Wisconsin News Roundup, Bird Flu Coverage, Reddit Bans Salary Negotiations

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The popular website and Internet company Reddit plans to ban salary negotiations in order to provide equal pay for men and women. Our guest explains how this move relates to the organization’s gender equality goals. We also get the story behind the bird flu outbreak in Wisconsin, and cover the biggest headlines from around the state this week.

Featured in this Show

  • Employment Attorney Questions Reddit's Move To Close Wage Gap For Women

    A veteran employment attorney says she appreciates the efforts by Reddit to close the wage gap for women but questions the Internet company’s strategy for how to achieve it.

    Last week, the company’s interim CEO, Ellen Pao, announced that she will stop negotiating salaries with potential hires in an effort to level the playing field for women.

    Lily Garcia, employment attorney at Clearspire Law Co., said there’s no doubt that women are penalized for negotiating salaries.

    “It does eliminate that advantage for men, but it does not get at the heart of the issue,” she said. “It doesn’t eliminate the upstream gender bias issue. It also requires faith that the company is actually committed to upholding their end of the bargain and not negotiating with some people and not with others.”

    Reddit’s policy shift has drawn both praise and criticism, and could represent a shift in hiring practices if it turns out to be successful. Garcia would prefer a solution that doesn’t ban such a valuable skill.

    “I think that having an open dialogue and committing to a conversation in the workplace about why gender bias exists and unearthing some of the preconceived notions that some people come with to the workplace may help to remediate some of these issues during the salary negotiation process,” Garcia said.

    Garcia said there’s some debate about the size of the pay gap between men and women.

    “It’s often quoted that women in the U.S. still earn only 77 cents on the dollar compared to men,” she said. “But, when you dig behind that issue, part of the reason for that pay disparity is the fact that women are willing to take jobs that pay less and are willing to take part-time jobs.”

    She added that part of the reason women take those jobs is because, for better or worse, they tend to be the primary caregivers for children and are more willing to make compromises in their careers compared to their male counterparts.

    “It’s really about getting people to deeply understand their ingrained habits and their perspectives and to come around to appreciating the value of having people with different perspectives at the table,” Garcia said.

  • State News Roundup April 17, 2015

    WPR’s assistant news director joins us to cover the latest on the Joint Finance Committee meetings and other headlines from around the state.

  • Avian Influenza Hits Wisconsin

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture confirmed an infection of avian flu in a flock of 200,000 chickens in Jefferson County Wisconsin on Monday. We speak with a poultry expert about the steps being taken to euthanize them and how this will affect the poultry industry in Wisconsin.
  • Will Banning Salary Negotiations Help Women?

    The internet company Reddit recently announced it’s banning salary negotiations for all employees. The organization cited a desire to level the playing field for women, who are seen as less successful at negotiating salaries. We’ll look at reaction to the policy and whether it could help shrink the gender gap at work.

Episode Credits

  • Rob Ferrett Host
  • Veronica Rueckert Host
  • Veronica Rueckert Producer
  • Matt Oleson Producer
  • Galen Druke Producer
  • Lily Garcia Guest
  • Noah Ovshinsky Guest
  • Ron Kean Guest