No Great Ideas: But Great Referrals

I had a great idea, but lost one resource I was going to use. Once I find it again I will post on the subject of Non-competes. But in the meantime I read two great posts that you NEED to read.

The first is about the best COMMON SENSE explanation of the Paycheck Fairness Act I have read. Stephanie Thomas writing at the Compensation Cafe takes the emotion out of the subject and uses examples to explain how this will affect your workplace. You MUST read this. The "Commonsense" Bill and Its Nonsensical Implications. She is consistently a good writer and well worth putting on your "must read" list.

The second blog post is one that makes you really think. In The One-Eyed HR Professional in the Land of the Blind... Paul Herbert uses an HG Wells story to talk about the downside of imposing your opinions on others. (And admit it, HR often does that.) I am still mulling this post over. Perhaps it will also make you go "hmmm" too. (And for those of you that like Kurt Russell without his shirt on there is a picture."

Good News! The Sex Pay Gap Is Gone!

In a September 2, 2010 article in USA Today reported research done by Reach Advisors on 2008 Census data. This data compared the income data for single men and women ages 22-30 in major metropolitan areas. The results showed that single women in this age bracket when compared to single men in that age bracket out earned them by significant factor, in a range of 12% to 21%. Several factors where cited, but the prime reason was education. More women than men are going to college and they are 1.5 more likely to graduate. This trend is even more apparent in cities with higher minority populations. As an example single women in the study made 21% more than their male counterparts in Atlanta.

Women in their 20's who are married and have children do not have the wage advantage their single "sisters" have. They are making just 90% of what married with children males make. Hmmmm... could that be due to the career interruption of having the child? Could it also be that women in that age bracket with children are also less likely to have college degrees?

Does this mean that sex discrimination in pay may not be the "great evil" it was once considered to be? Does this mean that legislation such as the Paycheck Fairness Act is unnecessary? Can the market actually take care of this, as many have postulated?

What do you think???