It’s a bit after 9pm on Thursday, October 22, 2015. I’m still at work. I’m exhausted. I’ve been working since about 10 this morning, and I’m feeling the weight of the day. Even more, I’m marveling that Hillary’s eleven-hour ordeal with the Benghazi and the tedious-email-eyeroll-blah Investigation just wrapped up moments ago. I’m googling (unsuccessfully), trying to figure out where this ranks in the…
Recently, there has been an increase in cases where a current or former employee sues their employer for mismanaging the company’s 401(k) plans. The allegations have ranged from excessive fees to improper revenue sharing to poor-performing or untested investment options. Many of these cases involve an employer who doubles as the investment manager for the mutual funds that are offered…
Last week, I stumbled upon Rebecca Traister’s excellent piece for Elle magazine “I’m A Hot Mess For Hillary.” Like nearly 12,000 others, I immediately shared it – and then watched many of my female friends in turn share it on their own social media. The article is compellingly grounded by Rebecca’s unique view as a reporter (and generally fantastic feminist…
On September 1, a federal judge certified a class action brought by three Uber drivers who asserted that they are employees and not, as the company had argued, independent contractors. If the court’s decision it holds, it could be a big deal. This employee vs. contractor determination may sound like arcane law speak, but it’s important, so bear with…
Japan is not a country that has often been lauded for its gender rights records. Just nine years ago, the Japanese Minister of Health, Hakuo Yanagisawa, famously referred to women as “birth-giving machines” in a statement about the country’s shrinking population. Yet despite the prevalence of such harmful opinions about gender roles, Japan recently surpassed the United States in female…
This summer I was on a panel about gender pay equity at a conference held by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. I talked about the range of ways that my clients have suffered discrimination in compensation, and Serena Fong, Vice President, Government Affairs for Catalyst, gave great insights on what companies can do to achieve pay equity. Catalyst is a…
There’s been a recent push to expand public access to pre-K programs, and it’s widely acknowledged that these programs bring benefits to working parents, especially working mothers. In these discussions though, it’s often assumed that parents’ childcare problems are solved once their kids go off to kindergarten. The reality, though, is that many school districts leave parents of kindergarteners in…
I have been psychologically conditioned by American culture to feel that open discussion about salaries is deeply uncomfortable, as if it involved baring your personal finances. I have earned money ever since I was 9 years old, working as a mommy’s helper for neighbors, to supplement my small weekly allowance. And I learned very early on that it is not…
It is a British superstition to repeat the word “rabbit” on the first day of each month when you awake in the morning. Repeating this phrase brings the promise of good luck for the month. I would like to say “rabbit rabbit” to October in the hopes that it will bring good luck and progress to the following significant issues: Freedom for…
When NPR’s Adam Cole interviewed two female NASA astronauts for his science Tumblr “Skunk Bear,” the most common question listeners submitted to be asked to these highly-accomplished women was “What happens when you get your period in space?” Although Adam did not ask the question on air, he posted the answer online (the same thing that happens on earth) along with…