Lilly Ledbetter Case And Salary Notification (employees, average, employer, jobs)

[KevK]

Today President Obama signed a bill called the Lilly Ledbdder Bill which is named after a women who sued for discrimination after she found out she was getting the shaft from her employer Goodyear. The problem was that she found out too late to sue the court said.
This legislation overturns that decison and allows "the clock" on lawsuits to begin when a persob finds out they have been the victim of discrimination and not when the bias actually occured.
While I support this legislation 100 percent, I wondering if we should actually go further and REQUIRE by LAW that ALL employers- private and public POST the salaries they pay employees- either on a company billboard or the internet. This would allow all employees to see what their co employees are being paid and make it easier to rectify such things.

[macroy]

I have real issues with that.... with regards to privacy. I know if you are employed by the federal government, your salary is public information. But other than that, I prefer to not have my salary plastered in the company cafeteria. There should be another way to this; i.e. a 3rd party audit or something to ensure salary integrity. Or providing a salary structure showing the high/low and median pay of position levels.

Posting salaries can cause other issues relating to the work environment. There are so many jobs out there that even with the same title and general type of work; the experiences/education of the people doing those may be different. So in those cases, it may be valid for salaries to be different to ensure that a company is competitive in retaining good staff.

In Ms. Ledbetter's case, it was obvious that Goodyear was discriminating against her. And I'm realistic enough to know that this happens - A LOT. But on the other hand, I'm not willing to give up my right to privacy to help enforce this. 'Cause in the end, shady people will always find a way around it.

[SouthernBelle3]

Nope. Not a good idea. If you were one of the more productive employees and your no-good lazy coworkers are resentful because they find out your boss pays you more, that would create animosity.
Gosh darn it don't we already have enough employment laws!

[ESFP]

Originally Posted by macroy

...a 3rd party audit...

Didn't JFK sign the Equal Pay Act of 1963 ? Either way, half a century later, this is still a problem. There does need to be a checks-and-balance of industries. Having co-workers know your income is dangerous to the harmony of a workplace, and often grounds for dismissal. A 3rd-party sounds like a good idea.

[KevK]

Originally Posted by macroy

I have real issues with that.... with regards to privacy. I know if you are employed by the federal government, your salary is public information. But other than that, I prefer to not have my salary plastered in the company cafeteria. There should be another way to this; i.e. a 3rd party audit or something to ensure salary integrity. Or providing a salary structure showing the high/low and median pay of position levels.

Posting salaries can cause other issues relating to the work environment. There are so many jobs out there that even with the same title and general type of work; the experiences/education of the people doing those may be different. So in those cases, it may be valid for salaries to be different to ensure that a company is competitive in retaining good staff.

In Ms. Ledbetter's case, it was obvious that Goodyear was discriminating against her. And I'm realistic enough to know that this happens - A LOT. But on the other hand, I'm not willing to give up my right to privacy to help enforce this. 'Cause in the end, shady people will always find a way around it.

If you work for any organization that is government, union or even some that have government contracts salaries are posted by job title. It doesn't hurt anybody. Sure there are reasons why pay would differ between employees but those in the same job and title with more than 5 years on the job should not differ by much.

[tortoisegirl]

I think it would be great to have a 3rd party system. It's really hard to know if you're being paid appropriately. While they have websites that post pay by job title and zip code, if you are being paid 10k less than a co-worker for the same position/work/experience, I still would feel that's wrong, even if it's above average.

I agree with the bill but I wonder what will really come as a result of it. A lot of employees are scared to ask about pay, ask for a raise, etc. It seems like right now the people who have the initiative to demand or ask for higher pay (either a raise or when they start a position) have an advantage over the maybe even more hardworking individual who would never have the guts to bring it up.