Unequal pay for equal work is J-OK

[Taro Toporific]

Court nixes gender-based wage discrimination suit vs. Kanematsu
TOKYO Nov. 5 Kyodo -The Tokyo District Court rejected a damages suit against trading house Kanematsu Corp. on Wednesday that was filed by six women who said they suffered gender-based wage discrimination at the firm.... They said the firm's policy of paying men and women different wages is not only illegal, but also irrational and discriminatory.

[Mulboyne]

Over four years on...

Washington Post: Japanese Working Women Still Serve the Tea

During her many years working for a major Japanese trading company, Michiko Koseki said, she and her female co-workers have suffered a series of indignities both small and large. But the 59-year-old clerical worker was nevertheless shocked a few years ago when her company suddenly decided to move all the men in her department to nicer offices while keeping the women in the old work space. The affront, she said, did not end there. Koseki, whose job involves handling invoices and customs forms, was then ordered to trek down the hall to serve tea to male employees and visiting customers. The logic: There were no female employees in the new work area, a problem in a country where women in the office are still expected to pour beverages during business meetings...

...Koseki and five other women launched their discrimination suit against Kanematsu Corp. in 1995, alleging the company systematically created a caste system and kept female employees on the lower rungs. Company officials declined to be interviewed, citing the pending lawsuit...A Tokyo district court judge ruled in favor of the company in 2003, arguing that Japan's equal opportunity law does not "prohibit a corporation from applying different hiring, job assignment and promotion rules" to men and women. The case is now on appeal, with a ruling expected this summer. "There is a 27-year-old man who does almost exactly what I do, and he is already making more than me," said Koseki, a single woman who is set to retire next year. "I've been with the company for 42 years. And the court says that's fair? Well, I strongly disagree"
...more...

The rest of the article includes the usual observations about the low status of part-time employees and politicians speaking about the role of women.

[james]

The rest of the article includes the usual observations about the low status of part-time employees and politicians speaking about the role of women.

The rest of the article includes the usual observations about the low status of part-time employees and politicians speaking about the role of women baby-making machines.

there, fixed that for ya.

[Samurai_Jerk]

If the average woman starts putting in the same amount of work as the average man maybe that gap will start to close.

[maraboutslim]

Sure, women rarely put in "equal work" (in japan, in the usa, everywhere). The question is whether they aren't paid equally because their work isn't equal, or whether they've decided not to give equal work to their company because they aren't being paid equally, and what will break this cycle.

[Samurai_Jerk]

There was a UN report a couple of years ago which showed that on average women don't put in the same ammount of effort on the job as men. For example they work fewer hours, take more sick days, and take more vacation. According to the report if you factored in all those things it lessened the wage disparity between men and women. It didn't explain it 100% though, and the report concluded that even taking all of those things into account there was still a wage disparity problem pretty much everywhere.

However, I think what happens is that traditional thinking on gender roles gets combined with predujices developed through experiences working with women. This leads employers to (consciously or subconsciously) discriminate against women on the job.

Many people point out that there are a lot of good reasons that women don't put in as much time and effort as men at the office. Most of that has to do with child rearing duties and husbands expecting their wives to do most of the housework. That may be true, but an employer doesn't necessarily care. In the end the person who puts in the most effort and does the best work will get bigger raises, better duties, and faster promotions.

[GomiGirl]

There was a UN report a couple of years ago which showed that on average women don't put in the same ammount of effort on the job as men. For example they work fewer hours, take more sick days, and take more vacation

If you are going to make a claim like this on a board like this - ie with me reading it - then you are going to have to provide a source.

Then i will find you a source that will claim that women don't need to work as hard as the men as they get it right the first time.

But rather than all of these nasty and inflamatory gender discussions, lets look at productivity and pay people accordingly.

[Tsuru]

If the average woman starts putting in the same amount of work as the average man maybe that gap will start to close.

I think you will find in most professions your pay increases with responsibility, not with the amount of work. But no matter how you look at it, it's still a BS statement. How was the "amount" of work determined? The number of DVD-players finished in one day? Or was it the average amount of working days per year women work?

[TFG]

Well, considering some of the comments that are being made about women not working as hard as men, it seems this problem is not only confined to the boundaries of Japan but to the boundaries of some men's minds.

[Samurai_Jerk]

If you are going to make a claim like this on a board like this - ie with me reading it - then you are going to have to provide a source.

Then i will find you a source that will claim that women don't need to work as hard as the men as they get it right the first time.

But rather than all of these nasty and inflamatory gender discussions, lets look at productivity and pay people accordingly.

I did provide the source: A UN study. If that's too vague for you then look it up yourself. Being even lazier than the average woman, I'm not going to bother googling it up.

[Mulboyne]