Sex Discrimination in the Workplace
Salomon Smith Barney is one of the world's largest financial brokerage groups, with headquarters in New York City and 500 offices serving more than 100 countries around the world. Recent studies indicate that the financial industry as a whole continues many practices that are discriminatory to women, such as unequal pay as well and discriminatory hiring and promotion practices. This paper examines whether a gender gap in pay and promotion does exist within Salomon Smith Barney and the issues these practices raise from a human resources standpoint. It looks at the deleterious effects these practices could have, both in terms of lawsuits, negative publicity and market/employment competitiveness. Finally, the paper makes recommendations on how the human resources department could help Salomon Smith Barney avoid clams based on sex discrimination in the future.
Studies comparing the salaries of men and women show a dramatic disparity in the salaries of men and women. Despite pay equity laws and a growing awareness of gender discrimination and women's rights, this "gender wage gap" continue to exist between men and women across a broad range of occupations. Data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics shows that on average, women earn only 78 cents for every dollar earned by a male employee (BLS 2000).
This figure, however, is even lower in the financial services industry, where in 2000, women earn only 68 cents compared to their male counterparts. No company in the financial industry - Salomon Smith Barney included - pays their female employees on the same scale as men. In fact, the 2000 figure represents a step back from 1995 levels, when women in the finance industry were paid 78 cents for every dollar paid to male employees (cited in Mollison 2002).
Furthermore, studies have also found that companies...
For example, female brokers complained that they were not being given their fair share of new accounts and referrals. They were excluded from important meetings, which were held in social setting such as male-only business lunches and golf outings. Other meetings have been held with female strippers being hired as "entertainment" (Antilla 2002).
From a human resources standpoint, these practices touch on several issues that concern sex and gender-based discrimination. Such discriminatory practices negatively affect Salomon Smith Barney in a number of ways.
First, such practices make it difficult to attract and retain quality female employees who could contribute greatly to Salomon Smith Barney's fiscal profits. After all, an increasing number of employees who attend business school and enter the financial world are women.
Second, the perceptions of being a discriminatory company have hurt Salomon Smith Barney and other companies like Wal-Mart in the past. The negative publicity resulted in picketing and boycotts of several Wal-Marts around the country and made these companies the targets of campaigns by groups such as the National Organization for Women.
Finally, such discriminatory practices have also resulted in lawsuits from the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). The sex-discrimination lawsuit against Rent-a-Center, for example, resulted in a landmark $47 million settlement for 5,000 female employees whose jobs were unfairly terminated (EEOC 2002).
In 1997, Salomon Smith Barney itself settled a sex-discrimination lawsuit, paying an undisclosed amount to female employees who filed a class action suit before the EEOC (Knox…
