Sharon Palmer, the Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Labor, will retire at the end of this year, news that was first reported by the CT Mirror website.
According to CT Mirror:
In an interview, she described her decision to retire as driven by age and circumstance, not politics or a consequence of overseeing the
Over the last week, two unrelated stories caught my eye. For employers, they are a reminder that claims of pay inequality based on gender are still something to be concerned about.
The first story is that Governor Malloy announced plans for a new study to examine “factors that contribute to the gender wage gap in Connecticut’s workforce.”
The study will be run by new Connecticut Department of Labor Commissioner Sharon Palmer and Department of Economic Development Commissioner Catherine Smith. The Governor has asked the commissioners to make recommendations on the issue by October 2013.
I’ve talked about this issue before; there are some who believe that the wage gap is overstated. But the study will make headlines this year and this renewed focus in Connecticut on the issue should have employers revisiting their own practices.
The second story illustrates the claim in much more real world terms and shows the perils of trying to navigate your way through such claims.
In Morse v. Pratt & Whitney, decided last week, a federal court — among other issues — denied an employer’s motion for summary judgment on an Title VII unequal pay claim.Continue Reading Gender Inequality Claims Make Headlines in Case and in New Study
UPDATED:
The cuts to the CHRO keep coming.
Governor Malloy this morning released his plan to reduce the size of government — should a deal with the state labor unions not be struck.
The plan calls for the elimination of the CHRO’s Waterbury Office (page 35) and the elimination of other staff positions. All
To the surprise of absolutely no one, earlier this month Governor Malloy signed the new Paid Sick Leave and the new Gender Identity Anti-Discrimination bills.
With the Governor’s approval, the paid sick leave bill now becomes effective January 1, 2012.
The anti-discrimination provisions of the gender identity bill are effective October 1, 2011.
For more
Imagine there’s no …..
A few years ago it would have been unfathomable to be considering life in Connecticut without a Commission on Human Rights and Opportunities. After all, it is a necessary step in filing a discrimination complaint in this state.
Imagining a Connecticut without the CHRO? No way.
But suddenly, dramatically,
Governor Malloy released his anticipated budget and the changes to the Department of Labor are modest. You can view the whole report (and the DOL portion beginning at 193) here.
Rather than dissect the whole thing, here are a few things that caught my eye:
Can a union president and a former HR Director work together effectively?
We’ll soon find out at the Connecticut Department of Labor.
Governor Dannel Malloy this afternoon selected Glenn Marshall to serve as the new commissioner of the Department of Labor, and picked Dennis Murphy as the agency’s new deputy commissioner.
In a press release issued
There’s been plenty written about what the impact of the federal elections will be on national legislative efforts. While at an ABA Conference last week, various legislative initiatives concerning independent contractors and the Employee Free Choice Act were now seen as as DOA.
But in Connecticut, we elected the first Democrat as Governor in over two
At last night’s gubernatorial debate, the issue of potential layoffs of state union workers was a hot topic of conversation. (See CT News Junkie for a more detailed report.) Each candidate indicated that layoffs weren’t ruled out if elected.
That’s all very well and good, but none of them have mentioned how a