How to Finagle a Day Off

I needed a few days off work, but I knew the boss would not allow me to take a leave. I thought that maybe if I acted “crazy” then he would tell me to take a few days off. So I hung upside down on the ceiling and made funny noises.

My co-worker asked me what I was doing.

I told her that I was pretending to be a light bulb so that the boss would think I was “crazy” and give me a few days off.

A few minutes later the boss came into the office and asked, “What are you doing?”

I told him I was a light bulb.

He said, “You’re clearly stressed out. Go home and recuperate for a couple of days.” I jumped down and walked out of the office.

When my co-worker followed me, the boss asked her “And where do you think you’re going?” She said, “I’m going home too. I can’t work in the dark!”

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5 Things Women Need to Do on National Pay Equity Day

Today is National Pay Equity Day. The National Committee on Pay Equity writes:

National Pay Equity Day is the day when women and men around the country recognize the wage gap between working women and men, and offer remedies to address pay inequity. According to statistics released in 2006 by the United States Census Bureau, women are paid, on average, 77 cents for every dollar their male counterparts are paid — a gap of 23 cents.

I wrote yesterday about HR’s responsiblity to make pay equity an every day thing, not a once a year “I’m shocked, shocked to find out there’s gambling going on here” thing. I think there’s even more to the story, and this is a call to action to women about their pay and actions they should take.

Ask for More. Demand More.
Steve Wilson offered a pretty straightforward reason why there may be an early pay gap between men and women: “[O]ne possible explanation for the gender difference among recent grads is that men simply ask for more money.” Painting with a broad brush, there are significant differences in the way that men and women negotiate.

A First Job Pay Negotiation Scenario
Imagine a pay range for a starting job that goes from $32,000 to $36,000. First, would you offer both a man and woman who was just starting out the same amount, $32K? That’s deep rooted and worth a little introspection on your own. Second, I would gamble to say that men are more likely to ask for more up front. Women are generally (and I realize I’m over-generalizing here) more cooperative. So, the man asks for $34K and since it’s in the range, that’s his starting salary. The woman takes $32K, and all’s right in the world, right? Not even close. There’s a 6% difference right off the bat between $32K and $34K.

The Compounding Effect Widens the Pay Gap
The compounding effect exacerbates the gender pay gap. You can do the math — it’s always better to start with a bigger snowball when you’re thinking about compouding interest (such as the standard 3% annual “merit” increase).

5 Things Women Need to Do On National Pay Equity Day

  1. Understand your pay and pay ranges. Don’t be afraid to ask. Men do.
  2. Don’t take the first offer they give you. Ask questions. Find out about the pay range for the job. It’s ALWAYS to your advantage to start out with a higher salary.
  3. Don’t be a sucker and fall for the “We’ll evaluate your pay in six months” trick. There’s a reason that “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush” is an axiom. It’s because it’s true. Get your money up front.
  4. Ask about pay equity in your own company. NB: Your company has that information and they have to report it to the government. It’s not a secret and if they’re doing the right thing they should be proud of their data. If they have something to hide, then they should do something about it.
  5. Know that shining light in dark corners is how pay equity is going to be addressed. Silence is complicity. Ask questions. Know that pay equity is right.

Women Make Less Than Men: 5 Things HR Needs to Do Right Now to End Pay Inequality

Unexplainable Pay Inequality in 2007
Women make less than men. In 2007. When controlling for all factors. How is that possible? Do you know anyone who actively and consciously pays women less than men? Well, it happens.

Women Earn on 80% Of What Their Male Counterparts Earn Right Out of School
The American Association of University Women released a new study that shows that women make less than men right out of school, continue to fall further behind as their career “advances,” and it’s not pretty. The AAUW reports:

In the report, Behind the Pay Gap, the AAUW Educational Foundation found that just one year after college graduation, women earn only 80 percent of what their male counterparts earn. Ten years after graduation, women fall further behind, earning only 69 percent of what men earn. Even after controlling for hours, occupation, parenthood, and other factors known to affect earnings, the research indicates that one-quarter of the pay gap remains unexplained and is likely due to sex discrimination. Over time, the unexplained portion of the pay gap grows.

This seems like an issue that HR should have solved a long time ago. How can it possibly be in the days of discrimination testing and pay surveys that gender pay differentials are still so large (or different at all)? It’s astonishing.

