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Tag: pay gap

  • Women’s Take-Home Pay Often Drops 10 Percent During Menopause, a Study Finds

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    The gender pay gap means women on average earn just 85 cents for every dollar made by men, with many cases made worse by differences in education, job type, and work experience. Now a new Stanford University study highlights another issue decimating women’s paychecks. Released in March 2025, this study found that women who seek medical care for their menopause symptoms see a 10 percent reduction in pay within the following four years. We spoke with experts—physicians specializing in hormonal health whose companies also provide innovative menopause benefits—to explore how to support women’s careers, retain top talent, and address this major pay equity issue.

    Led by Petra Persson, an economist, professor, and faculty fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research (SIEPR), the study aimed to quantify the financial toll of entering perimenopause and menopause. The findings confirmed what many women already know: common menopause symptoms like hot flashes, brain fog, and fatigue translate directly into economic loss as women cut back on their work hours or quit altogether. 

    “For decades, social scientists have analyzed the ‘motherhood penalty,’ but until now, we haven’t known what the financial consequences are for women at the other end of the reproductive spectrum, when they enter menopause,” Persson told the Stanford Report. “We have parental leave policies, and we have policies that support workers when their productivity dips for health reasons, so it makes sense to also have policies that help women during the menopause transition,” she added, noting that 20 percent of working women have reached that life stage.

    According to The 2025 Bonafide State of Menopause Survey, menopause benefits — a combination of medical, mental health, and professional support — offset the impact of menopause and enable women to extend their careers. Though 71 percent of all women surveyed reported that they were unprepared for how disruptive menopause symptoms can be — an 8-percentage point rise since 2023 — just 12 percent of employed respondents reported that their employers offer accommodations for their symptoms.

    It’s a costly disconnect. In 2023, a Mayo Clinic study including over 4,400 employed women as subjects identified that menopause symptoms result in $1.8 billion of missed work time annually in the U.S.

    “Menopause support is not a ‘perk’ — it’s a productivity, retention, and equity strategy,” says Dr. Cristina Del Toro Badessa, a physician and hormone health specialist currently working with Artisan Beaute. “Women at midlife often hold senior, high-impact roles. Supporting them through this transition is both the right thing to do and a smart business decision that directly impacts the bottom line,” she said. 

    Because menopause’s effects and symptoms vary widely among individual women, experts recommend offering a menu of benefit options for employees.

    “When I think about what makes menopause and perimenopause benefits effective, the most important aspect is that they are comprehensive,” says Asima Ahmad, obstetrician, reproductive endocrinologist, and obesity medicine specialist. Ahmad also serves as the co-founder and chief medical officer of Carrot Fertility, she says her own company offers telemedicine consultations for hormone replacement therapy, non-hormonal treatment options, mental and emotional support, clinically supervised education, access to nutritionists, expert-led group sessions, office menopause break rooms, and access to other holistic care options. 

    A flexible, hybrid work schedule can also be a “game-changer for managing symptoms,” she says. “In our 2023 Menopause in the Workplace survey, 72 percent of respondents reported having to deal with feeling self-conscious or uncomfortable after experiencing a menopause symptom at work,” says Ahmad. “Many of these women also reported having to use the restroom for privacy during the workday or take time off of work, with the majority of respondents concealing the real reason for their time off. Providing flexible work hours or the ability to work from home means that women don’t have to take time off to manage their symptoms or feel embarrassed.”

    Though many women report “not feeling like themselves” and consider making major life changes during menopause, Ahmad emphasizes that many symptoms, like memory lapses and mood swings, are often temporary and transitional. “While these symptoms may be highly interruptive for a period of time, most women we see eventually recover,” Ahmad says, suggesting that employees shouldn’t necessarily make permanent career changes. 

    According to the Cleveland Clinic, symptoms tend to begin in one’s mid-40s during perimenopause and last for an average of seven years. 

    Ahmad adds that addressing a long-standing stigma around menopause in the workplace could help alleviate feelings of isolation. Menopause benefits send a strong message to women that they are valued in the workplace at all stages of their reproductive cycles, from fertility and pregnancy, to postpartum recovery, through the menopause transition, and beyond. 

