Evil HR Lady

Twenty-one states had minimum wage increases go into effect yesterday–and Delaware had one go into effect in October. Overall, an estimated 6.8 million people will see their paychecks increase anywhere from $0.10 an hour (Florida) to $1.50 an hour (New Mexico and Washington). 

The federal minimum wage stays put at $7.25, but states are free to create their own minimum wage–whichever is higher (federal or state) is the legal lower limit for salaries. Twenty-one states use the federal minimum wage, but the rest have higher minimum wages.

Several states regularly adjust the minimum wage to account for inflation. Others are in the middle of a plan to reach a higher rate–usually $15 an hour.

To keep reading, click here: 6.8 Million People Got a Raise Yesterday. Were You One?

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Schmooze your way to success. It’s not what you know, it’s who you know. And, it turns out, it’s not what you do, but who your manager is.

A new, unpublished study from Harvard Business School’s Zoë Cullen and UCLA’s Ricardo Perez-Truglia finds that men and women get promoted at the same rate when their bosses are female, but when men have a male boss, they climb the corporate ladder faster. The gender of women’s bosses makes no difference in their careers.

The gender pay gap is defined as the difference in average male salary vs average female salary. You can have everyone in similar positions paid the exact same amount and still have a gender pay gap if one group holds a higher percentage of highly paid jobs. 

This study shows that one-third of the gender pay gap can be explained by the men working for male managers phenomenon, which means that two-thirds of the gap comes from other sources–like a personal choice. For instance, another Harvard study showed that male bus drivers chose to work more hours and take on the more difficult routes than female drivers, thus earning more money. 

To keep reading, click here: Study: The Old Boys Network is Real and Explains Part of the Pay Gap

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Unpaid internships aren’t inherently wrong. But ones that require two years of experience and have a whole list of responsibilities for a for-profit firm are illegal. And that’s exactly what For Exposure highlighted in this tweet:

Let’s unpack how this is illegal:

Internships can be unpaid if they meet a specific set of criteria. The courts have a seven-factor test:

To keep reading, click here: Illegal Internship: Two Years of Experience, No Salary, No Equity

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When you’re hiring a tough to fill role, it is essential to be honest about the struggles you’ll face in it. Ascend Medical does an excellent job of explaining what is difficult in this job as a hospitalist in Bullhead City, Arizona. “I would say our physicians get called 2 to 3 times a night but don’t always have to come back.”

That’s useful information to have and makes for a good job description. But the description goes off the rails with this bit of information: “Women don’t do well here.”

I contacted Ascend Medical and asked why women don’t do well. They didn’t answer that question but did respond with this message:

To keep reading, click here: Job Description: “Women don’t do well here.”

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The old perks of free lunch and onsite dry cleaning are moving aside for Apple’s new perk: Genetic testing.

Apple has onsite health clinics, and they now offer employees free genetic testing. This seems like a fantastic perk, but I’d be extra cautious about it.

It has a noble goal–turning healthcare from reactive to proactive. This is something most of us can appreciate. If you know you’re at risk for something, you can change your behavior or get treatment before it becomes a problem. However, the law makes this a risky endeavor, indeed.

In 2008 the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) became law. This prohibits employers and insurers from discriminating against people based on their genetics. That is, you can’t say, “we won’t hire you or insure you because you carry a gene which indicates a high probability of colon cancer.” 

Employment attorney Jon Hyman explains when employers can gather genetic information:

To keep reading, click here: Apple Offers a Legally Risky Perk: Genetic Testing

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