Equality: the state of being equal, especially in status, rights, and opportunities. Equality here in the United States has been and still is a very respectable thing in every aspect of the word. The Equal Pay Act requires that men and women be given equal pay for equal work in the same establishment. The jobs need not be identical, but they must be substantially equal. It is job content, not job titles, that determines whether jobs are substantially equal. (U.S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission). This Act has brought a lot of companies to have managed their pay correctly, it has helped with the distribution of goods through the company comparing the jobs and amount of work needing by each. This is measured by skill; ‘measured by factors such as experience, ability, and training required for the job,’ effort; ‘measured by the amount of physical or metal exertion needed to perform the job,’ responsibility; ‘measured by the degree of accountability required in performing the job,’ working conditions; ‘this encompasses two factors (1) physical surroundings (2) hazards,’ and establishment; ‘the prohibition against compensation discrimination under the EPA applies only to jobs within the establishment.’ (U.S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission).
There are some exceptions to the rule, Hospitality and Management by definition is a service industry, it is to create a comfortable setting and satisfying guests. Having this in mind, most people underestimate the work load that this industry brings. From tourism to event planning to hotel managing, there branches of hospitality are very broad yet very specific, there are a lot of positions within each and every one of those branches, not counting the different roles in each one the those. Because of the different positions being offered there are variants as to how they are paid. Like in most companies, they are set from long ago and it all depends of the different factors that corporate agrees on. The inequality of payment comes in place where the same position in a different branch is being offered yet it would be the same amount of work with the difference of path, for example; event managing as a business company gets paid better than the event manager in the hotel industry. Most people feel more comfortable being a n employee in a well known company, or hotel thread rather than working for an entrepreneur with their own even planning company, its safer, on long term. Addressing this matter, the difference in the salary is the source as to where the decision comes from, in a big business like a hotel the decision comes from way up high in the corporate side of the business, as to a small event planning company is the owner who makes such decisions. Some people may think that by being in a smaller company people get paid less just because the income might not be the same as to how it would be in a hotel chain, but in some cases people are wrong. An event coordinator’s salary for a big company “starts at $29,000 a year,” (Pay Scale. Human Capital) that is not including profit sharing, or commission; comparing those numbers to “$45,000 a year starting salary.
Small businesses have the advantage of calling themselves boutiques, they have the advantage of being very specific as to what events they can manage and which ones they stay away from, they don’t have any tourism side which is what makes hotels very hard to host. Also, most of these companies own or have contracts with ballrooms which are bigger and better in some states than a ballroom at a hotel. Even though the hotel ballroom may cost a lot more than a ballroom outside of those, a lot of they money that the hotel is getting is for the hotel itself, not for the personnel, opposed to the rest. This could be a very controversial topic, and a lot of people may have different opinions as to how this is managed. Having experienced first hand by working with an event planner, the background work to just one part is off the rails, the decorations the catering the guests, the people working the party as well as the special guests, if any. Going into one of the branches of Hospitality, event management, it is crucial to have certain amount of people working the event, there has to be at least one person in charge of each station and one in charge of those in charge, without counting the event planner. Not only are these people working for the event planner but they are working for the people in the event, their job is to keep them happy, and yes it might sound like an easy job but it is very difficult to do in such an environment. Being on the field and seeing all the work that’s been done hours before the event, during the event, and after the event is surprising to me, it runs so smoothly from the other sides eyes that one would never think so much work could be put into an event. From this, I got both sides points of view, eye opening.
Being about to reach both sides of the the industry, there is a lot to learn from. And there are some judgments people usually make that could easily be proved wrong. The amount of work these people do should be recognized not only by the people whom they are serving but by their own bosses. In this industry, its more likely to have to start at the bottom to be able to reach to the top, and in some cases even the CEOs of company’s have been growing within the company which makes it a lot easier for them to judge the work load because they have already been through some of the positions who are unfairly paid. Some can argue that the difference between positions could have a slight change is salary, but not the same position in different areas of the industry.
There have been some issues regarding high staff in the industry and that could also cause the shift in money. As a counterargument, high staff could result in less money for those working the event not only because of the role distribution but because of the budget the event is working with. Budget has a very big influence on the hourly rate for the personnel working the event. Not only do they have what the client is paying for to waste on the event itself, but to also pay the staff, which this is sometimes negotiable. The industry is also suffering from high staff turnover rate, which means that the company looses their staff, this is measured by “the number of employees who leave the company within a period of time” divided by ‘the average number of employees in the company within the same period of time.” (F.John Reh). the biggest issue they are juggling with is the choice between the brand new ideas that the new employees bring and the experience and trust as well as knowledge and loyalty as the ‘old’ employees have brought the the company. It could be a very difficult situation to handle just because the choice can either break or make the section which is undergoing the change. This issue is still being handles today and now so more than ever because this industry is one of the largest in the world.
To conclude, there are valid points as to why the salary varies within the industry, yes, but the unfair pay of the same positions is what this is all about. The industry is very big with very different jobs, roles, positions, etc., but the same amount of hard work should be acknowledged from the tourism side of things to the events. As mentioned before, the industry is one to crawl out of the bottom, and every person up above should feel the hard work they have done themselves and give the rest opportunities to make themselves better, because when one does so the company also undergoes greatness and confidence. The employees make a company what they want it to be, good costumer service and hard work can make a company go from ground zero to 100 in no time, with dedication and responsibility. By paying these people fairly gives them motivation to strive for something better, it gives them the strength they to be able to make, what ever company they work, succeed. This is the industry that makes us happy, traveling with nice hotels to stay at , and having events, throwing a ball, or a dance, anything personal or professional, it is the center of enjoying very moment, I think we could make it something to enjoy for all of us, including the employees.