The Supreme Court has ruled employees can't sue their employers over pay discrimination that took place years earlier. And according to Marcia Greenberger, a co-president of the National Women’s Law Center, “The ruling is clearly a very important setback in the ability to eliminate discriminatory pay. It puts people in a terrible bind." (See The New York Times article here.)

Is the ruling a step in the wrong direction?

Name: Sherri Kelly
Job Title: Recreational Therapist
Where: San Diego, CA
Employer: Various - Independent Contractor
Years of Experience: 1
Education: BS, Recreational Management, Utah State University
Salary: Use the PayScale Research Center to find the median salary range for recreational therapist professionals.

Salary Range for Recreational Therapist

For readers who are considering a career as a recreational therapist or who want more info on recreational therapist salaries, this is one interview not to be missed! Recently, recreational therapist Sherri Kelly sat down with us and talked about her career as a recreational therapist, the requirements for starting a career as a recreational therapist, different jobs in recreational therapy (also touched upon at bls.gov), recreational therapist activities and factors that affect the salary range for recreational therapist professionals.

This interview is frank and unflinching about the current outlook for jobs in recreational therapy and recreational therapist salaries. Sherri explains how recreational therapist salaries are being affected by some employers who are hiring less qualified recreational aides. She also discusses other factors that influence the salary range for recreational therapist positions, and gives an insider's view of what it's like to have a career as a recreational therapist.

If you're wondering about a career as a recreational therapist, or want to know more about recreational therapist salaries, this Salary Story may change your life!

Within the U.S. armed forces, married soldiers are paid a higher annual salary than military singles. This salary comparison hasn’t gone unnoticed by military singles who are marrying strangers in order to get a higher salary, according to a recent report by LAWeekly.com. It’s called a “marriage contract” and it works like this: military singles seek strangers to marry, soldier marries stranger (i.e. contract wife), receives extra pay for being married and pays off contract wife with a portion of extra pay.

According to LAWeekly.com, an unmarried private in the Army earns a monthly salary of about $1,350. However, if he gets married, his monthly salary increases to about $1,800. If he is deployed, our married soldier will also receive a “Family Separation Allowance” of $250, or as it’s called in the service, “missing me” pay.

Thanks to these contract arrangements and the military pay chart, married enlisted definitely earn more than military singles. What about a salary comparison in civilian life? Are you likely to earn a higher salary if you’re married?

How does your and your spouse's salary compare? Do a salary comparison with our salary calculator.

Name: W. James Au
Job Title: Reporter (also Metaverse Consultant)
Where: San Francisco, CA
Employer: Various: Advertising revenue for New World Notes, salary position at GigaOM, book deal with HarperCollins, various Second Life consultancy fees (secondlife.com)
Years of Experience: 12
Education: BA, Philosophy - University of Hawaii
Salary: The PayScale median reporters salary (internet and new media) is $56,257

Reporters Salary: How to be a Successful Reporter

If you're interested in learning about online reporters, salary info for reporters, or how to be a successful reporter on the web like W. James Au this Salary Story is a must-read! In this interview, the Bay Area reporter (pictured here with his Second Life avatar) gave us a peek into life as a virtual news reporter. For three years, James had the unique experience of writing Second Life virtual world articles for the popular online community. During our chat, James told us about the advantages of working as a news reporter on the web, factors that affect a reporter's salary, the job of news reporters and the life of a daily reporter embedded in Second Life.

Marketwatch.com recently reported that Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft, appeared in front of Congress, which was weighing the pros and cons of H-1B workers. Gates advocated more H-1B visas to lure foreign workers to the U.S. because these "workers are uniquely talented" and are “taking jobs that pay over $100,000 a year.” According to the New York Times, the Microsoft median annual salary is $82,500 for new H-1B work visa applicants. A Microsoft H-1B work visa holder, after a few years, could earn $100,000/year. This far exceeds the typical salary requirements for H-1B visa holders.

