Los Angeles Employment Attorney Blog

Why Is It That The Most Important Jobs Pay So Little?

The United States is enamored with movie stars, models, athletes, musical talents, and entertainers. Those who are successful earn tens, if not hundreds, of millions of dollars to act, walk and smile, hit or throw a ball or tell a joke. I guess it is part of our capitalistic society and free enterprise, which I love; however, it does seem strange that the most important jobs to a country are paid so little in comparison.

For example, our men and women in uniform train to defend our country if there is a war. In war, they stand in harm's way. Some give their lives in service of their nation. Others suffer catastrophic injuries that impact the quality of life for life. Our nation enjoys its freedom because of the blood that has been spilt on battle fields. Freedom is not free.

There is no excuse for our men and women in uniform to struggle in any way financially. Their pay should out-strip any civilian job. No military family should be on food stamps. No military family should have anything less than the best medical care; and that includes returning veterans. Attention is being paid these problems, but it goes back to the saying from the movie Jerry Maguire, "Show Me The Money."

Let's give a stimulus package to our men and women who are performing the most important jobs. We have given hundreds of billions of dollars to bailout failed companies and yet we have only given our troops a 3.9% pay increase according to the National Defense Authorization Act which became effective January 2009. Our priorities are way out-of-whack. It is time for the people of our nation to not only recognize the sacrifices of those in our country's uniforms, but to also pay them the top wages they deserve.

Let's hear it America. Support major pay raises for our men and women in uniform. Write to your elected representatives and ask what can be done to make sure our men and women are paid what they really deserve. One private on the front lines of battle is worth more than a thousand basketball players, don't you think?

As an employer, do you seem to have a lot of internal complaints by employees claiming they are being mistreated because of race? Do the complaints point the finger at the same supervisors? Are there common themes in the complaints such as denial of promotions, denial of training, harassment? If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, your company should pay attention now rather than later. If you answered "yes" to more than one of these questions, you are probably just seeing proverbial "tip- of-the iceberg".

How an employer handles internal grievances charging racial discrimination is critical to employee morale as well as the financial bottom line. Employment litigation results in diversion of important human resources and money earmarked for advancing the business mission to fighting alleged illegal discrimination.

Just why employers allow racial discrimination grievances to get out of their hands and into the courts is a mystery to me. Sure, some lawsuits can't be prevented by early intervention, but many can be.

Why aren't employers more effective at preventing lawsuits? It's not really complicated. In fact, based on my 26 years of litigation experience in the field of employment law, the answer is simple. Human ego. People want to be right. American business mentality is to fight for the top spot, be the best in the field, make more profit, be recognized or develop a strong brand. While most large employers have policies prohibiting discrimination, rarely do they have effective methods to address allegations of racial discrimination. And, it is even rarer for the employer to correct the racial discrimination that is occurring. It is easier to make the employee wrong and label that person a "problem" employee than it is to admit that something is wrong.

Here is the conundrum - by fighting the employee, the opportunity to settle goes stale. And that means the company will most assuredly spend precious resources fighting claims of unlawful racial discrimination instead of improving itself. It is common for me, as a litigator, to have a client say at the outset "All I wanted was the discrimination to be addressed" or "I just wanted to be transferred to another department that was begging to have me transfer."

Here is a suggested approach - Solve the problem. Solve as soon as possible. Don't allow allegations as serious as racial discrimination get stuck in the log-jam of bureaucracy. When there are easy solutions, take them. Don't engage in non-sense approaches such as hiring outside investigators who always find in favor of the company and dismiss the employee's grievance no matter how strong the evidence is.

Teach tolerance, the strength of diversity, and, of course, the mandates of the law to provide discrimination free workplace. Take prompt, fair, remedial action. Resolve grievances as quickly as possible. Most employees ask for simple and inexpensive remedies when the grievances are first filed. The remedies sought enlarge as time goes on without relief. And then the remedies sought geometrically increase when an employment litigator is retained.

Avoid the trouble and expense of litigation. Do the right thing as soon as possible. Don't let employees suffer unlawful discrimination in the workplace. Take care of your employees and watch your business become strong and prosperous.

A blasting radio a few feet away from reach does the trick. She lugs her way out of bed to begin the hustle. As usual, she awakes tired. The children are already up but playing with toys with total disregard of the time left to get ready. She politely and with kindness, urges the children to get dressed, eat breakfast, and get off to school.

There isn't enough time to just devote herself to helping the children; she has to simultaneously get herself ready for work. Years of going to college at night and raising a family during the day has taken its toll. In predictable time, she is off to work. It is a good job - one she is qualified for and does well.

Yes, she makes less than the man she sits next to, but they do the same job. Her questioning about this disparity is met with jokes or, worse, disdain for thinking she should earn the same as a man who has to provide for his family. Being a single mom still is not the same as a man who has to provide for his family.

Why do we have equal pay for equal work laws? Simple - without the laws it would be worse than it is. Gender discrimination is real and it is still happening. Women, like men, need to work to take care of their families. And, it is only right that employees are paid fairly without regard to gender.

If you have questions about equal pay for equal work or gender discrimination, please feel free to contact Abel Law Offices to schedule a confidential consultation.