Case Analysis: Case Studies: Goodyear
As of the past 3 decades, women have shown a commendable progress in the workplace. For instance, the average weekly earnings for women was 62.1 % that of men in the year 1970. The raw pay difference decreased from 37.9 % to 21.5 % by the year 2007. Despite the progress, the raw wage difference has continually been used to further public policy agendas without offering an explanation behind the difference (An Analysis of Reasons for the Disparity in Wages between Men and Women, 2009). This essay discusses a case of Ledbetter vs the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company where Lilly Ledbetter, the only female production supervisor at Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company’s plant in Gadsent, had worked for over
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It is true that Ledbetter never succeeded with the case, the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company went against the utilitarian theory when they made the choice to underpay her. First, whether an act is wrong or right depending on the consequences of the act. Second, whether an act is good or bad depends on facts about welfare. Third, the sources of value in the world are found in individuals such as people and animals. Fourth, the value of a state of affairs is obtained by getting the average of the values associated with the persons in that state of affairs. Finally, the value of a state of affairs is desired to be as great as possible (Eggleston, 2012). The company should also have considered the consequences that followed the act of discrimination against Ledbetter. This discriminatory act brought more unhappiness than happiness in the sense that it had to have negatively affected the morale of female employees who were working for the company, the emotions of their families, consumers, the stock-holders, and even some of the male employees, thus affecting productivity. This shows that the Company cannot be justified for the discriminatory act against Ledbetter.
Gender discrimination might increase inequality at the work place. Ledbetter claimed that she was consistently given poor assessments at work by her supervisors and that is why after so many years of hard work she was still earning far less
After years of Civil Rights Movements and Pay Equity Acts, as of 2014, women still only make 79 cents to a man 's every dollar. Although the wage gap has shrunk since the 1970’s, progress has recently stalled and chances of it vanishing on its own is unlikely. The gains that American women have made towards labor market experience and skills is tremendous. In fact, women account for 47% of labor workforce and 49.3% of American jobs. But despite of women’s strides, a gender pay gap still exists. Experts suggest that it will take 100 years to close the gap at the rate employers and legislators are working to create solutions. But by allowing women to work in higher paying positions and by proposing and updating pay equity laws, the gender gap can finally be diminished.
Women continue to face disadvantages in the workplace in regards to not receiving equal pay as well. There are many instances where women have the same or more qualifications to do a job than their male counterparts but do not receive the same pay. This difference in pay is not only related to gender differences but also racial differences. Women employees of different racial backgrounds tend to earn less money than their white female and male counterparts. Many women of color often face discrimination when applying to jobs and are overlooked for a position despite having the qualifications to do the work. When they are hired to these occupations they are not receiving the same pay as their white female counterparts. This double bind that minority women face within the work place continues to lead to economic hardships. Regarding women in the workplace in general, due to society’s high regard for men they are often not promoted to positions of authority or receive equal pay because people assume that women are inferior workers. (Buchanan, p205-207)
For the first time in history women had surpassed men in the paid labor force. Yet, instead of provoking an equality among the sexes, the figures play no statistical significance, as women still try to bridge the gap between their inequality among their male counterparts. One apparent setback for women in the workplace is their unequal payment, “Women workers are still paid less than men, currently about-three quarters of mens income if they work full time and year round”(Institute for Womens’s Policy Research, 2010). Although there women are beginning to integrate into vastly male populated jobs throughout the labor force “… women in America today earn 78 cents to a man’s dollar, according to the U.S Census Bureau, and have struggled for decades to achieve pay for equal work” (Riley 2). Not only has this pay gap significantly effected the nature of women throughout the county, it has also violated the bill that Congress passed called the Equal Pay Act of 1963. The Equal Pay Act was signed in order to establish a more sound and equal treatment among the sexes. It noted that an employer was unable to discriminate employees on grounds of gender, yet as figures denote today, this bill seems to not possess enough jurisdiction over the wage gap. The wage gap has contributed to various problems within the United States, especially among single mothers who do not have a supporting male figure within their household.
The gender wage gap has been a nationwide problem since women were able to enter the workforce. Women have begun to speak out more about the issue and evaluate what they can do to change the industries and how they personally present themselves to help this change. Currently there is a wide range of opinions on this issue, with some saying it does not exist while others think it will ruin the economy if not fixed immediately. This makes it more difficult to address the problem and predict how it will be in the future; however, all sides of the spectrum are becoming more aware of what the gender wage gap means and what they can do to change it. This paper will analyze the different stances on the extent of this social issue as well as the current practices being used to increase knowledge and equalize pay for all.