By law, the salary requirements for H-1B visa holders call for their pay to be "equal to 100% of the prevailing wage as established by the Department of Labor, or the actual wage paid by the employer to similar employees." However, $82K-100K is not usually the H-1B salary in IT jobs, according to a study by Ronil Hira, an assistant professor of public policy at the Rochester Institute of Technology. Hira says the median salary is about $50K for new H-1B work visa holders in IT. As mentioned on workinglife.typepad.com, Hira also believes that the real problems go far beyond salary minimums for H-1B visa holders.

How does your salary compare to the salary requirements for H-1B visa holders? Find out with our salary calculator.

An article in today's New York Times examines chief executives' salaries, noting a gap between them and the paychecks of executives directly beneath CEOs.

Congress has approved a hike for the minimum wage--for the first time since 1997.

The Medill School of Journalism is getting a makeover.

The school, part of Northwestern University, is being revamped in response to changes in the media industry, according to Dean John Lavine. The new plan, Lavine recently told Inside Medill News, weaves together three critical elements of media: news/stories, audiences and consumers, and channels of communication.

I had a couple of questions from readers on my post about exempt vs. non-exempt workers:

Anthony asked:

In this post, I'll try to answer these questions.

Does you employer pay you like a trainee or a fully qualified employee? Use our salary survey to find out.

Name: Margaret Soltan
Job Title: College Professor
Where: Washington D.C.
Employer: George Washington University  
Years of Experience: 25
Education: B.A., Northwestern University; M.A. and Ph.D., University of Chicago
Salary: See PayScale's Research Center for median college professor salaries.

College Professor Salaries

For readers who have ever wondered how to become a college professor or asked, "What factors influence college professor salaries?" this Salary Story will prove to be quite an education! Recently, we spoke to Washington D.C. college professor Margaret Soltan about her career steps, advice on how to become a college professor, daily life as a college professor and how some in this field supplement their college professor salaries. Margaret also writes one of the more popular web sites for college professors and the public at margaretsoltan.phenominet.com.

If you're interested in typical salaries for college professors, how to become a college professor, or how to earn the highest college professor salaries, it's time to take your seat and start class!

A recent New York Times story details the debt of Christine and Mark Moellering, a Midwestern couple earning average salaries--she earns $30,000 a year as an administrative assistant, while he makes $36,000 a year as a software applications designer.

In a previous column, I talked about the living wage movement; well, living wage is in the news again. As reported by LATimes.com, a judge recently rescinded a LAX hotels living wage ordinance passed by the L.A. City Council that would have guaranteed hotel workers (near LAX) wages of $9.39 per hour (with health benefits) or $10.64 without wages and benefits. Lawmakers passed a similar living wage ordinance last fall, but rescinded it after business leaders and hotel owners gathered over 50,000 signatures for a referendum, which would have allowed voters to decide the living wage issue.

In his decision, Superior Court Judge David P. Yaffe stated that, when city lawmakers rescinded the original ordinance and replaced it with a new one (very close to the original), they ignored the Los Angeles business community and "violated the constitutional rights of the public." According to LATimes.com, around 50 percent of the 3,500 workers at airport-area hotels earn salaries higher than the living wage. Most of the workers earn $7.25 an hour, the minimum wage of California. Workers say wage and salary adjustments and cost of living increases are not providing a living wage.

How does your salary compare to hotel workers’ wages? Find out with our salary survey.

Paul D. Wolfowitz, president of the World Bank, on Thursday night announced his decision to resign following a weeks-long ethics controversy.

Name: Andrew Christian, CPhT
Job Title: Certified Pharmacy Technician
Where: Washington D.C.
Employer: Target Pharmacy  
Years of Experience: 3
Education: Pharmacy Technician Certification Program, ACT College
Salary: Use PayScale's Research Center to find the Average Salary for a Pharmacy Technician.

Average Salary for a Pharmacy Technician

With rapid growth in the pharmacy industry, the job outlook for pharmacy technician professionals looks promising. In this Salary Story, Andrew Christian told us how he climbed the pharmacy technician career ladder to become a certified pharmacy technician (he blogs about his job at pharmcountry.net). He spoke about pharmacy technician duties, pharmacy technician programs, and how pharmacy technician jobs compare to pharmacist positions.