    As for the pace of progress, the Bonafide Health survey suggests that the workplace has become more welcoming in “baby steps,” but has a long way to go. 

    “Companies that act now will be ahead of the curve,” Ahmad tells Inc.

    The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.

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    Lauren Gray

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  • Flight attendants at Southwest Airlines seal deal for 22% pay hikes next month

    Flight attendants at Southwest Airlines seal deal for 22% pay hikes next month

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    Flight attendants at Southwest Airlines have ratified a contract that includes pay raises totaling more than 33% over four years, as airline workers continue to benefit from the industry’s recovery since the pandemic.

    The Transport Workers Union said Wednesday that members of Local 556 approved the contract by a margin of 81% to 19%. The union’s board rejected a lower offer last summer, and flight attendants voted against a second proposal in December.

    Southwest has about 20,000 flight attendants. They will get raises of more than 22% on May 1 and annual increases of 3% in each of the following three years.

    The union said the contract provides record gains for flight attendants and sets a standard for other flight attendants. Cabin crews at United Airlines and American Airlines, which are represented by other unions, are still negotiating contracts.

    The union said the deal gives Southwest crews the shortest on-duty day and highest pay in the industry, compensation during disruptions like the Southwest meltdown in December 2022, and industry-first paid maternity and parental leave. Workers will also split $364 million in ratification bonuses, according to the union.

    Dallas-based Southwest, the nation’s fourth-biggest airline, said the contract includes changes in scheduling and will help the airline’s operation.

    Pilot unions at Delta, United, American and Southwest approved contracts last year that raised pay by more than one-third over several years. This week, Delta said its flight attendants and other nonunion workers will get 5% raises.

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    The Associated Press

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  • New York state wants companies to protect their LGBTQ+ Gen Z and millennial workers—and it’s throwing a $260 billion retirement fund at the issue

    New York state wants companies to protect their LGBTQ+ Gen Z and millennial workers—and it’s throwing a $260 billion retirement fund at the issue

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    Money talks. That’s what Thomas DiNapoli, comptroller of the state of New York, is counting on when it comes to LGBTQ+ protections in the workplace. 

    In what seem to be the first ever moves of their kind, DiNapoli’s New York State Common Retirement Fund, which manages $260 billion in assets, is pushing for more details about companies’ human capital management strategy work related to LGBTQ+ employees.

    In proxy statements published this month, $45 billion Lennar Corp. and $13.5 billion International Paper disclosed matching shareholder proposals from the retirement fund. The proposals are backed by a supporting statement explaining that demographic shifts show that 20.8% of Gen Z identifies as LGBTQ+, which is twice that of the 10.5% of millennials who identify that way. Furthermore, a third of people who identify as LGBTQ+ report experiencing harassment or discrimination in recent years and, nearly half, 45.5%, report facing discrimination at some point in their lives.

    Lennar and International Paper have recommended that investors vote against both proposals.

    Expanding focus

    The proposal is a new front in some investors’ quest to get more expansive data on diversity from companies, and similar efforts have been fruitful in obtaining more granularity on policies related to gender, race, and ethnicity. Now, investors are expanding their focus to include LGBTQ+ employees. Investors have used the more detailed reporting in recent years to hold boards and C-suite teams to account for public diversity pledges on investments, promotion among senior executive ranks and recruitment of new employees.

    Accordingly, companies should tell investors whether they have equitable employee benefits, non-discrimination policies and employee support groups, the New York fund wrote in the statement. In the proposals at both Lennar and International Paper, New York referred to the companies’ own disclosures about inclusivity in the workforce, respect for diverse backgrounds and their general statements about fostering high-performing workplace cultures via their diversity efforts. New York holds about $15.8 million in International Paper stock and $33 million in Lennar stock, according to the fund’s 2023 asset listing. 

    Both proposals quoted a 2019 report from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation, Business Success and Growth Through LGBT-Inclusive Culture. “Companies that adopt LGBT-inclusive practices tend to improve their financial standing and do better than companies that do not adopt them. Additionally, employees, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity, express greater job satisfaction at companies where these practices are in place.”

