CEO: Monthly ‘problems’ why women earn less

Source: MSNBC

The head of a business group has been fired after asserting that menstruation makes women less productive in the workplace than men.

Alasdair Thompson, chief executive of New Zealand's Employers and Manufacturers Association, made the comments during a radio debate.

The BBC reported that Thompson sparked controversy by suggesting that women earned less than men because "once a month they have sick problems." He added that when women become mothers "they have to take time off to go home" to look after their children.

Thompson told radio station NewstalkZB that he was not sexist and insisted that his comments were the "facts of life."

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43655299/ns/business-personal_finance/

---

:banghead: WTF year is this? 1911?

then insanity must really decrease worker productivity meaning no CEO should make over 200 bucks a year.

Which is why men are just so incompetent and therefore deserving of less pay. But no, that wouldn't be sexist at all.

/sarcasm

What a neanderthal pig.

Why do they get to be CEOs?
What a fool.

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

Do women on average take more sick time than men?

immigration, public education, anti-civil rights, etc.

:shrug:

Because no one else could spin such a lengthy yarn from such a tiny clue.

I simply asked a question: is it true.

Seems straightforward to me. If it isn't then he can be empirically shown to be false. Simple enough?

And your stance on *illegal* immigration is clearly in support of the wealthy earning more money off cheap brown labor. How progressive.

Not sure what you're talking about on the other two.

I doubt that women take off more sick leave for themselves, but I would bet that on average, women take more leave than men to take care of children and family members who are sick. Family leave is counted as "sick" leave even when it's on behalf of somebody else's sickness.

In other words, not only are women less likely to be slackers, they are taking on more than half the burden of caring for other people. Making the asshole CEO's comment even more stupid and uninformed.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/story?id=4241746&page=1

"I doubt that women take off more sick leave for themselves, but I would bet that on average, women take more leave than men to take care of children and family members who are sick. Family leave is counted as "sick" leave even when it's on behalf of somebody else's sickness."

All that's speculation though.

That they take off more days seems to be a fact. Why they do it is up for debate. Either way from an employers viewpoint it doesn't really matter: whether you're taking off sick leave as a "personal day" or to take care of your sick child the end result is the same.

"In other words, not only are women less likely to be slackers, they are taking on more than half the burden of caring for other people. Making the asshole CEO's comment even more stupid and uninformed."

But that's based on "facts" that are speculation.

It's not speculation.

days taken by women are accounted for by taking care of children or sick relatives.

Then prove that it makes a difference to employers the exact reason why their workers are not working.

Not inconsequential.

Additionally I'd like to see their raw data on that one as you can compare many radically different kinds of jobs to get whatever results you wish.

Also I find those numbers suspect because they don't jive with what other nations have found.

That means menstruating women are having "that time of the month" for 36 - 84 days per year.

Yet they are only missing 1.6 more days/year than men?

So how can you possibly leap to the conclusion that it's menstruation that's "causing" women to miss more days? If it's truly "that time of the month" that means women should be missing far more than 1.6 days/year due to having their period.

It's far, far more likely they miss more days because of the statistically proven fact that they are the primary caretakers because MEN aren't stepping up and doing their fair share.

either every other nation is wrong or this one study was inaccurate. Or maybe NZ women are radically different than women everywhere else.

"It's far, far more likely they miss more days because of the statistically proven fact that they are the primary caretakers because MEN aren't stepping up and doing their fair share."

Bit of misandry there. Yes yes, it's all mens fault. Men are evil and should be killed.

You're thinking of calendar months -- 12 to the year.

menstrual cycles are usually near 28 days. 28 Days is a lunar month and there are 13 lunar months per year. 13 x 28 = 364.


The standard "nine months" as pregnancy length is wrong. It's actually ten lunar months, 280 days.

I posted evidence of it.

You simply stated your conclusion then called it a fact with no citation.

Did you ever write an essay in college or at least highschool? How many "facts" did you teachers let you claim without sources?

Is everything to be judged and accounted for based on its bottom-line effect on corporate books?

I'm completely bedridden.

:sarcasm:

So, how do we convince the culture that men have an equal responsibility for child care?

Not the least of which is his implication that women are, by nature, incapable of contributing to the workplace and society in the "same" way that men do.

I am ashamed for anyone who validates the idea that it is acceptable to pay women less than men, or that it is acceptable to pay anyone who "takes more sick time" less than a person who doesn't take as much.

Embattled business leader Alasdair Thompson has apologised again for saying women get paid less than men because they take sick days "once a month".

Thompson, chief executive of the Employment and Manufacturers Association, released an "unreserved, unqualified apology" to media today saying his comments on a radio show yesterday were misplaced and irrelevant.

"I apologise for my poor choice of words and bad judgment during the discussion about gender and productivity in the workplace," Thompson said.

---

The Public Service Association today released statistics showing that while women take more sick leave than men, the difference was just 1.6 days a year.

http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/sick-leave-boss-i-ve-learnt-my-lesson-4260852

We wimmens shouldn't bother our purty little heads about important stuff.

This is why their salaries are so much larger.

didn't see where the guy was saying that menstruation is the cause of women taking sick days from work. He attributed that to childcare.

What I did see him say was that menstruation makes women less effective at work.

and no doubt he's saying that because we wimmens aren't as "productive" at work because we have to make time in the ladies room for taking care of sanitary needs.

Yes, it's true...it takes probably a whole 90 seconds to change a pad or tampon. Multiply that by three or four times during an eight hour day...

That's SIX WHOLE MINUTES of non-productivity!!!!

aughhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


oy. :eyes:

that six minutes is critical.

nt

From the age of 12 to the age of 53, every period was painful.
I was barely able to drag myself out of bad for two to four days. Multiply that by 13 lunar months. That's a minimum of 26 up to 52 days out of the year and no job gives you that much time off.

And why should I have to go to the doctor once a month to get a note for sick leave when menstruation is a normal physical function? Can anybody answer me that one?

the pain can be fixed with motrin, but also there is extreme physical exhaustion.

When I was getting a divorce my ex-husband's lawyer took my deposition for TWO HOURS asking me about my menstrual periods, and I brought my daily datebook, and told him about the thirteen month thing. He couldn't understand why I didn't have a job, and he implied I wasn't looking. I told him I did not know of any jobs that gave fifty-two days a year time off for illness. That was the MOST HUMILIATING two hours of my life.

I wish I could have gotten it recognized as a periodic recurring temporary disability. The real problem is that men and women are different, and some women, like me, had severe cramps. Our society expects us all to work long hours with no food, no bathroom breaks, and no sleep. We are supposed to be little robots with no physical needs. I know a judge who literally worked his court reporter to death. She died of respiratory failure at age 40, and I'm convinced it was overwork. She worked so hard her immune system crashed.


I wish we had menstrual leave. Some companies in Asia have it. But if a woman admits she has cramps and has to stay home in bed, she is weak. Well, sorry, until medical science fixes it, I was weak.

When I was 24 weeks along with my pregnancy I could not work. I got so big that when I sat up, the pressure on my ribs was very painful. So I stayed home and laid down a lot, and ate and slept and tried to breathe. I missed four months before delivery and two months afterwards.

Can't have a CEO operating under the influence of a such a destabilizing hormone.Obviously it's making him unproductive and unworthy.