Pay Discrimination Against Women example essay topic

Women have not had it easy in the workplace. They have faced many setbacks throughout the years in achieving equality in the workplace. Even though the women's movement has made great strides for equality, they have a long way to go. This paper is going to examine some forms of discrimination and harassment that women face in the workplace such as pay discrimination, pregnancy discrimination, and hostile work environment. This paper will first take a look at the history of the women's movement and what women can do if they encounter sexual harassment or discrimination in their workplace. The history of the women's movement dates back to July 13, 1848.

According to the National Women's History Project (NWHP), it was that day that Elizabeth Cady Stanton was having tea with four women friends when they began to discuss the situation of women in the new country. Stanton discussed her discontent with her friends and they agreed with her. From that day the five women had set their sights high, they were planning a convention so they could discuss social, civil, and religious conditions, and also the rights of woman (NWHP). They decided that the gathering would take place at the Wesleyan Chapel in Seneca Falls on July 19 and 20, 1848 (NWHP).

The Seneca Falls Convention was indeed a stepping-stone for the women's rights movement. This convention sparked other conventions nation wide, something that the original founders optimistically hoped for (NWHP). Conventions were held every year from 1850 to the civil war (NWHP). Some of these conventions drew such a crowd that people had to be turned away due to a lack of meeting room (NWHP).

Though this is a small piece of early women's right's history, a common misconception of many people in today's society is that the woman's right's movement started in the 1960's (Freeman 515). Though the women's right's movement never stopped, the "Second Wave" began in the 1960's. A few new issues sparked off this new second wave that women wanted gain equality for, one of them was equal pay (Freeman 515). Because of the large number of American women taking jobs in the early 1960's, newspapers published separate job listings for men and women.

Jobs were categorized according to sex, with the higher level jobs listed almost exclusively under "Help Wanted, Male" (Freeman 516). In some cases the ads ran identical jobs under male and female listings but with separate pay scales (Freeman 516). Though the ads were separate, they were unequal as well. Women between 1950 and 1960 with full time jobs earned on average between 59-64 cents for every dollar their male counterparts earned in the same job (Freeman 517). It wasn't until the passage of the Equal Pay Act on June 10, 1963 that it became illegal to pay women lower rates for the same job strictly on the basis of their sex (Freeman 517). Demonstrable differences in seniority, merit, the quality or quantity of work, or other considerations might merit different pay Freeman (519-20).

Women have been fighting strong since the start of the women's movement at the Seneca Falls Convention, they continue to fight today, and will keep fighting in the future for the rights they deserve. For generations women have been the victims of sexual harassment in the workplace. One form of discrimination that women have been victims of is pregnancy discrimination. Pregnancy discrimination is when the employer refuses to hire a woman because she is pregnant.

The Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978, Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, and the Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 specifically prohibits discrimination because of pregnancy. Employers cannot refuse to employ or fire a woman based on her pregnant condition (USA Today, Wren). Also, state maternity and parental leave laws provide for a specific number of weeks that a parent may take off for the birth or the adoption of a child (USA Today). There have also been cases where women have been denied promotions because their bosses could not rely on a pregnant assistant (Elmer). Actions toward pregnant women such as this result from outdated beliefs that pregnant women are unproductive, sickly, and delicate. Yet these mistakes have cost employers millions of dollars because pregnancy discrimination violates federal laws (Elmer).

The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission reported that pregnancy discrimination complaints nationwide have increased 40 percent in the first half of the 1990's, from 3,000 in 1991 to 4,191 in 1995 (Wren 61). There are reported cases of pregnancy discrimination from all states. One case in particular involves a Louisiana bank teller (Wren 61). The president of the bank was very impressed with the work of one of his employees (Wren 61). Two months into the woman's pregnancy he had decide to promote her to his personal assistant, a position that was sought by many of the bank's employees (Wren 62). In her excitement, she had told him that the promotion was the second most exciting thing that happen to her that week (Wren 62).

When her boss asked about the first exciting event, she told him that she just had discovered she was going to have a baby. The president was not happy and told her that he could not rely on a pregnant assistant (Wren 63). He withdrew the promotion and the lady left the office and returned to her position as a teller (Wren 63). Another form of discrimination that women face in the workforce is pay discrimination. Equal pay has been the law since 1963.

But today, women still are paid less than men even when they do similar work and have similar education, skills and experience. In 1998, the AFL-CIO reported that women were paid 73 cents for every dollar men received. After breaking it down even further that come to $27 less to spend on groceries, housing, childcare, or other expenses for every $100 worth of work that women do (AFL-CIO). Jobs that are usually held by women pay less than jobs traditionally held by men even if they require the same education, skills, and responsibilities (Barko 61). For example, stock and inventory clerks, who are mostly men, earn about $470 a week, while general office clerks who are mostly women and earn only $361 a week (Barko 61). Women also don't have equal job opportunities.

A newly hired woman may get a lower paying assignment than a man starting work at the same time for the same employer. That first job starts her career path and can lead to a lifetime of lower pay (Barko 62). Women also don't have an equal chance at promotions, training and apprenticeships because all these opportunities affect pay, women don't move up the earnings ladder like men do (Barko 62). An employer who pays women less than men just because they are women is guilty of sex discrimination. Two federal laws, an executive order and state and local laws prohibit pay discrimination against women (ALF-CIO, Barko, U.S. Department of Labor).