    Miami-headquartered homebuilder Lennar’s board wrote that the company was “built on a culture of inclusivity” and brings together the best talent to drive the success of the “Lennar family.” The board said its “Everyone’s Included” initiative represents an evolution of that focus, including an advisory council that brings together diverse cross-representation. Its code of ethics and business conduct already specifically prohibit discrimination and harassment on the basis of “color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, genetic information or any other legally protected status,” the board said. “Producing the proposed report is unnecessary and inefficient.”

    International Paper board members said its annual report discussed diversity and inclusion initiatives, including its long-term goals. “Among the Company’s primary Vision 2030 Goals, the Company aims to promote employee well-being by providing safe, caring, and inclusive workplaces and strengthening the resilience of its communities,” the board said (emphasis in original).

    The company also has a global diversity and inclusion council and employee networking groups. “Requiring the Company to produce an additional report limited to a subset of its overall diversity, equity and inclusion efforts would prove unduly burdensome for the Company, divert time and attention of Company management, and give rise to undue expenses, all while providing little to no additional value considering the Company’s robust diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, culture and disclosure practices, including with respect to LGBTQ+ matters,” the IP board said.

    The proposals are an escalation from the fund’s efforts last year that involved writing letters to 55 portfolio companies that signed the Human Rights Campaign and Freedom for All American Business Statement on Anti-LGBTQ+ Legislation. The campaign prompted new discussions about workplace policies, the state said in an annual report. 

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    Amanda Gerut

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  • Why Addressing the Racial Wealth Gap is Good for Business | Entrepreneur

    Why Addressing the Racial Wealth Gap is Good for Business | Entrepreneur

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    Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

    Philanthropy and government programs have been trying to close the racial wealth gap for a long time, but they’ve been focused on band-aids when we need ladders. While the wealth gap is fueled by several contributing factors, including disparity in home ownership, accumulation of financial assets and strong growing wages, as small business investors, we can draw our attention to a core piece of the problem: the wage gap.

    Let’s take a moment to clarify what we mean when we talk about the wage gap as it relates to the racial wealth gap. We are not just talking about good-paying jobs for people of color. We really need good-paying jobs that provide a clear pathway for Black and Brown employees to build a stronger, sustaining financial future.

    The typical white U.S. household has nearly eight times the wealth of the typical Black household. To address the systemic issue of racial wealth inequity, the private sector must do what it does best – invest in great companies and entrepreneurs that create quality jobs –and ensure all workers, especially Black and Brown workers, have an equal opportunity to build a lasting, positive economic reality for themselves and their families.

    Related: Compounding Inequality to Compounding Success: Bridging the Racial Wealth Gap

    Media reported widely that recent pandemic aid cut U.S. poverty to a new low, but that was a short-term solution to a global crisis — it wasn’t aimed at driving wages higher in perpetuity. As that funding source dries up, those in a lower economic bracket return to the same or even worse circumstances than they were at the start. To truly attack the racial wealth gap, we need the private sector to make the change that the government and non-profits simply cannot do independently.

    Private sector employers and investors often can’t see how they can drive the change needed to give Black and Brown Americans access to wealth-creation opportunities while growing businesses and pleasing investment partners. But it is not as hard as they may think, and the benefits to their business and community deliver a long-lasting ROI for companies, workers and families.

    Building a path to financial security starts with strategic wages

    For decades, wages for Black and Brown workers have lagged behind those of white workers with the same experience and education, even in the same geography Even when people of color climb the corporate ladder, they make less — 97 cents on the dollar.

    These communities need more than just a living wage; they also need opportunities for long-term career development, pay parity and wage progression. A rising wage promotes economic stability, helps workers provide for their families and facilitates wealth accumulation for future generations.

    Wage progression — whether linked to individual performance, company performance, tenure, skills development, or promotion — is also good for business. It helps attract the best employees, improves retention, and sustains and incentivizes business growth.

    Related: How to Support Black Employees During (and After) Juneteenth

    The role of benefits in building generational wealth

    Meaningful benefits are a major piece of increasing sustainable employee wealth. Most employee wealth is derived from workplace benefits packages: health insurance, 401ks, stock options, etc. Low-wage workers typically don’t have those options, which are key to building generational wealth.

