Ordinary People Pay Disparity

The wage gap continues to stretch farther and farther apart. A wage gap is the ratio difference between the top twenty and lower twenty percent of income levels. The United States is a leading example of a differentiating income levels. A recent study by Harvard students, showed the United States pay gap ratio from CEO’s to average workers is around 350:1. This is a ridiculous difference in pay, especially when there are millions of people underneath the poverty level. The differences in wages being described is solely targeting skill level and is not referring to any other factors like gender, race, social class, and etc. Society has been dealing with income inequality for thousands of years. Although, it is unfair for people to be paid unequally, but it is also the only way for the economy to run smoothly. It would be impossible for the United States to pay everyone equally because of time spent, work incentives, and executive positions.

The land of freedom, the United States, is the Promised Land for all. Its citizen can be much as prosperous as they want. Nonetheless, a phenomenon has occurred gradually that has changed the economy, social levels, income, and wealth of all Americans. This is called inequality. Inequality has become a social problem since people has not raised their voice take advantage of voting, large corporations as CEOs who take instead of give.

carefully planned out and considered, the total closure or failure of the organization could be at hand in the near future. In our modern age, employers know that salary is not the only factor that should be considered and that salary alone will not lead to better or more highly profitable workers alone. This is why compensation planning is important and why pay should have some connection between performance and compensation. This is why the human resources department should consider many monetary and non-monetary factors when considering how to properly compensate and motivate employees (Dessler, 2013).

Imagine living in a world that consistently devalues your existence and is heavily populated with individuals who are quick to use and abuse your resources, but are slow to share the wealth that is accumulated from those resources. How would you feel? Unfortunately, certain populations do not have to visualize the disparity that is pictured above. This is because inequity is one of the most demoralizing social issues that plague America today. The worst thing about inequity is the fact that it continues to disproportionately burden individuals who are categorize as being minority in today’s society.

First off, I have chosen to select a 48% distribution for the base pay section of the compensation package. As the CEO, I am taking into consideration the nature of the work, and the external forces that surround our company such as market pricing and and competition. In order to assure that our employees feel that as a company we are committed to our employees, and that they are financially secure, we are putting all of our base pay into the well-known system, Pay for Knowledge. This means that we are compensating our employees for the knowledge, value of skills, and competencies that our employees hold. As noted before, our production line workers have to acquire a high-level of skill and experiences, and also have multiple certificates from technical schools.

“The United States is a nation where people are supposed to be able to rise above their origins. Those who want to succeed, it is believed, can do so through hard work and solid effort.” (Andersen, pg 1) If this was only true we would live in a world in which we would all prosper based on how hard we work. The truth of the matter is that income inequality and institutional classism were simply built into the sheer fabric of this nation. Income inequality has affected many in the United States. For many the American Dream is simply that a dream.

When the top 20% has almost all of the influence in society—including political power—they “exert inordinate power over the lives of the less affluent…determining what public services will be available, if any, what minimum wage, what laws governing the treatment of labor” (117). Creating a system where millions of people rely on a select few to determine their standard of living entraps people in an endless cycle of subordination and poverty. Ehrenreich argues it is essential to acknowledge the problems within the system to enhance the lives of the people who do so many of the jobs that we take for granted. Once we improve conditions for them, Ehrenreich argues, society as a whole will

Income inequality has been an ongoing issue that has affects many American citizens for decades. Some Americans are more affected by income inequality than other Americans. This is an unfortunate fact, but there seems to be no easy solution and it seems it is getting worse. American citizens are losing hope in the system, and their voices screaming for change that benefits all, are rarely heard.

In the United States, there is a huge income disparity between the richest ten percent, and bottom ninety percent. The American tax, and political system favors the top 10% while neglecting the middle and working classes, suppressing living wages and exporting jobs overseas. A society where working 40 hours a week will not put food on the table. If the average hardworking American is working endless hours to try and support their families which is just slightly above the poverty line, while groups of 400 individuals, who are heads of the top 500 companies and financial institutions, who if even work, is less than 108 days a year, and are proud owners of 50% of U. S’s entire wealth. This is the reality of the United

