Equal Pay a myth?

According to one labor economist, women in every state make a fraction of what males do. There are many causes but the bottom line remains the same. Utah (55¢/$1) tops the list for greatest disparity, followed by Wyoming (56¢/$1) and Louisiana (59¢/$1). State chart here. GOP senator Marco Rubio dismisses the Lilly Ledbetter Act as benefiting only trial lawyers. Now there are often explanations for pay disparity, and under the Equal Pay Act an employer need only prove there is a factor other than sex causing the disparity. Note, it is the employer's burden to do so once the claimant establishes a pay differential in circumstances where a female performs a job requiring the same skill, effort and responsibility, yet is paid less than males.

Union fines

Just finished discussing a labor organization's right to fine members with my labor law class. This link makes the points pretty effectively. A Union has the right to dictate certain conduct to a members, and members who fail to perform risk fines levied by the union. It also shows equally effectively that political trackers will say and do pretty much what has to be done to get the dirt.

October jobs report

Have the jobs statistics crossed the Rubicon? Or is it just a conspiracy to help President Obama's reelection? The statistics are compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) which released its monthly report today. Unemployment dropped to 7.8% the lowest level since 2008. Although the job growth was modest (114,000) the numbers for prior months were also raised evidencing an incrementally improving jobs picture. Many on the right now claim the the BLS stats are cooked. And according to candidate Romney so is Big Bird.

NLRB decides first Facebook case

The NLRB has concluded that the firing of a car salesman occurred because he posted to Facebook photos about a dangerous accident which occurred at another dealership owned by his employer. The accident involved a Land Rover driven over a wall and into a pond after a test drive. The same day the salesman posted the accident photos he posted sarcastic comments about a "cheap" party given by his employer at a sales event announcing new BMW models. The latter photos were arguably protected concerted activity "because it involved co-workers who were concerned about the effect of the low-cost food on the image of the dealership and, ultimately, their sales and commissions."

The NLRB affirmed the ALJ's conclusion that the Land Rover incident was posted solely by [the employee], apparently as a lark, without any discussion with any other employee of the Respondent, and had no connection to any of the employees’ terms and conditions of employment. It is so obviously unprotected that it is unnecessary to discuss whether the mocking tone of the posting further affects the nature of the posting.

While the discharge was upheld, the employer's rule requiring "courtesy" in employee to employee communications was overly broad, leading to a finding of a violation and an order requiring the employer to remove the rule from its handbook.