    Business leaders and investors can change this situation by learning from employees what benefits and opportunities would make the greatest difference in their lives and free up income for saving and investing– be that affordable healthcare, child/eldercare support, or direct wealth creation through incentivized savings opportunities like 401k plans, IRAs, and employer matching savings programs.

    Offering these types of household-stabilizing benefits could largely pay for themselves in terms of lower absenteeism, greater productivity, increased retention and worker-driven competitive advantage.

    Help employees continually grow their skills

    Too often, the leadership potential and training of Black and Brown Americans is overlooked. According to McKinsey, Black workers are disproportionately concentrated in entry-level jobs with low pay and underrepresented in leadership and executive positions.

    Correcting this divide means providing entry-level workers with access to training and development opportunities from the moment they are hired. Programs that teach employees valuable skills for remaining relevant in their careers to prepare them for higher responsibilities while reducing turnover, improving engagement and accelerating business growth.

    Making it happen

    Investors typically provide small businesses with growth capital, but they can also provide operational capital that is invested directly in employees. Business leaders, their investors and advisors can collaborate to devise a feasible and ambitious plan that establishes measurable goals for the company and the impact company leaders aim to achieve by driving an innovative wage strategy.

    Several local or national advocacy groups for diverse workplaces, such as the Business Consortium Fund, the National Institute of Minority Economic Development and the Minority Business Development Agency, can assist with this kind of wage-targeted approach to eliminating the racial wealth gap.

    Furthermore, it is crucial to monitor and evaluate outcomes using meaningful metrics. Failing to measure outcomes from these changes means businesses will not know what they’ve really achieved, which keeps them from continuous improvement.

    Related: How to Overcome Workplace Inequality and Reach Gender Parity

    Opportunity and obligation

    I believe that every employer and their investors have a moral imperative to make closing the racial wealth gap a focal point of their business model, even if it means taking a little less for themselves and other executives off the bottom line. There is a tremendous opportunity to hire workers from disadvantaged communities and grow and sustain a strong workforce that helps grow all businesses. In return, employees would benefit from quality jobs and greater economic vitality now and in the future, setting up the next generation for even greater progress.

    It’s about doing something incredible and making work “work” for businesses and employees alike. This type of investment is the catalyst for the change we need in our business world and our society —but it can’t happen without the private sector and its leaders driving the charge.

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    Sandra M. Moore

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  • The US dollar is at a crossroads | CNN Business

    The US dollar is at a crossroads | CNN Business

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    A version of this story first appeared in CNN Business’ Before the Bell newsletter. Not a subscriber? You can sign up right here. You can listen to an audio version of the newsletter by clicking the same link.


    New York
    CNN
     — 

    Wall Street investors are reaching for their neck braces in preparation for yet another volatile swing in stock markets: A surging US dollar.

    The greenback — which is not just the dominant global currency but also “the key variable affecting global economic conditions,” according to the New York Federal Reserve — reached a 20-year high last year after the Fed turned hawkish with its aggressive rate hikes.

    Since then, inflation seemed to have softened, pushing the dollar down. But in recent weeks, as a slew of economic data has shown the Fed’s inflation battle is far from over, the currency soared by about 4% from its recent lows, and now sits near a seven-week high.

    Investors are stressing about this sudden rebound, since a stronger dollar means American-made products become more expensive for foreign buyers, overseas revenue decreases in value and global trade weakens.

    Multinational companies, naturally, aren’t thrilled about any of this. And around 30% of all S&P 500 companies’ revenue is earned in markets outside the US, said Quincy Krosby, chief global strategist for LPL Financial.

    What’s happening: The US dollar “finds itself at a significant crossroads yet again,” said Krosby. “While the Fed remains steadfastly data dependent, the dollar’s course as well remains focused on inflation and the Fed’s monetary response.”

    “The strong US dollar has been a headwind for international earnings and stock performance (for US investors),” wrote Wells Fargo analysts in a recent note.

    February was a rough month for markets: The Dow ended February down 4.19%, the S&P 500 fell 2.6% and the Nasdaq lost just over 1%.