A very contentious issue arising within public domain is that of compensation and its repercussions on overall society. Over the past 3 decades executive compensation has ballooned while the average worker continues to see only modest gains in income. The average annual earnings of the top 1 percent of wage earners grew 156 percent from 1979 to 2007; for the top 0.1 percent they grew 362 percent (Kaplan, 2012). In contrast, earners in the 90th to 95th percentiles had wage growth of 34 percent, less than a tenth as much as those in the top 0.1 percent tier. Workers in the bottom 90 percent had the weakest wage growth, at 17 percent from 1979 to 2007. If inflation averaged just 2% a year over this period, the gains of the bottom 90% would be negative. In 2007, average annual incomes of the top 1 percent of households were 42 times greater than incomes of the bottom 90 percent, and incomes of the top 0.1 percent were 220 times greater. This is an increase of 1400% and 4700% respectively since 1979. These statistics do not bode well for the health care industry which is currently undergoing immense change. With the healthcare reform currently underway, many changes will be made to entitlements and overall compensation. Entry level workers in particular will have a fundamentally different compensation package then prior generations. Due primarily to a combination of excessive spending, deficit reductions, and an aging population, alterations to compensation will occur. The extent

There are many inequalities prevalent in the US, and as a capitalist society, one of the most common is economic inequality. The Equality Trust defines economic inequality, as the gap between the well off and less well of in regards to overall economic distribution (“How Is”). See, our capitalist society strongly benefits those with a capitalist mentality and can afford the means to invest/own capital. Over the years there has been an increasing wealth gap between the top one percent earners and the general population. So why are the rich flourishing while the poor are struggling in this capitalist environment? The policy decisions of our country allow this inequality to permeate throughout our industries, thus creating a culture of power and greed. One result of this culture is the explosion of high salaries in the US and Emmanuel Saez explains this trend in Striking it Richer. Saez affirms, “Indeed, estimates based purely on wages and salaries show that the share of total wage and salaries earned by the top 1 percent wage income earners has jumped from 5.1 percent in 1970 to 12.0 percent in 2006” (Grusky 89). Too bad that the 99 percent of America missed out on this massive economic growth spurt. When economic growth is not evenly distributed among the general population, people tend to question our entire system. This has been an increasingly controversial issue, where corporate America is responsible for the constant exploitation of low-level employees. Through my

This report explores the issue of the pay that top executives make, and the reasons why they do. It also suggests improvements that can be made to make the system better. High Pay Seems Small When Compared To Company Profits Many companies pull in profits that are extremely high. When an employee of such a companies salary is compared to the amount of profit that the company earns, it starts to seem reasonable. It only makes sense that if the employee is directly responsible for the success of their company, then they deserve to get their payback. It seems ironic, but many salaries even look small once compared with a companies profits. Top Executives Are Under A Lot Of Pressure Being the CEO of a

Some organizations are unwilling to show their reward systems and pay policies (Lawler, 1995). Many Human Resources professionals believe gender pay gaps to be resolvable through the monitoring of pay levels and communication (Report on Salary Surveys).Greater pay transparency has been a great benefit to the board, employees and managers as they now know what is happening across the business and they are able to confidently justify their actions (Commission Policy Report).All market-related supplements are recorded and reviewed separately from basic salary to ensure openness and transparency. Regular research market rates within the various labor markets in which they operate is undertaken improving transparency would also help to improve talent development, as employees would be able to see what they could earn if they wanted to move to another division and upgrade their skill set. (Commission Policy Report).

In 2003 the average pay for CEOs at 200 of the largest U.S. companies was $11.3 million--but there are a good number whose compensation packages approach the $100 million mark. Faced with these figures, Americans from all walks of life--who revile CEOs as greedy fat cats--are overcome with bewilderment and indignation. Astonished to learn that what an average worker earns in a year, some CEOs earn in less than a week--people ask themselves: "How can the work of a

According to Jill Andresky Fraser, the authors of White Collard Sweatshop, things are not getting better for the working man. For the average working person we have to put in more hours and our paychecks are barely keeping up with inflation. On the other hand, many Chief Executives of large corporations’ income went from 1.8 million in 1990 to 10.6 million in 1998. That is an increase of 490% in less than a decade. “For many of today’s white-collar workers, plagued by overwork, deteriorating benefits, and too much stress, the boss’s salary has become an irritant they just cannot overlook”. “In 1998 Weill earned $168 million at a time when the bank planned to cut 5 percent of its workforce while reducing 401k pension, and other benefits”(188). This shows that there is more money being made while it is not going to the lower level workers, but to the upper level leaders in the companies.