Female workers throughout the country made $900 billion less than their male counterparts in 2018. Research suggests that lower wages aren’t the only issue that California women face in the workplace.
In addition for being paid less for equal work, they are also more likely to be punished for minor transgressions while on the job. A study asked 159 people to read scenarios about infractions committed on the job.
The names in the people in the scenarios were chosen to make them sound as if they were either white or black. For instance, a person named Jamal was likely to be identified as black while someone named Greg would be seen as white. The white males who took part in reading the scenarios for the study were more likely to go easy on other white males. However, they tended to be heavy handed on those who were black or female.
Females in the study were consistent in their reactions to the scenarios regardless of the gender or race of the individual involved in them. Females may be more likely to be punished for minor offenses because of their relative lack of power at work. If a woman is terminated by her employer, it may take longer to find a new job compared to a male who had been terminated.
A company may have engaged in illegal workplace discrimination if it treated employees differently based on their gender. This may also be true if discrimination was based on other protected attributes such as age or race. Hiring records, payroll information and manager comments may all be used by an attorney to establish that discrimination occurred.