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Conference turris::womannotes-v1

Title:ARCHIVE-- Topics of Interest to Women, Volume 1 --ARCHIVE
Notice:V1 is closed. TURRIS::WOMANNOTES-V5 is open.
Moderator:REGENT::BROOMHEAD
Created:Thu Jan 30 1986
Last Modified:Fri Jun 30 1995
Last Successful Update:Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:873
Total number of notes:22329

579.0. "Equal pay for Comparable work?" by ULTRA::WITTENBERG (The rug is not an inertial frame.) Wed Dec 09 1987 10:34

    A member  of  the  community (to use the in phrase) asked about my
    statement (in note 7.mumble) that I don't believe in equal pay for
    comparable  work.  As  I am feeling more inciting than insightful,
    and think this an interesting topic my position statement follows.
    I hope this can lead to some discussion without excessive heat.

    I think  that  equal  pay  for  comparable work is both unwise and
    unworkable.

    I believe  in  equal rights and equal pay for equal work and don't
    believe  in  "seperate but equal" (except possibly to allow single
    sex  schools,  as  I  went  to  one  and  liked it.) Equal pay for
    comparable  work  strikes me as very close to "seperate but equal"
    because  it tends to institutionalize the idea of "men's jobs" and
    "women's jobs" being different.

    Also, who  decides what's comparable worth? It's hard enough to do
    that  with just the engineers in my group. One has a better global
    picture, and another has a better grasp of the arcane details of a
    programming language. Which is worth more?

    When you  start  looking  at very different jobs it becomes almost
    impossible.  There  are  some studies that indicate that women are
    (*on  average*)  willing  to  take  lower paying jobs if they have
    better working conditions (inside rather than out in a New England
    winter)  or  are  more  stable,  or  offer more flexible hours. (I
    certainly  am  willing  to  pay for those perks.) How do we decide
    what  they're  worth  when there are large variations in the value
    that  different people put on them? What about psychic benefits (I
    enjoy  my  job, and am willing to accept lower pay in exchange for
    interesting  problems  to  work  on)? This is the sort of decision
    that (classical economic) markets make very well.

Now, compare some rather different jobs.

    A doctor  has  a little more training than I do, gets more respect
    from  the  community  (psychic benefits are real), is on call some
    weekends,  and gets awakened by the phone at night. He makes twice
    what I do. Is that reasonable?

    A teacher  has  a  little  less  training  than I do. He gets long
    summer  vacations, short work days (but immense amounts of work to
    do  each  night),  and probably less respect than I get. If I do a
    bad job there may be a hole in a computer system. If he does a bad
    job, we end up with a less well educated populace. Clearly his job
    has a higher cost of failure. I make about 1.5 times what he does.
    Is this fair?

    What about  blue collar workers? How do you compare an engineer to
    a truck driver? or a plumber?

    These decisions   are  almost  impossible.  I  would  much  rather
    strictly enforce the current laws (and pass stronger ones) against
    discrimination  in  hiring, (which is an easier law to enforce) as
    in  the  long  run it leads to a fair system without an impossible
    bureaucracy.


--David

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579.1Unequal payEDUHCI::WARRENWed Dec 09 1987 11:5725
    <<Equal pay for comparable jobs...tends to institutionalize the
    idea of "men's jobs" and "women's jobs"...>>
    
    I think that's what unequal pay does...there will never be many
    men as nurses, or grade school teachers or secretaries (etc.) until
    those jobs come with decent salaries.  
                                                                     
    Supply and demand is not all that's involved.  There are not enough
    nurses or trained secretaries or good teachers...yet they continue
    to be grossly underpaid.  Do we have to totally to drive women out 
    of these profession, too, before the supply is poor enough that
    we will start paying them fairly?         
                                                                 
    I agree it's not easy to implement...but it certainly isn't easy
    for some  people to live with the way it is now either.
    
    By the way, I do agree, that we should _at least_ be enforcing equal
    pay for equal work--and we aren't there yet.
    
    -Tracy
    
                                           
                                           
                                           
                                           
579.2Use a pantograph.REGENT::BROOMHEADDon&#039;t panic -- yet.Wed Dec 09 1987 12:1912
    In Oregon (I think), they drew up some parameters to use in
    determining worth.  I only remember a few:
    
    	1.  Degree of education required
    	2.  Degree of responsibility entailed
    	3.  [Monetary?] cost of failure to perform correctly
    
    From this, it was easy for people to agree that the male janitors
    should *not* be making more than the female secretaries, although
    they were.  I'm sure other examples could be provided easily.
    