The first federal law is called the Equal Pay Act. Under the Equal Pay Act it is unlawful to pay women less than men for work that is substantially equal, unless the pay difference is based on seniority, experience or other legitimate factors (Barko 61). The next federal law is Title VII. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, covers employers with 15 or more workers prohibits a range of discrimination including paying women less than men even when their jobs are different if the reason for the pay difference is gender (AFL-CIO). Title VII also bars discrimination against women in hiring, promotion, training, discipline and other job aspects and makes sexual harassment against women workers illegal (AFL-CIO, U.S. Department of Labor).

There is also one Executive Order that was approved by President Lyndon Johnson to protect women from wage discrimination. Executive Order 11246, which is described by the U.S. Department of Labor as a directive that applies the protections of the Equal Pay Act and Title VII to companies that receive federal contracts. The third form of sexual harassment that women face is called hostile work environment. A hostile work environment is created when an employee is made to feel uncomfortable because of his or her sex (Wallis 18).

This can include using obscene gestures or explicit language, posting lewd pictures, sharing adult magazines, making unwelcome sexual advances, or talking about sex in an offensive manner (Sharf, Wallis). Men would treat women in the shop like they would treat their wives or sisters (Sharf). All these behaviors could be very disturbing for an employee. It was this kind of a situation that got Ford Motor Company into trouble. Some employees consistently made derogatory remarks to female employees, displayed pornographic pictures in common work areas, and wrote sexual graffiti on factory walls (Wallis 18).

The environment was so hostile to female employees that it made it difficult for them to do their jobs effectively (Wallis 18-9). Another form of sexual harassment is called quid pro quo harassment. Quid pro quo harassment is when a supervisor is threatening to fire, not promote, or deny preferential duty to an employee if she doesn't have sex with him (Wenk). Quid pro quo is a Latin term meaning "this for that", as in negotiating a trade (Wenk).

For example, "Sleep with me, and I'll make sure you get that promotion;"sleep with me or you " re fired". When an employee's position, advancement, or salary depends on agreeing to an unwelcome sexual advance from a boss or higher ranking employee, that's quid pro quo (Wenk). These are just three of the many forms of discrimination and harassment that some women go through at the workplace. Now that there has been a preview of some of the horrific abuses that women face at work lets look into some the procedures that women can if they encounter harassment or discrimination in the workplace.

If a woman is subjected to any form of sexual harassment the most important thing to remember is that it's not her fault. Sexual harassment is not really about sex at all. It is about power, and sex is merely the means to exert control (Wallis 19). Don't be quiet. If a woman is being brushed up against in an inappropriate manner, she should state loud enough for anyone nearby to hear, "Please don't touch me. It makes me very uncomfortable".

Her actions will make the offender back off because every eye in the office will on him (Wallis 19). Don't be nice. Sometimes you just have to be firm. Don't make excuses for saying no.

If you offer justifications, harassers will always have a comeback (Wallis 19). Don't be afraid to speak up. A staff meeting is a good place to bring up the subject. Without naming names, but with the offender in the room, sketch the nature of the harassment and ask the group if you were right to feel troubled (Wallis 19).

Next, say you expect the harassment to stop or you " ll file an official complaint (Wallis 19). There are several routes that a woman can take if she experiences civil right violations such as equal pay discrimination, pregnancy discrimination, or if a woman feels that she has been unfairly overlooked for promotion opportunities. Some state laws are sometimes harsher than federal laws, you can contact your state department of labor or human and civil rights agencies if you experience a problem, or you may file a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (USA Today). It has been 154 years since the start of the women's movement and since then women have come a long way from that fateful day in 1848, when Elizabeth Cady Stanton and her four friends got together for a cup of tea. Those brave ladies set the standards by putting the ball in motion to what we know as the women's movement of today. As you can see from this paper this battle is a slow one, but the women are winning.

Though there are many different kinds of harassment and discrimination, women continue to fight for the right's they have always deserved. There is no reason why women cannot go and work side by side with men and have to wonder if they are getting paid less for the same job. There is no reason why women cannot have a career and a family without suffering from consequences of being fired or not being promoted. Women should be able to go and work along side male coworkers.

They should feel like they are part of the team and not like a burden or sex object. There is no reason why women have to go through all this torture. The women of yesterday fought for the women of today. The women of today are fighting for the women for tomorrow, so that the women of tomorrow will not have to. AFL-CIO. "Working Women, Equal Pay".

6 December 2002. Barko, Naomi. "The Other Gender Gap". American Prospect. vs. 11 no 15 (June 19-July 3 2000) p. 61-3 Elmer, Vickie. "Pregnancy Discrimination". Parents. vs. 72 (July 1997) p. 131-2.

Freeman, Jo. "From Suffrage to Women's Liberation: Feminism in Twentieth Century America". Women: A feminist perspective. 5th edition. (1995) p. 509-28. Sharf, Stephen.

"Who's to Blame?" Wards Auto World. vs. 36 (Mar. 2000): p. 21. Wallis, T.J. "Sexual Harassment on the Job". Career World. vs. 28 no 5 (Feb. /Mar. 2000) p. 16-19. Wenk, Steven A. "Investigating Sexual Harassment". Modern Casting. vs. 88 no 6 (June 1998) p. 84 What Women Can Do About Workplace Violations. (Aug. 1996).

USA Today, p. 16. Wren, Amy Oakes. ; Kidwell, Roland E. Kidwell, Linda Ache y. "Managing Pregnancy". Business Horizons. vs. 39 (Nov. /Dec. 1996) p. 61-7..