    What’s next: Investors are clearly focused on the next Fed policy meeting, which is still three weeks away, for signals about the direction of rates. But until then, investors may gain some insight Tuesday when Fed Chairman Jerome Powell speaks before the Senate Banking Committee.

    They’ll also be watching next Friday’s jobs report for any softening in the labor market that could temper the Fed’s hawkish mood.

    Don’t forget the debt ceiling: Another significant threat to the dollar is looming in Congress — the ongoing debt ceiling fight. The United States could start to default on its financial obligations over the summer or in the early fall if lawmakers don’t agree to raise the debt limit — its self-imposed borrowing limit — before then, according to a new analysis by the Bipartisan Policy Center.

    That could potentially lead to a disastrous downgrade to America’s credit rating and could send the dollar spiraling as investors start to sell off their US assets and move their money to safer currencies.

    “It would certainly undermine the role of the dollar as a reserve currency that is used in transactions all over the world. And Americans — many people — would lose their jobs and certainly their borrowing costs would rise,” Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told CNN in January.

    ▸ A lot has changed in the last twenty years. The gender pay gap hasn’t.

    In 2022, US women on average earned about 82 cents for every dollar a man earned, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of median hourly earnings of both full- and part-time workers.

    That’s a big leap from the 65 cents that women were earning in 1982. But it has barely moved from the 80 cents they were earning in 2002.

    “Higher education, a shift to higher-paying occupations and more labor market experience have helped women narrow the gender pay gap since 1982,” the Pew analysis noted. “But even as women have continued to outpace men in educational attainment, the pay gap has been stuck in a holding pattern since 2002, ranging from 80 to 85 cents to the dollar.”

    ▸ Initial jobless claims, which measures the number of people who filed for unemployment insurance for the first time last week, are due out at 8:30 a.m. ET on Thursday.

    This will be the last official jobs data investors see before February’s heavily anticipated unemployment report next Friday.

    Economists are expecting 195,000 Americans to have filed for unemployment, which is higher than the seasonally adjusted 192,000 who applied two weeks ago.

    Initial claims have come in lower than expected in recent weeks and remain well below their pre-pandemic levels.

    The white-hot labor market in the US added more than 500,000 jobs in January, blowing analysts’ expectations out of the water and bringing the unemployment rate to its lowest level since May of 1969.

    That’s bad news for the Federal Reserve where policymakers have been attempting to tame inflation by cooling the economy through painful interest rate hikes.

    ▸ It’s a big day for groceries. Kroger (KR), Costco (COST) and Anheuser-Busch (BUD) all report earnings on Thursday.

    Investors will be watching closely for clues about consumer sentiment during an uncertain retail earnings season. On Tuesday, Kohl’s reported that it had a rough holiday season and executives at the company put the blame on inflation. The company said higher prices squeezed sales and forced it to mark down some products to entice shoppers — which hurt its profit margin.

    Those comments echoed those of other big box retailers like Walmart (WMT) and Target (TGT), who have said consumers are feeling the pinch of inflation.

    Still, Target and Walmart’s bottom lines were bolstered by food sales even as consumers pulled back on discretionary purchases.

    The US Senate voted on Wednesday to overturn a Biden administration retirement investment rule that allows managers of retirement funds to consider the impact of climate change and other ESG factors when picking investments.

    As my CNN colleagues Ali Zaslav, Clare Foran and Ted Barrett write: The rule is not mandated – it allows, but does not require, the consideration of environmental, social and governance factors in investment selection.

    Republicans complained that the rule is a “woke” policy that pushes a liberal agenda on Americans and will hurt retirees’ bottom lines.

    “This rule isn’t about saying the left or the right take on a given environmental, social, or governance issue is ‘correct,’” countered Senator Patty Murray (D-WA) on the Senate floor Wednesday. “It’s about acknowledging these factors are reasonable for asset managers to consider.”

    The measure will next go to President Joe Biden’s desk as it was passed by the House on Tuesday. The administration, however, has issued a veto threat. As a result, passage of the resolution could pave the way for Biden to issue the first veto of his presidency.

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  • The US gender pay gap: Why it hasn’t narrowed much in 20 years | CNN Business

    The US gender pay gap: Why it hasn’t narrowed much in 20 years | CNN Business

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    New York
    CNN
     — 

    A lot can change in two decades. Or… not.

