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Once upon a time, I came home from work to find my ex-husband (a narcissist – hence, the “ex”) and his sister (a feminist) locked in a heated debate about the meaning of the notion that “all men are created equal.” You can just hear it, right? The tone, the tenor, the vitriol, with “all men” being the centerpiece of the argument.
“Where do you stand on this, Nancy?” they challenged.
“Well, given the times, I’d like to think "all men" was a euphemism for humanity,” said I, “In which case, 1 egg, plus 1 sperm equals one human––hence, irrespective of gender, ethnicity, race…all humans are indeed created equal,” Although, full transparency, I do have serious doubts about what the founding fathers really did mean given the ongoing battle for equality in all areas!
Speaking of transparency and equality, look no further than New York City’s new salary transparency law aimed at closing the wage gap. As reported on Bloomberg “At the end of the day, the goal is for greater transparency in job postings to enable women and other underpaid workers to have a better idea of what a position might pay and what to ask for in negotiations, with the hope of narrowing pay gaps. At the national level, the pay gap for women is about 83 cents for every dollar their male counterparts earn, according to US Census figures. That gap varies by industry but tends to favor White men."
Hell, once I even had men reporting to me who made more than I did, so I am no stranger to the wage gap. That was several years ago, and not much has changed since then in spite of efforts to correct such egregious inequities, among others.
Will this new pay transparency law make a difference?
"$2 million ranges, deleted job posts: NYC’s salary transparency law is off to a rocky start", reads this CNBC headline. The article by Jennifer Liu goes on to say, “The law specifically states businesses hiring in New York City must post a “good faith salary range” for every job, promotion or transfer opportunity. A “good faith” range is one the employer “honestly believes at the time they are listing the job advertisement that they are willing to pay the successful applicant(s),” says the New York City Commission on Human Rights, which enforces the law.”
“With NYC’s salary law now in place, I’ve been looking at some companies’ salary ranges, & I can already see that the ‘good faith’ part of the law is going to be tested,” tweeted reporter Victoria M. Walker spawning a veritable shitstorm of OMG’s, LOL.s and WTAF’s!
“But…nobody specified how wide that gap should be. So on day one, companies like Citigroup ran job postings (which have since been updated) with salary ranges of $0–$2 million. Don’t know about y’all, but we’re asking for the $2 million.” says Morning Brew.
While money has never been my sole motivator in making a job choice or career move, consider this: it took the fallout from a global pandemic to shake things up enough to effectuate change and hopefully take another step in creating the equality we, as humans, were born to enjoy!