President Obama signs Ledbetter Act
This is a great day for working women.
Once upon a time, while I worked in X-Stores' Human Resources department, I came across two orders for salary increases signed by Lane: one for Zone Manager X for taking on extra duties related to gasoline, and one for Zone Manager Y for taking on extra duties related to Centralized Hiring. I thought that surely there would be two more salary increase orders: one for Secretary K in Marketing, who had taken on extra duties for gasoline; and one for Elise, my immediate supervisor, for taking on extra duties related to Centralized Hiring.
You guessed it - they never came.
Maybe that was the beginning of the end for me. Maybe it was then that I was learning what everybody else around me already knew: that Lane was a misogynistic, arbitrary son of a bitch. As for the CEO of the company, he had little to do with Human Resources and probably never saw those orders; Lane's signature was the only one required for that level of personnel.
I called the EEOC, and was told that K and Elise would need to contact them on their own behalfs. I wondered if either of them knew that X and Y had been given raises. My thought was probably not. I couldn't tell Elise, I just couldn't. It would have killed her. Then again, maybe she would have thought twice about uprooting herself to marry Lane... but that's ancient history now.
Today, President Obama signed into law a bill known as the Ledbetter Act. Equal pay for equal work, regardless of sex, race, religion, and other protected groups. The Statute of Limitations re-sets with each noncompliant paycheck.
Today, I would tell Secretary K and Elise that they were being discriminated against because they were female. Today, I would barge into Lane's office and demand an explanation, warning him that the Whistleblower's Act would likely protect me. I would tell him that everything he did to me from now on would be looked at, dissected, and analyzed; and if there was the slightest hint of discrimination, there would be a lawsuit so fast and furious that I would be the new owner of X-Stores.
But today, I don't work for an organization that practices discrimination. I work for one that goes out of their way to avoid it. It was like this in 1993, when I began working temporary here; and it's been so throughout. Also, my job is unique: there is no one else, male or female, who does my particular job. For 15 years, I haven't had to worry about discrimination in the workplace. Now, no one has to.
God bless President Obama, father of two girls. God bless him, from this aunt of two nieces and this working woman.
Once upon a time, while I worked in X-Stores' Human Resources department, I came across two orders for salary increases signed by Lane: one for Zone Manager X for taking on extra duties related to gasoline, and one for Zone Manager Y for taking on extra duties related to Centralized Hiring. I thought that surely there would be two more salary increase orders: one for Secretary K in Marketing, who had taken on extra duties for gasoline; and one for Elise, my immediate supervisor, for taking on extra duties related to Centralized Hiring.
You guessed it - they never came.
Maybe that was the beginning of the end for me. Maybe it was then that I was learning what everybody else around me already knew: that Lane was a misogynistic, arbitrary son of a bitch. As for the CEO of the company, he had little to do with Human Resources and probably never saw those orders; Lane's signature was the only one required for that level of personnel.
I called the EEOC, and was told that K and Elise would need to contact them on their own behalfs. I wondered if either of them knew that X and Y had been given raises. My thought was probably not. I couldn't tell Elise, I just couldn't. It would have killed her. Then again, maybe she would have thought twice about uprooting herself to marry Lane... but that's ancient history now.
Today, President Obama signed into law a bill known as the Ledbetter Act. Equal pay for equal work, regardless of sex, race, religion, and other protected groups. The Statute of Limitations re-sets with each noncompliant paycheck.
Today, I would tell Secretary K and Elise that they were being discriminated against because they were female. Today, I would barge into Lane's office and demand an explanation, warning him that the Whistleblower's Act would likely protect me. I would tell him that everything he did to me from now on would be looked at, dissected, and analyzed; and if there was the slightest hint of discrimination, there would be a lawsuit so fast and furious that I would be the new owner of X-Stores.
But today, I don't work for an organization that practices discrimination. I work for one that goes out of their way to avoid it. It was like this in 1993, when I began working temporary here; and it's been so throughout. Also, my job is unique: there is no one else, male or female, who does my particular job. For 15 years, I haven't had to worry about discrimination in the workplace. Now, no one has to.
God bless President Obama, father of two girls. God bless him, from this aunt of two nieces and this working woman.