"Employers to get new rules to prove mythical gender wage gap
By ASHE SCHOW (@ASHESCHOW) 1/29/16 2:17 PM
The gender wage gap is due mostly to the choices women make in their careers and family lives, not to discrimination. Yet the myth persists that women earn 78 cents to the dollar that men earn for doing the exact same job.
On Friday, President Obama announced a new regulation that would force employers to "collect summary pay data by gender, race and ethnicity from businesses with 100 or more employees."
Because even though the discrepancy is due mostly to the choices women make, why not set about trying to prove that it's all about discrimination?
The gender wage gape myth persists mostly because it is an easy talking point for Democrats looking to foment anger and resentment between men and women. But it also persists because the data behind the gap make apples and oranges comparisons between the careers and hours of men and women. The data do not compare "equal pay for equal work," as Democrats claim. The White House knows this, yet continues to demonize employers and victimize women.
Now employers will be forced to spend time and money to collect and post the new data. All of this to prove a problem that doesn't exist does in fact exist.
The new rules also require employers to collect information related to the hours worked by their employees. This is but one factor in the gender wage gap, and ignores other factors such as education, experience, actual position and its requirements and time off.
When people only look at the differences between what all women and all men earn, there is a gap. Look at the White House itself, men out-earn women there, yet when you look at the factors going into the differences in salaries, you see that women are being paid the same amount for the same work, it's just that more men are in higher-paying positions and there are far, far more women in internships and lower-paying, entry-level positions.
The details of each employee's pay are important to know when determining whether discrimination is in fact occurring. I don't doubt that the new data may find some discrimination; however, most of that "discrimination" will be due to a number of factors other than the employee's gender or race. In those situations, employers will be unfairly demonized and pressured into artificially increasing women's pay when their job, education and experience doesn't call for it."
Reminds me of the old joke. The Government sends out a form for employers to list employees "broken down by sex". Employer response: "We have some that appear to be tired from sex, but I wouldn't call them 'broken down'".
Seriously, though, will the Government compensate employers for their time in preparing and submitting the report?
By ASHE SCHOW (@ASHESCHOW) 1/29/16 2:17 PM
The gender wage gap is due mostly to the choices women make in their careers and family lives, not to discrimination. Yet the myth persists that women earn 78 cents to the dollar that men earn for doing the exact same job.
On Friday, President Obama announced a new regulation that would force employers to "collect summary pay data by gender, race and ethnicity from businesses with 100 or more employees."
Because even though the discrepancy is due mostly to the choices women make, why not set about trying to prove that it's all about discrimination?
The gender wage gape myth persists mostly because it is an easy talking point for Democrats looking to foment anger and resentment between men and women. But it also persists because the data behind the gap make apples and oranges comparisons between the careers and hours of men and women. The data do not compare "equal pay for equal work," as Democrats claim. The White House knows this, yet continues to demonize employers and victimize women.
Now employers will be forced to spend time and money to collect and post the new data. All of this to prove a problem that doesn't exist does in fact exist.
The new rules also require employers to collect information related to the hours worked by their employees. This is but one factor in the gender wage gap, and ignores other factors such as education, experience, actual position and its requirements and time off.
When people only look at the differences between what all women and all men earn, there is a gap. Look at the White House itself, men out-earn women there, yet when you look at the factors going into the differences in salaries, you see that women are being paid the same amount for the same work, it's just that more men are in higher-paying positions and there are far, far more women in internships and lower-paying, entry-level positions.
The details of each employee's pay are important to know when determining whether discrimination is in fact occurring. I don't doubt that the new data may find some discrimination; however, most of that "discrimination" will be due to a number of factors other than the employee's gender or race. In those situations, employers will be unfairly demonized and pressured into artificially increasing women's pay when their job, education and experience doesn't call for it."
Reminds me of the old joke. The Government sends out a form for employers to list employees "broken down by sex". Employer response: "We have some that appear to be tired from sex, but I wouldn't call them 'broken down'".
Seriously, though, will the Government compensate employers for their time in preparing and submitting the report?