    In 2022, US women on average earned about 82 cents for every dollar a man earned, according to a new Pew Research Center analysis of median hourly earnings of both full- and part-time workers.

    That’s a big leap from the 65 cents that women were earning in 1982. But it has barely moved from the 80 cents they were earning in 2002.

    “Higher education, a shift to higher-paying occupations and more labor market experience have helped women narrow the gender pay gap since 1982,” the Pew analysis noted. “But even as women have continued to outpace men in educational attainment, the pay gap has been stuck in a holding pattern since 2002, ranging from 80 to 85 cents to the dollar.”

    Before getting to potential reasons why the pay gap hasn’t narrowed for two decades — let alone disappeared — it’s worth noting that the top-line average doesn’t tell the whole story of what’s been going on for women in different cohorts.

    Take age: Women between the ages of 25 and 34 are much closer to achieving pay parity with men than they are likely to be when they get older.

    Since 2007, younger women have been earning about 90 cents on the dollar, according to Pew: “But even as pay parity might appear in reach for women at the start of their careers, the wage gap tends to increase as they age.”

    Having children is a factor, Pew found. For example, parenthood leads some women to put their careers on hold, or put in a shorter workweek. For employed fathers between the ages 35 and 44, having children at home is a time that often coincides with receiving higher pay even though the pay of employed mothers that same age is unaffected.

    “In 2022, mothers ages 25 to 34 earned 85% as much as fathers that age, but women without children at home earned 97% as much as fathers. In contrast, employed women ages 35 to 44 — with or without children — both earned about 80% as much as fathers,” the report said.

    Or take race and ethnicity: Pew found that Black women last year earned just 70% as much as White men. Hispanic women earned 65% as much. For White women, the gap was less, at 83%. Asian women were closest to parity, at 93%.

    “To some extent, the gender wage gap varies by race and ethnicity because of differences in education, experience, occupation and other factors that drive the gender wage gap for women overall,” the Pew analysis noted.

    “But researchers have uncovered new evidence of hiring discrimination against various racial and ethnic groups, along with discrimination against other groups, such as LGBTQ and disabled workers,” the report continued. “Discrimination in hiring may feed into differences in earnings by shutting out workers from opportunities,”

    Lastly, consider occupation: Women are still overrepresented in lower-paying occupations such as personal care and service jobs; and underrepresented in higher-paying ones, like managerial and STEM jobs.

    Regardless, the gender pay gap is typically narrowest when you pick any single occupation and control for measurable factors between men and women like education, tenure and hours worked.

    “But it never goes away,” said Rakesh Kochhar, a Pew senior researcher.

    The persistence of a gap over the past 20 years, even when comparing apples to apples, suggests there are other factors at play.

    These can include potential discrimination. When Pew asked Americans in October what factors they believed played a role in the gender wage gap, half indicated a major reason is that employers treat women differently. Women were much more likely than men (61% vs 37%) to cite this as a major reason.

    Another factor that may help explain the stickiness of the pay gap is that the wage premium for those with college degrees has grown smaller. So while more employed women (48%) now have at least a bachelor’s degree than men (41%), it is worth less.

    Individual choices such as taking periods away from the workforce to care for children also continue to play a role. Those choices may be borne of cultural norms, societal issues such as a lack of affordable child care, or personal preference.

    Narrowing the gender pay gap from here may be tough sledding.

    “More sustained progress in closing the pay gap may depend on deeper changes in societal and cultural norms and in workplace flexibility that affect how men and women balance their careers and family lives,” Pew researchers suggested.

    And even then, progress may be slower than desired, since, as they noted, “even in countries that have taken the lead in implementing family-friendly policies, such as Denmark, parenthood continues to drive a significant wedge in the earnings of men and women.”

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  • Big moments for women at the men’s World Cup | CNN Politics

    Big moments for women at the men’s World Cup | CNN Politics

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    A version of this story appears in CNN’s What Matters newsletter. To get it in your inbox, sign up for free here.



