences only a small segment of entry-level jobs), the argument that it is not possible to determine objectively the value of two different jobs, and the argument of potential cost. Some sectors refuse to conduct pay equity studies for fear of the results. However, pressures such as the threat of lawsuits force action to be taken; in such a case, the employer can either manipulate the data or concentrate on solving the problem. Some employers, like the State of Minnesota, have made pay equity adjustments by applying the same standards to men's and women's jobs.
Publication Name: Personnel Journal
Subject: Human resources and labor relations
ISSN: 0031-5745
Year: 1986
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