As a female, I often wondered if I was being paid what I was worth, but more importantly, was I being paid as much as my male counterparts.  I do believe equity has come a long way but we, as females, still have to do our homework and know how to start difficult conversations.  Stand up for ourselves and ask for what we are worth, not just be grateful and say thank you for what we are offered.

This topic was actually suggested by a previous coworker.  She is in her mid-twenties and wondering how, and when, she might be promoted.  I will discuss how important development plans and clear goals are in your growth both technically and financially.  You must have a roadmap with milestones and be able to document when those milestones are met.  I will also discuss changing companies to increase your salary – is that a smart long-term strategy?  This is a very timely topic as a pioneer for equal pay for women, Lilly Ledbetter, passed away on October 12^th.

“Lilly Ledbetter was one of the few female supervisors at the Goodyear plant in Gadsden, Alabama, and worked there for close to two decades. She faced sexual harassment at the plant and was told by her boss that he didn’t think a woman should be working there. Her co-workers bragged about their overtime pay, but Goodyear did not allow its employees to discuss their pay, and Ms. Ledbetter did not know she was the subject of discrimination until she received an anonymous note revealing the salaries of three of the male managers. After she filed a complaint with the EEOC, her case went to trial, and the jury awarded her back-pay and approximately $3.3 million in compensatory and punitive damages for the extreme nature of the pay discrimination to which she had been subjected.

The Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit reversed the jury verdict, holding that her case was filed too late – even though Ms. Ledbetter continued to receive discriminatory pay – because the company’s original decision on her pay had been made years earlier. In a 5-4 decision authored by Justice Alito, the Supreme Court upheld the Eleventh Circuit decision and ruled that employees cannot challenge ongoing pay discrimination if the employer’s original discriminatory pay decision occurred more than 180 days earlier, even when the employee continues to receive paychecks that have been discriminatorily reduced.

This decision upset longstanding precedent under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and other important civil rights statutes. It also undermined the Congressional goal of eliminating discrimination in the workplace. Contrary to Title VII’s intent to encourage voluntary compliance by employers, the Ledbetter decision created incentives for employers to conceal their discriminatory conduct until the 180-day period had passed. Moreover, the decision allowed pay discrimination to continue – and employers to benefit from it – indefinitely. With each discriminatorily reduced paycheck, employers continued to reap financial benefits from discrimination. In an opinion dissenting from the decision in Ledbetter, Justice Ginsberg emphasized that it was up to Congress to correct the Court’s “parsimonious reading of Title VII.” Taking the rare step of reading her opinion from the bench, Justice Ginsberg instructed that “[o]nce again, the ball is in Congress’ court.”

The Legislative Fix: The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009

Congress and the Administration acted quickly. Less than two years after the Ledbetter decision and during the first month of the 111th Congress, both the House and Senate passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009. And the Act as the first substantive piece of legislation signed by the President. The Act restores longstanding law and helps to ensure that individuals subjected to unlawful pay discrimination are able to effectively assert their rights under the federal anti-discrimination laws. Under the Act, each discriminatory paycheck (rather than simply the original decision to discriminate) resets the 180-day limit to file a claim.” ¹

According to data I found, published in March of 2023, the pay gap between men and women has barely changed in the past 20 years.  In 2022, women in the United States earned 82 cents for every dollar earned by a man.  The number was 80 cents in 2002.  Strangely, at least I find it strange, when women begin their career, the gap is much less (90 cents) but we lose ground as we progress through our career.  Another very interesting fact I found:

The pay gap between college-educated women and men is not any narrower than the one between women and men who do not have a college degree.

Very disheartening to say the least, considering the fact that women are more likely to have a college degree than men.

I often times consult my Merriam-Webster, old school, dictionary when answering a question like this.  I like to read a definition to ground me in what I am working with or pondering.  Merriam-Webster defines worth as:

• the value of something measured by its qualities or by the esteem in which it is held
• deserving of

So, the next question to me is, what am I deserving of or what esteem am I held? 

