Equal work for equal pay.

MagentaYenta

Tue, Apr 07 2015, 4:54 pm

Here in the US women still make less then men for performing the same jobs. I would guess that it is more prevalent in private industry than public service. (Public service salaries are tied to jobs and not the people who fill them.)

If you're a working woman do you have any tales from the workplace regarding equal pay for equal work? Do you earn the same as a male peer performing the same duties? Would you confront an employer who paid a man more than what they paid a woman for the same duties?

debsey

Tue, Apr 07 2015, 5:16 pm

MagentaYenta wrote:

If you could PROVE that, you'd have quite a case. But usually, they base salary on other "intangibles" and never outright SAY that it is due to gender.

This is one of the reasons I started my own business. This way, my advancement or lack thereof is all on me, not on my ability to play politics (or golf!)

MagentaYenta

Tue, Apr 07 2015, 5:26 pm

debsey wrote:

I know from experience that back in the olden daze it was quite common. I took a teaching job in NJ my first year out of college and the person who hired me asked a whole rash of questions that were legal then but aren't legal now. Once hired other teachers told me that if I were to get married to keep it quiet and if I were married and planning on getting pregnant not to buy the maternity ins. through my employer since it was assured my contract wouldn't be renewed. (And when I got married for the first time,in NJ, I had to have my husbands permission to open a separate checking account.)

amother

White

Tue, Apr 07 2015, 5:39 pm

MagentaYenta wrote:

Isn't the whole point of a separate account that he shouldn't know you're saving up to leave him?
It is for me.
Unbelievable.

zaq

Tue, Apr 07 2015, 7:05 pm

amother wrote:

Isn't the whole point of a separate account that he shouldn't know you're saving up to leave him?
.

I am sorry that this is the case for you, and wish you a happier life in the future. But for most women, this is not necessarily so. A woman may want an account in her own name for many reasons: To have control over the money you earn. You worked for it, why should you not control it? To have resources in case you marry a man who leaves you, clearing out your joint account just before departing for parts unknown. As a hedge against ruin in case you have a spouse who may be less than responsible about money--or one who is TOO responsible and won't let you spend anything without his approval. To be able to buy your dh gifts without his knowing how much you spent. To be able to buy yourself gifts without dh knowing how much you spent. To have resources of your own in case for some reason your joint assets are frozen.

I believe that at one time, when a person died, all bank accounts bearing that person's name, alone or in partnership, were frozen and no one could access the accounts until whatever legal steps were completed. Without an account in her own name, a widow would thus be temporarily destitute no matter how wealthy her dh was. This is no longer the case in the US, (if it ever was and the person who told me this was not misinformed). A widow would not be able to access any accounts in her dh name alone, but she can access any accounts she held jointly with him with right of survivorship or accounts in her dh name in trust for her. Still, to access accounts for which she is named as trustee, she would have to bring a death certificate, which she may or may not have right away.

.

MagentaYenta

Tue, Apr 07 2015, 7:10 pm

amother wrote:

Isn't the whole point of a separate account that he shouldn't know you're saving up to leave him?
It is for me.
Unbelievable.

You are gutless hiding behind amother to lie. Where did I say I was saving up to leave him? I was a working woman used to having access to my own funds, it was our joint decision to each have separate as well as a joint account.

Now apologize, under your real screen name you coward.

amother

White

Tue, Apr 07 2015, 7:13 pm

MagentaYenta wrote:

Omg where did I say you were??? I was talking about myself. I was expressing horror that back then I would not be able to set up a safety net for myself the way I am able to now.

I used the word you in a nonspecific way. I was actually talking about myself. I know nothing about you.

Please reread what I wrote in the way I intended because your attack is completely uncalled for.

MagentaYenta

Tue, Apr 07 2015, 7:16 pm

amother wrote:

Omg where did I say you were??? I was talking about myself. I was expressing horror that back then I would not be able to set up a safety net for myself the way I am able to now.

I used the word you in a nonspecific way. I was actually was talking about myself. I know nothing about you.

Please reread what I wrote in the way I intended because your attack is completely uncalled for.

These are your words and the question you posed me. "Isn't the whole point of a separate account that he shouldn't know you're saving up to leave him? "

amother

White

Tue, Apr 07 2015, 7:23 pm

MagentaYenta wrote:

These are your words and the question you posed me. "Isn't the whole point of a separate account that he shouldn't know you're saving up to leave him? "

I was asking rhetorically. Zaq actually gave some pretty good alternative reasons for having a separate account, as did you in your reply.

It was a pretty awful law, you gotta admit... Especially for women who need protection from their husband. (This time I do mean you, MY, and everyone else who chooses to agree.)

Then again, rape was not a crime if the victim was married to her rapist.

MagentaYenta

Tue, Apr 07 2015, 7:38 pm

amother wrote:

Stick a fork in me I'm done.

zaq

Tue, Apr 07 2015, 7:40 pm

BTW, the "Knippel" which I think means "little pinch" in Yiddish, was the immigrant woman's version of a bank account in her own name. This term referred to the secret little stash of cash the canny baleboste kept tied up in a handkerchief, accrued from pennies she had saved or earned from here and there. It came in handy when the hubby was out of work or the baby needed a doctor.

MagentaYenta

Tue, Apr 07 2015, 7:43 pm

zaq wrote:

Magenta, my employer has an official equal pay policy, but in fact there are not that many women in the top-tier positions. There are some, but not many, and somehow the women in those positions seem much better educated, more capable and harder workers than the men in comparable slots.

I saw the same with some female administrators at the university and saw some very disparate treatment of female academics. It wasn't until after I left the uni that they enacted stricter pay standards for academic recruitments.

I was a first line manager for a division of Daewoo many years ago and when our CFO had staff meetings I was not invited to attend. I was the only female first line mgr. The CFO would send his secretary to my office to ask me for input.

debsey

Tue, Apr 07 2015, 8:45 pm

zaq wrote:

There's a lot of truth to the adage that a woman has to work twice as hard for half the credit........