Pay "discrimination" (employee, owner, jobs, career)

[iamnotwhoyouthinkiam]

Pay discrimination laws are the worst laws on the books in terms of trying to have an innovative and successful business. It stifles progress in companies, it diminishes individuality and determination to succeed or be the best at current position, and it isn't ethical.



Granted, this excludes positions where you earn 25% or more of your salary in commission or bonuses on a pay for performance basis.




But take any job or career where you make a fixed hourly wage or fixed yearly salary. Where the only way you can earn more money is by being at the company longer (aka "getting tenure yo!"). These jobs include fast food workers, grocery store employees, school teachers, etc.



In these jobs we have a typical game theory dilemma. If fast food cook A works harder and faster than cook B, cook A should normally be rewarded with more pay per hour than cook B. That is how businesses would ethically and fairly pay employees.


However, in our system, their is laws against pay "discrimination". Businesses are afraid of lawsuits, so technically, while they could probably get away with paying cook A more because he deserves more, they pay cook A the same as cook B b.c they don't want even a mere possibility of a future lawsuit.



Even if cook A is completing 16 food orders per hour and cook B is completing only 7, they are both being paid the same. In game theory, the correct response of cook A is to slow down and stop doing all the work b.c he has no benefit of cooking 16 food orders an hour if he can cook only 7 and still be paid the same.


As you can imagine, this creates a lot of hostility in the work place, b.c people are all being paid the same, even though there are usually a few employees that totally out perform the rest of the pack.



In a free society a business owner has the right to pay each employee whatever he and thee employee agree upon.

But we live in a socialistic land where government tries to create equal outcomes in all aspects of our lives, but especially in our work. Because after all, they own all your income, except for the certain % they let you keep each year.

[crankywithakeyboard]

Originally Posted by iamnotwhoyouthinkiam

But we live in a socialistic land where government tries to create equal outcomes in all aspects of our lives, but especially in our work. Because after all, they own all your income, except for the certain % they let you keep each year.

If this is a socialist land as defined by you, where's my share of the wealth created by questionable (and most likely illegal) actions of the Wall Street bunch?

[mash potato]

Originally Posted by iamnotwhoyouthinkiam

while they could probably get away with paying cook A more because he deserves more, they pay cook A the same as cook B b.c they don't want even a mere possibility of a future lawsuit.

I wonder how many employees discuss their salaries to compare notes.

Originally Posted by iamnotwhoyouthinkiam

the correct response of cook A is to slow down and stop doing all the work b.c he has no benefit of cooking 16 food orders an hour if he can cook only 7

Unless cook A would be bored by working so slow

Originally Posted by iamnotwhoyouthinkiam

In a free society a business owner has the right to pay each employee whatever he and thee employee agree upon.

I thought that was the case. I always thought that employees with the same title get hired at different amounts depending on the experience they have.

Originally Posted by iamnotwhoyouthinkiam

after all, they own all your income

How can they when they only forcibly take less than 50 percent of the whole amount?