My eyes were truly opened to wage parity between men and women when I received a promotion a few years ago.  I had peers with the same title as me, with the same manager as me.  I was promoted to then become their direct manager.  My promotion came very close to annual assessment and merit increase time, so I was quickly acclimated to everyone’s salary on my new team.  I realized that I was only making 77% of what my male counterpart was making, in line with the statistics shared above.  Very frustrated, I went home that day and made Apple Brownies.

Why was I being paid 77 cents on every dollar of my male counterpart?  I have never wanted to receive or be given anything because I have a vagina, I have always believed that I should negotiate my salary based on my research and I work hard to earn it.  But doesn’t the company have some obligation to ensure equality as well? 

Since I have made this most recent change in my career, semi-retirement, consulting, I have spent a significant amount of time reflecting on my career and the choices that I made.  I grew up in a mill town, paper mill, people went to work at the mill and spent their entire career there, 40- or 50-years in some cases.  When I first started interviewing people for open roles in the late 90s, we looked poorly upon resumes where a person changed jobs every 2-3 years, we didn’t want to hire job hoppers.  I believe the work force and this norm have changed over time, for the better.  Changing jobs has multiple benefits, one of which is salary increases, typically with a company change a salary increase is expected.  Some move for a lateral position, but only because they see greater opportunities for growth and advancement.  However, the greatest benefit to moving companies, is knowledge.  The fact that I only worked for two companies in my career put me at a disadvantage.  I only knew how to do things two ways, my experiences were very limited.  By changing companies, you see the good, the bad, and the ugly, and are able to apply those learnings elsewhere.  Even when I was thinking outside the box, how big was that box, not as big as someone who had worked at multiple companies with multiple experiences, for sure.

One thing I would never recommend is resigning from a position and then accepting a counteroffer.  There are many reasons for this.  The first being, salary is not the only factory in happiness.  If you were looking for, or considering a company change, then you weren’t happy, more money isn’t going to solve that.  Secondly, if the company can come up with more money to pay you when you resign, why weren’t you WORTH that much to them before, it just doesn’t make sense.

So how do I stay with the same company and grow my career and salary? 

I believe concise goal setting and clear development planning are the key.  It is not the company’s responsibility to develop you, it is YOURS!  Create a roadmap of where you want to be 1, 3, 5 years from now.  If you are like me, I always hate the question – where do you see yourself in 5 years?  I never knew the answer to that question.  I wanted to grow, learn, try new things, add tools to my toolbox, as I like to say, but a specific position was never on my roadmap.  I never said I want to be the CEO by age 40.  But that’s ok.  The key is to have short term, mid-term, and long-term goals, and keep them fluid, they CAN change!

Keep in mind also, that all of your goals do not have to be met within the 4 walls of your office (figuratively speaking of course).  If your goal is to add leadership skills, then volunteer at church, your kids’ school, with the Girl Scouts, a local foodbank, etc. to lead a program or an event.  You could find a community group to join of small business owners.  There are so many opportunities in the community to add value and build your own toolbox.  They need you, and you need them!  It’s a win-win.

At work, you could:

• offer to be a mentor for a COOP.  Get your feet wet managing someone, and I guarantee you will learn things from the COOP as well!
• Ask someone at work that you feel has strong leadership skills to give you feedback after meetings on how you presented yourself or how you addressed a contentious situation. 
• If there is a specific topic that you want to learn more about, organize a lunch and learn.  Find a subject matter expert and ask them if they would be willing to host a “class” over lunch and invite others, I guarantee if you want to know more about it, others do too.  This would be great for financial topics, for example!
• You could also find a book on a common topic and create a book club.  Ask others to read the book and then come together over lunch to discuss topics in the book.  Discussing topics in the book will also lead to others sharing dos and don’ts!  These things can easily be done over Zoom or Teams.

I caution you to only think about attending classes or butts in seats training.  Some topics this is required but it is not effective for all subjects, and let’s face it, there isn’t always a budget for these classes, and we can’t afford to be out of the office for a week.  I went to so many classes, took copious notes, then went back to the office and didn’t use anything I had learned. 

