As my daughter and her friends finished their first year working in Manhattan, it became evident that equal pay and sexual harassment are still challenges for most women.
As they navigated difficult hurdles at their offices, they would ask me my thoughts on a supervisor’s actions, a co-worker’s response, or a corporate policy. And I realized that women of all creeds and colors still face many of the same issues we did years ago.
So to help them, I’ve written the tips I wished someone had given me in my twenties.
1) Demand equal pay
Do not assume your employer pays equitably. On average, women earn 82 cents to every $1 men earn. For African-American women, it’s 79 cents; for Hispanic women, it’s 78 cents. So over 40 years, women lose several hundred thousand dollars, with the highest loss in Latino women’s salaries with more than $1.1 million in their lifetime.
Why is this important?
It affects your family, retirement, social security, and ability to withstand any unforeseeable financial emergencies.
So how do you verify your company’s salary range?
Check LinkedIn and Glassdoor.com. Ask other people in your network. Some corporations have strict policies against employees sharing salary…