April 8 is “Equal Pay Day,” which is an event where the main purpose is to raise awareness in regards to the social problem of the gender wage gap. The president makes his announcement that women still earn only about 77 cents for every dollar a man earns. There are people advocating left and right for women to take a stand and sue their employers for wage discrimination or make demands they want the government to fulfill. The question becomes whether or not what everyone is fighting for is actually true and worth fighting for. Authors Sarah Glynn, Kay Hymowitz, Mark Perry, and Andrew Biggs present a different idea. They all showcase in their articles the underlying factors in the gender wage gap such as college major, career choice, hours worked, job experience, and family circumstances. Discrimination cannot be ruled out completely, but the “77 cent” figure reflects gender differences based on the personal choices that people make about their careers, which results in the gender wage gap we have today. Society has been pointing the finger at discrimination for so long, but today we need to take a second look and come to the conclusion that there could be multiple reasons for the pay gap. This social problem is too complex to focus on only one particular reason.
In 1963, President John F. Kennedy signed into effect a landmark legislation that would guarantee equal pay to both men and women working under the same employer. However, to this present day, women still only make, on average, 77 cents to every dollar that a male earns. This paper focuses on some of the underlying problems as to why there is still such a large gender pay discrimination over half a century later. More specifically, some of the policies maybe could be put in place and the positive impact(s) each policy could have on women in the work place. Lastly, we will look at some of the laws that have been in place, and how effective or ineffective they have been.
The gender pay gap in the United States has been a tensely debated topic since the Equal Pay Act of 1963. Although the Equal Pay Act requires equal pay for men and women, the issue of the gender pay gap has been a heightened issue as time has progressed. Phyllis Schlafly, Mark J. Perry, Anita Little and Sheryl Sandberg each address the gender pay gap in dynamically different ways. Phyllis Schlafly and Mark J. Perry firmly believe that the gender pay gap is entirely created by life choices that women make. While Anita Little and Sheryl Sandberg argue that the pay gap is caused by external forces. Each author addresses: creation of the wage gap, the severity of the wage gap and the viability of a solution.
Discrimination in the United States, has been, and continues to be a very large problem in our country. Although, the country has continued to make outstanding strides on getting rid of discrimination in this country as a whole, it tends to stick around. One of the largest controversies in the workforce today, is that women are continuing to be discriminated against by receiving less pay than males. This problem of women receiving less pay than males in the workforce is known as the Gender Wage Gap.
The gendered wage gap has been a controversial topic that's been around since women started working at jobs for money in the United States during the 1900’s era. With a steadily increasing amount of women working at jobs, came steadily strong opinions about women’s work rights. Women had been given a lesser wage compared to their male counterparts and it outraged women. However, as women were treated more and more equal, their wages were treated more equally as well. Then came a stand still in this improving equality for women in the 21st century, as it has been debated that women are now treated equally, compared to men. This standstill has caused even further debate ranging from several things with most focusing on
The Equal Pay Act of 1963 was passed with the intentions to give women the same, fair pay as men. Although the Equal Pay Act was passed, the wage gap is still ongoing. The wage gap is based on the difference of pay between men and women doing the same jobs. “Women make seventy-nine cent for every dollar that a male earns. This results in a wage gap of twenty-one percent. Leading to a gap of “380,000 dollars over her career” (Little 1). One can argue that this wage gap shows that men and women are not equals. Men and women work side by side, both of them doing the same jobs, yet women are continually paid less. The only explanation left is that women are not valued in the same way men are, meaning they are worth less than their male counterpart. The purpose of this poster is to show women what society believes their efforts in the workplace are worth.
The American Association University of Women reports that the average full time workingwoman receives just 80% the salary of a man. In 1960, women made just 60% of what men made, an upward trend that can be explained “largely by women’s progress in education and workforce participation and to men’s wages rising at a slower rate”, but a trend that is not yet equal (p. 4). Hill recognizes that the choices of men and women are not always the same, whether it be in college major, or job choice, however she concludes that women experience pay gaps in virtually all levels of education and lines of work. She suggests that continuing to increase the integration of women in predominately male dominated work will help the pay gap, however, she believes that alone won’t be enough to ensure equal pay for women.
Discrimination continues to run rampant throughout organizations in both the United States and worldwide. The Supreme Court case, Dukes vs. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., dealt with 1.5 million current and former female Wal-Mart employees that claim that they had been a victim of gender discrimination. The ensuing pages will discuss the specific issues that the plaintiffs encountered, followed by suggestions from a human resource manager’s stand point in rectifying adverse impact within the Wal-Mart organization.
Despite the fact that the Equal Pay Act has been law since 1963, many problems inevitably arise in the administration of equal pay laws (Fisher). It has been estimated that at this current slow rate of progression in closing the gender pay gap it will be 2068 by the time men and women’s wages are equalized. It is clear that the business case, as well as the legislative case, has a significant role to play (Commission Policy Report).
Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company, was founded in 1898 and was the world tire production leader until November 1990 when Groupe Michelin took over after merging with Uniroyal Goodrich Tire Company.
Gender equality in salary is always unfair. Men employees always receive higher wages than women employees had received. Companies would like to hire men employees compared to women employees because they believed women employees are weak and cannot competent in the workplace although they have abilities and skills. As a conclusion, our research has proven that this theory was true.