New York Employment Attorney Blog
Women who have been in the workforce for any amount of time are likely familiar with the gender pay gap. Essentially, the problem is that women are paid less than equally qualified men who perform the same job duties. Under New York and federal laws, this is illegal, but companies may try to get around the discrimination laws.One of the ways employers try to get around the New York sex discrimination laws is to base employee pay decisions on what the potential employee had previously been making at their last position. This used to be a permissible way of determining what an employee should be paid, or the size of a raise or bonus, until October of this year, when New York lawmakers prohibited the practice. This is because it is no secret that the wages of women have been artificially and improperly depressed for decades, and basing future decisions on the sexist policies of the past perpetuates sex discrimination.
Despite the efforts of lawmakers, the gender wage gap still exists, and by some accounts it is not necessarily getting better. That being said, New York has one of the lowest gender wage gaps in the country, at 11%.
The Gender Pay Gap May Be the Worst in the Highest-Paying Jobs
According to a recent news report, the gender pay gap seems to widen as salaries increase. The article looked at the highest-paying jobs in corporate America last year, and it noticed a disturbing trend: of the 15 top-paid executives, just two were women. Not just that, but the difference between the salary of the top-paid man ($244 million) and the top-paid woman ($41 million) was over $200 million.
The article notes that, while the gender wage gap exists at all levels, employees in lower-paying jobs do not see as great a difference in their salary. It is once the salaries start getting up near $100K when women are seeing the greatest disparity in pay. The researchers behind the article explain that much of this is due to stock options and other non-monetary compensation.
One of the key problems women in the workplace face is a catch-22 when it comes to negotiating. On one hand, it is not likely that a woman will be given as high a salary as her male counterpart unless she engages in aggressive negotiations. However, in many cases, when a woman does advocate for herself aggressively, it backfires.
Are You a Victim of the Gender Wage Gap?
If you do not believe that you are being compensated fairly for the work that you do, and you know that members of the opposite sex are compensated more fairly, you should consult with a New York gender discrimination attorney to discuss your situation. It may be that you have been unlawfully subjected to discrimination. The dedicated anti-discrimination attorneys at the law offices of Phillips & Associates have extensive experience handling all types of New York discrimination cases, and they know what it takes to be successful on behalf of their clients. Call(212) 248-7431 to schedule a free consultation with an attorney to discuss your case today.
More Blog Posts:
New York City Announces Charges Against Numerous Businesses for Illegal Job Application Questions, New York Employment Attorney Blog, November 22, 2017
New York Court of Appeals Clarifies Criminal History Discrimination Under State Law, New York Employment Attorney Blog, December 11, 2017