Pay equity for women still a sore point

Imagine yourself as a woman who works in a large retail chain. You do your best work, and each time a position opens up you aim to be promoted, only to be turned down. Finally, you ask your supervisor why you’re being passed over for a promotion, why men are getting the promotions instead. “Dust the cobwebs off your makeup and doll up,” you’re told.

This is an extreme example of what plaintiffs are alleging in the gender discrimination lawsuit against Walmart that’s currently before the Supreme Court.

Because I’m passionate around issues of gender equity, I wrote an op-ed on pay equity, which appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle on April 10. If you leave a comment on the Chronicle website you’ll be adding to the conversation on this important topic.

On April 12, Congress reintroduced the Paycheck Fairness Act, which would close certain loopholes in an old law that makes it too easy for gender discrimination in the workplace to take place. Here’s a good explanation of what the Paycheck Fairness Act will do, if it’s passed.

April 12 was also Equal Pay Day, which, as Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis notes, is the day on which women will have worked one year, three months, and twelve days to earn what men earn in one year.

So what would you do if you discovered that a colleague at your employer, working under the same job description and with similar experience, was being paid more than you?

What would you do if an employee of yours didn’t meet your grooming standards?

Roberta Guise enables successful women to become thought leaders in their field of expertise. She also works with experts, small business owners and professionals who want to be extraordinarily visible and sharpen their marketing edge. A small business marketing consultant and speaker, she is the founder of San Francisco-based Guise Marketing & PR. If you'd like to know how to apply these concepts to your situation, call for a free 1/2 hour consultation. 415-979-0611. www.guisemarketing.com