If in the near future you meet Lilly Ledbetter, it means
that one of your employees filed a compensation
discrimination claim against you with the Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

The Supreme Court previously ruled that a compensation
discrimination charge had to be filed within 180 days of a
discriminatory pay-setting decision.  As such, if you
hired someone 5 years ago at a salary that would be
considered discriminatory, the person had 180 days from
the date of hire to file a charge.

A new law, the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act recently
signed by President Obama, states that each paycheck that
delivers discriminatory compensation is a wrong that is
actionable, regardless of when the discrimination began. 
In the above example, the employee who is still with you
after 5 years is now eligible to file a charge within 180
days of receipt of each paycheck.

HR CONTRARIAN POINTER: There is nothing more basic to the
employment relationship than compensation.  And in my
opinion, there is nothing easier to administer.

The thing to remember is that just because you have pay
disparities, it doesn’t necessarily mean that there is
unlawful pay discrimination.  There are many defensible
reasons for disparities such as job role, experience,
education, industry, location, etc.

However, these defensible reasons must be based on a
compensation program that is objective and does not
discriminate against any protected class such as gender,
minorities, handicapped, etc.  Your program must be
objective when it comes to bonuses, raises, hiring, pay
grades, etc.

A simple Compensation Audit can determine you whether you
have anything to worry about. If you are interested in a
Compensation Audit, give us a call to discuss it, rather
than waiting until Lilly comes knocking.

The quote, “Shined shoes save lives” is attributed to
General Norman Schwarzkopf.  This quote means that being
undisciplined, casual, and sloppy about seemingly little
things inevitably permeates to affect all things.

On a real battlefield, lack of discipline can mean the
difference between life and death.  On the business
battlefield, “disciplined troops” will determine the
financial viability of a firm, especially during tough
economic times.

HR CONTRARIAN POINTER: You have to measure to manage, and
what you can’t or aren’t measuring, you can’t manage.

Every organization needs standards of performance and
managers to assess employees periodically against those
standards.  Without this one-two punch of setting
standards and measuring adherence to standards, you have
no standards because people will do what they want.

Remember: Employees pay attention to what you pay
attention to.

Measuring performance is a foundational concept of any
business.  If you would like to see a system for
implementing this basic building block of an effective
organization, check out my Employee Process Evaluation
Program.  This Program will allow you to document duties,
critical processes, and standards of performance.
http://www.hrcontrarian.com/processevaluation/