    CNN
     — 

    An unexpected result of the US Men’s National Team reaching the knockout round of 16 at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar is that the US Women’s National Team will get its largest collective payday, equally splitting $13 million in winnings with the men.

    It’s a big deal for American women who have long sought pay equity, and it amplifies the extreme sliding scale of women’s rights around the globe.

    Consider that this payday for US women was won when the US men’s team defeated Iran, a country where authorities are brutally tamping down protests by women who want basic human rights.

    The US Women’s National Team excels at soccer and fought hard for years for equal pay.

    The earnings they’ll split with the American men could grow if the men continue to advance in the World Cup.

    It’s the result of an unprecedented equal pay agreement finalized earlier this year. Read more about the prize money.

    FIFA pays bigger awards to the men’s tournament, which draws in more revenue to the international soccer governing body, than to the women’s. The agreement between the US men and women is unique.

    “To everyone it should indicate how big the disparity is that FIFA has made between their value of women’s soccer and men’s soccer, and this is the only way that equity could be achieved, if all parties agreed – and they did,” said Briana Scurry, a former US goalkeeper, appearing on CNN Wednesday.

    Not only did the US Men’s National Team advance to earn the payday, but they also agreed to this unprecedented pot-splitting with the top American women earlier this year.

    “These are Title IX males,” said Christine Brennan, the sports columnist and CNN analyst, referring to the US men’s team during an appearance on “CNN Tonight” on Tuesday. She was referring to the landmark 1972 law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in education programs or activities receiving federal funds. It has revolutionized women’s sports in the US and, Brennan argued, influenced male athletes too.

    “They weren’t raised like their dads or their grandfathers. And they have a much different outlook, not only about women’s equality in terms of pay, but these are the same men who’ve been talking about standing with the Iranian protesters,” Brennan said.

    She praised the US Soccer Federation and the Men’s National Team, who have distinguished themselves not only by advancing, but “even more so in terms of our culture and the stands they have taken.”

    Iranian women, as you’ll know from following coverage of protests in that country and at the World Cup, are fighting for basic rights.

    CNN reported on celebrations in Iran at the national team’s loss to the US. From that report:

    “I am happy, this is the government losing to the people,” one witness to celebrations in a city in the Kurdish region, who CNN is not naming for security concerns, told CNN on Wednesday.

    The Norway-based Iranian rights group Hengaw posted several videos of similar scenes. “People in Paveh are celebrating Iran’s national team lose over America in World Cup in Qatar, they are chanting ‘Down with Jash (traitors),” Hengaw said in a post.

    Meanwhile, back in Doha, Qatar, another landmark moment for women in the world’s most popular sport will come Thursday, when the first all-women refereeing team in men’s World Cup history debuts in a pivotal match between Germany and Costa Rica.

    Stéphanie Frappart, the French lead official, has already overseen matches at the top levels of European club soccer, so, “I know how to deal with it,” she said in a statement released by FIFA. This match, with a potential audience of billions, will show a woman in charge.

    If the US men and women are on the road to some sort of parity – the men still make much, much more from their clubs – there are some women in the Middle East who are just gaining access to the pitch.

    Saudi Arabia’s men’s team put in a solid show at this World Cup with their defeat of storied Argentina in the opening round. But the Saudis failed to advance past the group stage after losing to Mexico Wednesday.

    Meanwhile, women in Saudi Arabia were only allowed inside soccer stadiums in 2018, much less play.

    As Saudi Arabia weighs a joint bid to co-host the 2030 men’s World Cup, the kingdom is also in the beginning stages of building a national women’s team. It’ll surely be many years before the Saudi women can be competitive on the world stage, but simply being able to play is certainly progress.

    CNN’s Becky Anderson, who is reporting from Doha during this World Cup, talked to the German women’s team legend Monika Staab, who is coaching the nascent Saudi women’s team. She said the kingdom is developing its women through three development academies and wants to host an international tournament in 2026.

    Staab said the all-women referee team in Thursday’s match in Qatar will be a powerful symbol for Muslim women watching.

    “The women can do like the men,” Staab said on CNN International Wednesday night. “I think that is a big sign for the whole world. We in Saudi Arabia, we play football. That has a great impact on every Muslim girl who wants to play,” Staab said.

