How can one really know if there is "equal work for equal pay"?

Question

Is it possible to determine with 100% certainty that two people have produced exactly the same quality and quantity of work?

Even in sales or factory work people may be judged subjectively on factors such as teamwork, management effectiveness, and initiative.

When that is the case, how is it possible to determine with certainty that two “unequal” people have produced exactly the same quantity and quality of work?

And should, therefore, be paid exactly the same amount of money.

Lastly, who should be responsible for ensuring that t workers that occupy the same position (and ostensibly perform at the same level) are paid the same?

The company, the worker, or the government?

Texas Behaviorist:

Lastly, the government has protections in place (EEOC). These agencies exist at all levels of government (local, state, and federal). Plus, companies have their own EEO offices.

So, the government is ALREADY doing it's part. If the company is discriminating and the gov't makes has a means to punish the company and the employee fails to act, whose fault is it?

Would you want there to be fixed prices for services so that all plumbing, electrical, and roofing work (for example) was the same, regardless of the quality?

If you guarantee that anyone in position A with 5 years of experience is paid the same, you remove all motivation and you end up out of business because everyone else in this country is competing.

filthycommie:

What if SHE thinks she is average and I (the employer) think she is below average? And, what if I offer her a 2% raise because I think she is below average and I offer her male coworker a 4% raise because I think he is above average (though she thinks he is only average)?

See the problem? There is judgement used in evaluating the quality of work.

So, the employee must prove that s/he is worth whatever s/he feels s/he is worth. If s/he fails to do that, s/he cannot blame the employer.

Answer 1

The issue of women getting paid less than men is, I think, more complicated than people may think. It may be simple to say "employers are sexist, and that's why women make less", and there's likely some truth to that, but I don't think that's the etnire reason, and it's probably tied intop the complex social matrix of gender relations today.

For instance, I understand that one of the reasons that women with children get paid less is that they're still more likely the primary caregiver in the family, even though they work, which means that they get less opportunity for overtime, therefore there's less opportunity to get ahead, get bonuses, raises, etc. And that's just one example, I'm sure there are other ways.

So in short, it's really a more complicated issue than some feminists seem to make it out to be. How do you really tell if there is equal pay for equal work? No idea.

Answer 2

The job descriptions are compared, not the actual amount of work performed. You're right- each individual (male, female, black, white, whatever) does a job a little differently, performs a little more quickly, a little slower, produces better or worse quality, etc.

But here's how the comparisons are done.

Who should be responsible for equal pay? In my view "should" is pretty meaningless. The company "should" pay everyone that does a certain job at a certain level of experience the same amount of money, but not all companies do. That's when the government could step in and say, "You MUST!" Then if the company had fair reasons for paying differently (such as years of experience), they would have to be able to defend them.

The employee can be responsible to the degree that s/he can not apply for jobs he or she knows pay less than average, but unfortunately in this job market sometimes you gotta take what you can get. If a company has 100 people applying for 2 jobs, the company is free to screw those two people over by paying them less than what they deserve and less than what others are already making in that job.

If a person is hired to fulfill certain job requirements and is paid one amount, and a different person is hired to perform the same job but is paid more, that's unequal pay for equal work.

The job description is compared to the pay for doing that job.

Answer 3

The important thing here is to ignore this patriarchal concept called "free market". Some bigots would argue that supply and demand ensure that people get paid what they are worth.

This is wrong and discriminatory.

So what if women don't do any work and are incompetent? We are radically equal and are entitled to the same amount of pay in addition to flexitime and maternity leave and period days and protection from sexual harrassment. And don't dare call us communists because this theory is nothing like communism if men still have to do all the actual work and we have more benefits, not to mention affirmative action.

Answer 4

Equal work for equal pay = a woman who works a 40-hour week and has average performance should be paid as much as a man who works a 40-hour week who has average performance.

All three should be involved in ensuring that everyone is paid the same.

Answer 5

I couldn't agree more. I have always wondered about the incidence of this, and how it actually manifested itself. I also wonder about the offsetting factors. I personally feel equally or better about working with and doing business with women as doctors, lawyers, salespeople, & managers, therefore I would certainly pay them the same. Unless there's more evidence, I think there are better battles to fight. This isn't like good men being mistreated in relationships with women, that is hard to verify, but much more prevalent.