Be creative in writing your development plans.  Be concise, thoughtful, and realistic in what you can accomplish.  Failing to meet goals on your development plan can be as detrimental as failing to meet goals related to your role.  Always be on the lookout for new opportunities.  Managers or leaders may not know you are looking for an opportunity, if you hear of something that interests you, speak up, let others know you are interested.  You cannot sit back and wait for things to be offered to you!  Own your development and your growth!  Have I said that enough yet? BE ACCOUNTABLE FOR YOU!

Once you have a strong development plan, talk with your manager about what you want to accomplish, how they can help you, and what your next step is.  Make sure they are aligned and committed to the plan.  Again, it is up to you to execute, but you need their support and buy in.  Have a frank discussion about promotions, new positions, and future salary.  What if I go back and get a master’s degree; will that advance me in my career?  Let your manager know you are thinking strategically and committed to your own development.  Sign off on the development plan and discuss it regularly.  Don’t agree to it and then put it in a drawer until next year’s review cycle.  It should be a living document where you show progress or even roadblocks, overcoming roadblocks also shows your problem-solving skills and commitment to the topic.  Force the discussions, remind your manager that he/she agreed to your development plan and don’t be afraid to ask for what you need from them! 

How do I know if I am being paid what I am worth?

Do your research!  The company should have established salary ranges for each role or position.  They may or may not share those ranges with you, but they may share your PIR, or position in range.  From that you can extrapolate what the full range is.  There are plenty of studies and documentation out there on salary ranges.  Look at comparable open positions in your industry, many will have salaries listed in postings.  Talk to your peers in your industry, while they may be hesitant to tell you exactly what they are getting paid, ranges should be a transparent discussion.  Keep in mind that you need to consider your total compensation package, not just your salary.  Benefits are important and no two companies’ benefits are the same.  If you are a planning to have children while with a company, their maternity benefits are extremely important.  If you are more established in your career it may be important if the company offers more vacation time or a sabbatical.  If you are a young mother, it is important to delineate exempt positions from hourly positions, how flexible can you be with your time.  All of these topics are important when considering your overall compensation. 

Bottom line: Do your homework, don’t be afraid to start the dialogue, ask questions.  Be accountable, don’t expect others to do the work for you!

In closing, I saw a post a couple of weeks ago that resonated with me:

A bottle of water can cost $0.50 in a supermarket, $2.00 in a gym, $3.00 at the movies, and $6.00 on an airplane.

The only thing that changes its value is the location.

So next time you feel like you’re worth nothing, you might just be in the wrong place.

History of the McIntosh Apple

There are well over 100 varieties of apples currently grown in Maine, but most farms grow about 20 to 30 different varieties. Currently, McIntosh is the most commonly grown variety in New England and remains one of the top ten most widely grown varieties in the US. The McIntosh apple originated in the wild in Ontario, Canada where John McIntosh selected it from the woods near his home over two hundred years ago. From the original tree, he and his family propagated additional McIntosh trees by grafting its buds onto rootstocks.

Eighty-four farms produce about one million bushels of apples each year on 2000 acres. The average size of an apple orchard in Maine is 20 acres, with some being smaller than one acre and the largest growing apples on 320 acres.²   I pick my McIntosh apples at Wight’s Apple Orchard in Bucksport, ME.  I typically have a belly ache when I leave, there is nothing better than a fresh, crisp mac, eaten right off the tree, except maybe the apple brownies I make when I get home.

Apple Brownies

½ C melted shortening or butter           5 apples (peeled and sliced thin)

1 C sugar                                 ½ tsp baking powder

1 egg                                     ½ tsp baking soda

1 C flour                                 1 tsp cinnamon

Pre-heat oven to 350^oF

Mix shortening/butter, sugar, add egg and beat well.  Stir in apples.  Mix dry ingredients and blend with apple mix.  Bake in a greased 9X9 pan for about 45 minutes.

Enjoy warm or with coffee the next morning.  Refrigerate, covered, after the brownies cool for best storage.

¹  Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act – National Women’s Law Center (nwlc.org)

² Apple Facts – Maine Apples