    							Ann B.
579.3Watch for it...20067::SHUBINNow open in ZKO3-3Wed Dec 09 1987 12:3414
    If you don't like this, watch out for the JEC program (Job Evaluation
    and Classification) that's hitting Digital. It sounds like they're
    evaluating the work that each of us does and re-classifying all of the
    job codes and/or levels. I understand that there will be some salary
    adjustments as well.

    This sounds like Digital is getting into equal pay for comparable work,
    which is surprising, but welcome. Or did I misinterpret the
    presentation that my supervisor gave us?

    					-- hs

    (Ann B: What's a "pantograph"?)
579.4KLAATU::THIBAULTCapture the moment, carry the dayWed Dec 09 1987 12:4311
re:< Note 579.3 by 20067::SHUBIN "Now open in ZKO3-3" >
   

 �   This sounds like Digital is getting into equal pay for comparable work,
 �   which is surprising, but welcome. Or did I misinterpret the
 �   presentation that my supervisor gave us?

   Yep, that's about they way I understood it. It also appears that they're
trying to create job titles for those of us who don't have real ones.

Jenna - who's glad to be done  with those JEC forms...bleah
579.5WC4s OnlyGCANYN::TATISTCHEFFLee TWed Dec 09 1987 13:036
    In our cost center, only WC4 are having JEC.  They say *some* WC2s
    (and imply "maybe all") *might* do JEC too.
    
    While I think JEC will help me, I think WC2s need it more.
    
    Lee
579.6Just a questionEDUHCI::WARRENWed Dec 09 1987 14:226
    If the JEC is being done separately for WC2 and WC4, has it already
    been decided that all (current) WC2 jobs are necessarily not comparable
    to all (current) WC4 jobs?
    
    -Tracy
    
579.7Just to set the record straight...VIKING::TARBETWed Dec 09 1987 19:0412
    WC4 is the only category being affected at present.  If all goes
    well [interpret that howsoever you like ;-}] then WC1..WC3 _may_
    be done over too.  Titles, codes, and salary ranges will all be
    affected, but actual current salaries will not be (tho if you wind
    up higher in your new range, it might be a while til your next 
    salary rise).
    
    Hal's comment about how DEC seems to be doing equal-pay-for-
    comparable-work is pretty close to accurate, but unfortunately not
    spot on:  they're still using the "competitive market" as a fudge
    factor.
    						=maggie
579.8This is a good source of information38636::AUGUSTINEWed Dec 09 1987 22:086
    It's been quite helpful to read about the JEC changes here; our
    group has been unusually distracted, but management has not yet
    gotten around to explaining what will happen to us. At least I now
    know to expect some sort of change.
    
    liz
579.9'grunge' factor ?SPMFG1::CHARBONNDI took my hands off the wheelThu Dec 10 1987 08:1216
    re .0  Without ever mentioning it , you make a powerful case for
    the free market 
    
    re .2 One factor needed in that list is an "undesirability" factor
    to compensate people for dirty work conditions. Janitors aren't
    necessarily highly skilled, or in short supply, but they do work
    with a lot of trash, dirt, cleaning chemicals. HMMM, so do house-
    wives. I don't think I'd trade $2-3 an hour for a clean office
    instead of this dirty warehouse, but it would be nice to walk
    out of work not in dire need of a shower sometimes :-)
    
    Dana
    
    PS how do you compare, for example, an outstanding (1 rating)
    janitor with a mediocre secretary ? Too complicated. Let the
    market decide. 
579.10Beware of general statementsBUFFER::LEEDBERGToto and moi are On the Road again.Sat Dec 12 1987 19:2115
    re .9
    
    "clean office" have you ever had to maintain n LN03's - that is
    not clean - arrange and clean up after group birthday cakes, pot
    luck luncheons, or all day meetings in large conference rooms. 
    Most secretaries don't sit around in clean sterile envrionments
    some even have to freeze in warehouse offices with out adequate
    facilties.
    
    _peggy
    
    		(-)
    		 |	In a previous life I had a clean job
    				- I think -