New law Wage Transparency SB 1162
- Thread starter Sam.F
- Start date
AllTheThings
Involved In Discussions
I fully support it. Yes, companies lose some flexibility around niche and high-skill positions where wages between two individuals may vary significantly. But the upsides for labor and society as a whole outweigh the downsides significantly. Keep in mind that the members of this forum are a demographic that is tiny, educated, generally high-earning, and exists largely outside the problems these laws address. Put yourself in the shoes of an hourly worker at one of the countries largest employers like Wal-Mart, Amazon, McDonalds (and franchisees), or a warehouse job at a food packing plant.
For me, the question is simple: Do we want to live in a society, or an economy?
In a healthy economy, involved parties are transacting or entering into contracts with data parity and disclosure. In the stock market, when one party is operating with information not available to all other parties, we call it insider trading. In the labor market, we call that a day ending in "y". Data parity strengthens the economy for all participants, and thus strengthens society.
For this forum, the more relevant questions are maybe ones of convenience: How many people have had to get 3 steps into an interview process just to learn that the salary is a joke, but the company is "like a family", with "great perks"? I see this with engineers somewhat regularly: How many people are excellent at their jobs, but bad negotiators or not "people persons", and are grossly underpaid for the value they contribute?
Sorry for the ramble
For me, the question is simple: Do we want to live in a society, or an economy?
In a healthy economy, involved parties are transacting or entering into contracts with data parity and disclosure. In the stock market, when one party is operating with information not available to all other parties, we call it insider trading. In the labor market, we call that a day ending in "y". Data parity strengthens the economy for all participants, and thus strengthens society.
For this forum, the more relevant questions are maybe ones of convenience: How many people have had to get 3 steps into an interview process just to learn that the salary is a joke, but the company is "like a family", with "great perks"? I see this with engineers somewhat regularly: How many people are excellent at their jobs, but bad negotiators or not "people persons", and are grossly underpaid for the value they contribute?
Sorry for the ramble
In Europe there are schemes for certification of equal pay policies, where workers are not paid less because of their gender, when doing the same work. Ferrari has been certified for the third consecutive year.
Johnnymo62
Haste Makes Waste
It's interesting that every company with 15 or more employees must post the wage for every job posting, when using a 3rd party. This will eventually make everyone's wage public knowledge.
Zero_yield
"You can observe a lot by just watching."
Strongly agree. The entire process of hiding salaries creates far more problems than it solves.
I guess I'm the oddball. I don't think the government needs to be involved in the wage negotiations of private citizens and private companies.
You may have 10 engineers making 10 different amounts of money and there may be a perfectly good reason for that.
Government has more than they can handle in their primary duties so of course they want to tell everyone else how they should live, the shiny object distraction.
You may have 10 engineers making 10 different amounts of money and there may be a perfectly good reason for that.
Government has more than they can handle in their primary duties so of course they want to tell everyone else how they should live, the shiny object distraction.
I've worked for companies before where it was grounds for termination if anyone discussed their wages/salaries with any of their coworkers. It's ingrained in me to NOT discuss my salary/wage with anyone in the workplace (and very, very few of my inner circle of family/friends!). My dad never discussed his earnings with the family or anyone else to my knowledge, so maybe that's where it started for me. At any rate, I agree with @Mike S on all points. 
Industrial Revolution Working Conditions: What Were They Like? - History
Examples of Industrial Revolution Working Conditions
Due to a high unemployment rate, workers were very easily replaceable and had no bargaining power with employers. There was an increase in population and landowners enclosed common village lands, forcing people from the country to go find work.
Wages were very low, women and children received less than half the wages of men and had to work the same amount of time.
There were no unions that could represent workers and the Combination Acts outlawed unionizing or protesting for better Industrial Revolution working condition
Most people worked between 12 and 16 hours per day, six days a week, without any paid holidays or vacation.
Safety hazards were everywhere, machines didn’t have any safety covers or fences and children as young as 5 years old were operating them. Iron workers worked in temperatures of 130 degrees and higher every day. Accidents on the job happened regularly.
In typical industrial revolution working conditions. people did not have many break times, there was usually only one hour-long break per day
Factories were dusty, dirty and dark – the only light source was sunlight that came in through a few windows. Because the machines ran on steam from fires, there was smoke everywhere. Many people ended up with eye problems and lung diseases.
Small children had to work in coal mines without candles (if the family was too poor to buy candles) and were beaten by miners if they fell asleep. Young girls had to pull sledges or carts with coal all day long, deforming their pelvic bones and causing a lot of deaths during childbirth.
Children did not get any sunlight, physical activity (apart from work) or education, which led to deformities and a shorter than average length.
Should someone get injured on the job and be unable to work, they would be abandoned, wages would be stopped immediately and no medical attendance would be given to them. Injured workers usually lost their jobs and did not get any compensation.
Unlike the country life they were used to, work in a factory was fast-paced and focused on production. No chit chat was allowed and those who still had family in rural areas could not head home to help with the harvest if they wanted to keep their jobs. So, to describe the industrial revolution working conditions as less than ideal would be a malicious understatement.
Why and how have these conditions changed? Keeping the workforce in the dark?
Examples of Industrial Revolution Working Conditions
Due to a high unemployment rate, workers were very easily replaceable and had no bargaining power with employers. There was an increase in population and landowners enclosed common village lands, forcing people from the country to go find work.
Wages were very low, women and children received less than half the wages of men and had to work the same amount of time.
There were no unions that could represent workers and the Combination Acts outlawed unionizing or protesting for better Industrial Revolution working condition
Most people worked between 12 and 16 hours per day, six days a week, without any paid holidays or vacation.
Safety hazards were everywhere, machines didn’t have any safety covers or fences and children as young as 5 years old were operating them. Iron workers worked in temperatures of 130 degrees and higher every day. Accidents on the job happened regularly.
In typical industrial revolution working conditions. people did not have many break times, there was usually only one hour-long break per day
Factories were dusty, dirty and dark – the only light source was sunlight that came in through a few windows. Because the machines ran on steam from fires, there was smoke everywhere. Many people ended up with eye problems and lung diseases.
Small children had to work in coal mines without candles (if the family was too poor to buy candles) and were beaten by miners if they fell asleep. Young girls had to pull sledges or carts with coal all day long, deforming their pelvic bones and causing a lot of deaths during childbirth.
Children did not get any sunlight, physical activity (apart from work) or education, which led to deformities and a shorter than average length.
Should someone get injured on the job and be unable to work, they would be abandoned, wages would be stopped immediately and no medical attendance would be given to them. Injured workers usually lost their jobs and did not get any compensation.
Unlike the country life they were used to, work in a factory was fast-paced and focused on production. No chit chat was allowed and those who still had family in rural areas could not head home to help with the harvest if they wanted to keep their jobs. So, to describe the industrial revolution working conditions as less than ideal would be a malicious understatement.
Why and how have these conditions changed? Keeping the workforce in the dark?
Last edited:
Sam.F
Involved In Discussions
HI MIKE
So if 10 engineers are making different amounts of money, what does it need to be done? Pay all of them the highest paid salary from the the engineers. Or pay them the lowest? Is obvious an employee would want the higuest but the employer will choose the lowest from all of them and pay all the lowest wage. And if an employee asks how much is an engineer is making assuming he is an engineer i should tell him the wage right. And if his making less we should pay him what it is right. In jan 1st 2023 all needs to be done or no? Like giving raises pay all engineers the same etc