That is SO last week

Pay was the big deal last week. A divided Securities and Exchange Commission voted to approve the CEO Pay Ratio Rule.  The new rule requires publicly traded companies to disclose the ratio of their chief executive officer’s pay to the median compensation of the company’s employees.  Suzanne Lucas offered some insight, noting that a large pay gap doesn’t necessarily mean a company is bad, but that the rule will cause the conversation around pay to change. 

Another hot pay topic was the ongoing fallout from Gravity Payment’s decision to raise every employee’s pay to $70,000 per year.  The New York Times has discovered that several key employees have left and morale is at an all-time low following the raises.  Employees claimed that because everyone received significant increases, no one was being rewarded for their skills or hard work and employees were not motivated to work harder.  Several Gravity Payment customers cut ties, and some commentators called the equal pay plan “stupid” and a failure of execution.

Discrimination

• Inc. covered the secret videotaping of two job interviews by Swedish YouTube “provocateurs.”  The fake job applicants who made the tapes claim that they encountered discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation.
• The University of Minnesota Athletic Director resigned and disclosed that he was accused of sexual harassment after an incident involving alcohol and texting.
• NPR asked if there is an antidote to implicit bias.

Technology

• Mike Haberman explained “soft sensors” and what they could do for human resources.
• NFL players were issued RFID wearables so fans can track their every movement this season, while The Guardian asked if the personal lives of athletes will be ruined by sport-mandated wearables.
• Bloomberg Business demonstrated how wearables are creeping into the workplace.
• The Atlantic discussed the rise of robots in the workplace and how it will impact men more than women.
• The Wall Street Journal covered increasing investments in human resources technology by venture capitalists.

In other developments

• Netflix offered unlimited paid parental leave for employees, and Microsoft quickly followed suit, offering an additional eight weeks of paid time off.
• Uber had its first court hearing on whether its drivers can bring a class action in their misclassification lawsuit.
• The Defend Trade Secrets Act, which proposed legislation that creates a federal trade secret claim, is getting traction in Congress.
• The Department of Labor and EEOC offered some tips on how they will enforce the Family Medical Leave Act and reasonable accommodation requests.