It’s Time for HR To Take a Stand on Pay Inequality
You know, I can practically understand how there could be gender pay inequalities in composite (for non-normalized data). Men don’t take time off for having babies, they tend to not be the primary caregivers, and for that, they stay in the workforce and get more promotions and money. But it just doesn’t reconcile when it starts out with inequalities right out of college. How in the hell can that be?

5 Things HR Needs to Do Right Now to End Pay Inequality
It’s time for HR to take a stand. To stand up and say “It’s our responsibility to provide equal pay for equal work.” That it’s not acceptable to pay women less than men right out of school. To think it’s just okay that men make more. Here are 5 Things HR Needs to Do Right Now to End Pay Inequality:

  1. Do a normalized study of pay equity in your organization. Find out if your organization’s results mirror the AAUW findings. If they do, be afraid, be very afraid.
  2. If you’re paying women less than men for equal skills and experience, then fix it. Today. Don’t pull that “We need to reconcile this over years” BS. You have to fix it now. Best time to plant a tree? Ten years ago.
  3. Put gender-based pay inequality on the discussion for each and every pay strategy session that you have with other senior managers.
  4. Ask yourself, “With all the data and testing that we do, how could it be that women make less right out of school?” Think about the culture of your organization. If you talk the talk about diversity, do you walk the walk and pay fairly?
  5. Scream from the rafters that you won’t tolerate gender-based pay inequality, make it a much-discussed policy, and fire people who think it’s okay to pay men and women differently for the same job.

The Equal Pay Act of 1963 (U.S.) and 1970 (U.K) is decades old. Maybe it’s time to just get with it and comply. Doing the right thing is always the right thing to do.

The 4-Hour Workweek

The 4-Hour WorkweekI’d like to work four hours a week. Heck, I’d like to work a 4-hour day on Sunday, the day when most people are supposed to be off.

It’s why The 4-Hour Workweek has intrigued me. The funny thing is that I haven’t’ even read it yet (it arrives in my bookstore on April 24) but I’ve been talking about it all week. I’d like a breather every once in a while…and I’d guess your employees would too.

When I think about why people work, it reminds me of that old consulting joke that goes like this: Read more

Tell the World About the Best Recruiting Website and You Can Win an iPod

What company has the best recruiting/HR page? Who kicks ass end gets names? What company’s recruiting page makes you go, “Wow, I wanna work there!”?

Companies invest a ton of money and energy recruiting the most qualified people. Who’s doing it best? Who has a way to get you to look even when you’re not looking? You know, the place where you’d look on a website if you were looking for a job and wanted to know about their HR info.

I’ve looked at a bunch of sites myself, but this question is more suited to the wisdom of the masses. I’m trying to get a gauge of what’s really great out there and you’re the ones who know. (BTW: Business that are in the business of recruiting people don’t count, e.g., Monster.com isn’t what I’m looking for unless it’s to employ people to work at Monster.)

Would you please leave leave a comment below with your thoughts about great recruiting/HR sites? (I’ll leave internal HR sites for discussion on another day.) I’ll publish a list - with attribution and links by April 30 at noon EST (GMT-5).

I Could Win an iPod Just for Playing?
Operators are on duty 24 hours a day. Well, maybe not, but KnowHR Blog is. As an extra little inducement, I thought we could make this a game. Here’s how it’ll work:

  1. Leave a response in the comments with a link to your nominee for Best Recruiting/HR site.
  2. Link to this post and KnowHR Blog if you have a blog. It’s linky love. I’ll reciprocate.
  3. Find out on April 30 at noon EST (GMT-5) if your name got pulled from a (virtual) hat.

The Prize Value Goes Up Depending on the Number of Responses
If we get at least the number of quality responses indicated below, the prize value goes up. Please note that there will be one prize, and which prize depends on how many quality responses we get (I’m asking about company websites that you’d look at even if you weren’t looking for a job.) The more responses the better. If we hit the front page of Digg, then I’ll think up an even cooler prize. (It’ll still be something from Apple.)

If We Get at Least…..You Can Win
100 Responses……..iPod Shuffle
300 Responses……..iPod Nano
500 Responses……..iPod (yes, the big dog)
1000 Responses……Apple TV

iPod Prizes

Hurry, the contest ends April 30!

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