    In the US, women’s soccer has at times been a bigger draw than the men’s game.

    About 14 million American viewers watched the women’s World Cup final, featuring the winning US team, in 2019. That was more than watched the men’s World Cup final between France and Croatia in 2018, but far below the 20 million who watched the US take on England in the group stage last Saturday across Fox and Telemundo.

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  • Twitter Africa employees accuse Elon Musk of discrimination over severance terms | CNN Business

    Twitter Africa employees accuse Elon Musk of discrimination over severance terms | CNN Business

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    CNN Business
     — 

    Laid-off employees at Twitter’s Africa headquarters are accusing Twitter of “deliberately and recklessly flouting the laws of Ghana” and trying to “silence and intimidate” them after they were fired.

    The team has hired a lawyer and sent a letter to the company demanding it comply with the West African nation’s labor laws, provide them with additional severance pay and other relevant benefits, in line with what other Twitter employees will receive.

    They have also petitioned the Ghanaian government to compel Twitter to “adhere to the laws of Ghana on redundancy and offer the employees a fair and just negotiation and redundancy pay,” according to a letter to the country’s Chief Labour Officer obtained by CNN.

    “It is clear that Twitter, Inc. under Mr Elon Musk is either deliberately or recklessly flouting the laws of Ghana, is operating in bad faith and in a manner that seeks to silence and intimidate former employees into accepting any terms unilaterally thrown at them,” the letter states.

    Twitter laid off all but one of the African employees just four days after the company opened a physical office in the capital Accra following Musk’s takeover. But the staff of about a dozen were not offered severance pay, which they say is required by Ghana’s labor laws, based on their employment contracts. They also claim they were not informed about the next steps — unlike employees in the United States and Europe — until a day after CNN reported on their situation.

    CNN contacted Twitter for comment but received no response.

    In the letter to Twitter Ghana Ltd, obtained by CNN, the African employees rejected a “Ghana Mutual Separation Agreement” from Twitter, which they say was sent to their personal emails offering final pay that the company claims to have been arrived at after a negotiation.

    Several members of the team and their lawyer told CNN that there was no such negotiation on severance pay. They claim it was below what is required by law and contradicts what Musk tweeted that departing employees would receive.

    “Everyone exited was offered 3 months of severance, which is 50% more than legally required,” Musk tweeted. Twitter informed the Ghana-based employees in early November that they would be paid until their last day of employment — December 4. And they will continue to receive full pay and benefits during the 30-day notice period.

    “It was very vague, did not talk about outstanding leave or paid time off, and just asked us to sign if we agree. I never bothered to go back to the document because it is rubbish and is still in violation of labor laws here,” one former employee told CNN on condition of anonymity.

    The Accra-based team accuses Twitter of dealing with them in bad faith, not being transparent, and discriminating against them compared to laid-off employees in other jurisdictions.

    “The employees are distressed, humiliated, and intimidated by this turn of events. There are non-Ghanaian employees, some with young families, who moved here to take up jobs and have now been left unceremoniously in the lurch, with no provision for repatriation expenses and no way to communicate with Twitter, Inc. and discuss or plead their case,” the notice to Ghana’s Chief Labour Officer says.

    Their attorney, Carla Olympio, says the sudden termination of almost the whole team violated Ghanaian employment law because it is considered a “redundancy” which requires three-month notice to authorities and a negotiation on redundancy pay.

    “In stark contrast to internal company assurances given to Twitter employees worldwide prior to the takeover, it seems that little attempt was made to comply with Ghana’s labor laws, and the protections enshrined therein for workers in circumstances where companies are undertaking mass layoffs due to a restructuring or reorganization,” she wrote in a statement to CNN.

    The employees said in their appeal to Ghana’s Chief Labour Officer that Twitter’s formal entry into the continent started with “great fanfare and with the support of the government,” and they expect similar attention to their plight now.

    They are demanding 3 months’ gross salary as severance pay, repatriation expenses for non-Ghanaian staff, vesting of stock options provided in their contracts, and other benefits such as healthcare continuation that were offered to staff worldwide.

    CNN has reached out to Ghana’s Employment and Labor Relations ministry for comment.

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