Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | March 5, 2018 | Worcester Business Journal 7 Put an SBA loan to work for your business. Chances are, your business could use a boost. As an SBA Preferred Lender, The Milford National can help. This special program is just one of many commercial lending and banking services tailored to the needs of area businesses. We work one-on-one to provide you with custom-tailored solutions to help you put your plans into action. To learn more or to schedule an appointment, call us at 508-634-4100 or visit www.milfordnational.com. Main Office: 300 East Main Street, Milford, MA 01757 • 508-634-4100 Member FDIC Equal Housing Lender SBA Preferred Lender 2017MNB-027_RevSmallBusLoanAd_4_3x5_5_sk1.indd 1 10/23/17 10:22 AM Social service nonprofits $244,413 (21 people) $170,094 (10 people) Colleges $291,057 (46 people) $230,516 (36 people) Healthcare organizations $569,113 (23 people) $282,168 (12 people) Public companies $2,548,886 (81 people) $5,530,606 (4 people)* Reducing the pay gap Average male Average female Central Mass. sector executive pay executive pay *Without TJX Cos. Chairwoman Carol Metrowitz, female executive average pay is $2,539,818 Sources: U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission filings, U.S. Internal Revenue Service 990 forms through guidestar.org, Equalpayma.com • Employers cannot ask prospective employees about previous salary information before an offer has been made and negotiated. • Employers cannot penalize or retaliate against employees for discussing wages, thus encouraging pay transparency. • If an employer discovers they are in violation of the law, they will be given three years to amend the violation without punishment, if a good-faith effort is made. • Allows for pay differential based on experience, seniority, merit, geographic location, education and travel. However, pregnancy, family or medical leave will not count against one's seniority. pension board. The treasurer's office also votes against companies who overboard – that is, they have directors who serve on four or more corporate boards – which can open up more board seats and ensure directors can properly devote themselves to the role. Creating and advocating for female leaders At Nichols College, Engelkemeyer helped start the Institute for Women's Leadership, which has a goal of empowering female stu- dents and those in business. The college has a goal of hav- ing women make up 45 per- cent of its student body with- in five years. It's now at about 30 percent. At Worcester Polytechnic Institute, where in 2014 Laurie Leshin became the 153-year-old college's first female president, women have been appointed to a higher-than-average number of board and executive positions – 10 of 30 trustees and five of 12 administrators. "I've accepted and owned the role model part of this," Leshin said. "You can't be it if you can't see it, and you have to be able to see that it's possible." Progress is bound to take time. The majority of WPI's board of trustees is alumni, and the college didn't have its first female graduate until the 1970s. Leshin has instituted programs such as the Women's Impact Network, a men- toring and philanthropic group, and pushed for greater inclusion of female students that last fall brought WPI's highest-ever rate of women in the incoming freshmen class, at 44 percent. The Boston Club, an advocacy group for women in business leadership posi- tions, keeps a roster of qualified female potential board members for when companies need to find candidates. "We're saying there are qualified women out there," said Hilary Potts, who chairs the corporate board com- mittee for The Boston Club. "Talk with them, and then make your decision." Narrowing the pay gap As part of its study of 75 local organizations, WBJ examined the total compensation of 233 Central Massachusetts executives and found male executives made an average of $1.3 million, while women made about $573,000. This Central Mass. pay gap was driv- en largely by men holding the over- whelming majority of the higher-pay- ing positions at the higher-paying orga- nizations, and not by men and women in similar roles being paid unevenly. On July 1, Massachusetts will become the first state to prohibit employers from requesting salary his- tories from potential hirees, a law aimed at curbing the gender pay gap. This Equal Pay Law, approved by the state legislature in 2016, bars employers from asking job candidats about their pay history, in an attempt to cut down the pay gap. State Sen. Pat Jehlen, the Cambridge Democrat who filed the bill, said she first tried similar legislation in 1999, but never had enough support from other legislators and faced a pushback from industry groups. "People have told us it has made a difference in the past, that it's affected their pay," Jehlen said. Starting this month, the Massachusetts treasurer's office will hold salary negoti- ation training programs for women at each of the state's 15 community colleges, a first-of-its-kind program meant to help women over- come wage inequality. "This is a family issue. It's an economic issue," Goldberg said, adding women who make less are likely to have less saved for retirement, even though they typically live longer than men. Cultural changes The national #MeToo started after allegations of rampant sexual harass- ment by powerful men in Hollywood, Washington, D.C. and elsewhere has exposed cultural problems created by male-only company leadership and called for business leaders to be held more accountable. Tim Van Dyck, an employment attor- ney for Worcester law firm Bowditch & Dewey, has advised clients to include clauses in executives' employment con- tracts saying sexual harassment or retaliation are for-cause causes for ter- mination; to use claw-back clauses for I L L U S T R A T I O N / L A U R A M A R O T T A Continued on next page Patricia Flynn The Massachusetts Equal Pay Law, which will go into effect across the state starting July 1, is meant to help erase gender pay gaps like those found by the Worcester Business Journal among 233 area executives at 50 area organizations. What the Equal Pay Law does:

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