Andrew also discussed the factors that can affect a pharmacy technician's salary. For instance, he noted that certification usually leads to higher pharmacy technician salary. If you're wondering about the average salary for a pharmacy technician, or which job settings provide the highest pharmacy tech wages, this interview is the right medicine!

UPDATE: See PayScale's infographic on CEO-to-work pay.

CEO compensation articles seem to abound these days. Stockmarketblog.com recently reported that Ray Irani, chairman and chief executive of Occidental Petroleum, received a $400 million dollar CEO compensation package. So how does Irani's $400 million break down? According to a company filing, his annual salary in 2006 was $1.3 million and he got a cash bonus of $1.4 million. Stock, option awards and benefits raised his compensation to $55.6 million. Stock and dividends from a deferred stock program added $93.3 million.

Irani also received $270.2 million from the exercise of options awarded from 1997 to 2006; clearly, this CEO compensation built up over many years. However, this salary and stock compensation report does not top past executive compensation packages. If we survey executive compensation over recent history, we find that in 1998 then-Walt Disney head Michael Eisner received $570 million in CEO compensation. Topping that, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison took home $706 million from stock options in 2001. 

How does your salary compare to CEO compensation? Crunch the numbers with our free salary survey.

While writing the first story in a series on baby boomers and the workforce, I started thinking beyond generational lines. How will the rest of the workforce--especially Generations X and Y--deal with the demographic shifts coming about?

Earlier this month a source mentioned to me that around half of all U.S. workers don't get paid sick days. I did a double-take--how could that be true?

There's money to be made on America's working poor, and some U.S. companies are seizing the chance, according to a new BusinessWeek article.

The article offers an in-depth look at how businesses tap into the weaknesses of the working poor--they want goods and services, but aren't educated about the best way to get them. Several eye-opening vignettes demonstrate the truly dire straits of some working poor.

Romantic relationships in the office: does following your heart risk a career nosedive? The pros and cons of relationships in the workplace have been in the news lately, most recently in the New York Times. Retail giant Wal-Mart says (in a court filing) that there were signs of an affair between two of its former top marketing officials (Julie Roehm and Sean Womack) who were selecting new ad agencies for the chain. Wal-Mart says they accepted outside gifts, used trips for personal time together, and sought jobs with one of the ad agencies, Draft FBC, which they ultimately recommended.

Wal-Mart subsequently fired both of them, and was sued by Julie Roehm for unlawful termination. Wal-Mart countersued and claims that it has e-mail messages - signs of an affair - sent by Roehm and Womack (who are both married to other people). Roehm has denied Wal-Mart’s accusations of an office romance, and says she did not have job discussions with Draft FCB. While this appears to be a case of he said, she said, and Wal-Mart said, it also raises questions about the pros and cons of relationships in the workplace.

Who is the sweetheart in your life, your significant other, or your salary?  Find out with our salary calculator.

Name: Marc Jones
Job Title: Nuclear Medicine Technologist
Where: Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Employer: Medisys Health Group  
Years of Experience: 1
Education: Dalhousie University in Halifax Nova Scotia. Bachelors of Science (Biology), Diploma in Health Sciences (Nuclear Medicine Technology)
Salary: See PayScale's Research Center for the average nuclear medicine technologist salary.

Nuclear Medicine Technologist Salary

For those looking for a cutting edge job in the medical field (that doesn’t require medical school), this Salary Story with nuclear medicine technologist Marc Jones is a must-read. He gave us insight into careers in nuclear medicine technology, the average nuclear medicine technologist salary, schools for nuclear medicine technologists, and where to look for jobs in nuclear medicine technology. Plus, Marc explained some of the academic and training requirements for jobs in nuclear medicine technology. You can also get his take on careers in nuclear medicine technology at his blog: marcjones.wordpress.com.

In this interview, Marc also discussed the responsibilities and expectations of different jobs in nuclear medicine technology, factors that affect a nuclear medicine technologist salary, and the current outlook for careers in nuclear medicine technology. According to Marc, nuclear medicine technology is a challenging career that involves life-long learning. If you're considering jobs in nuclear medicine technology, or want more info on the typical nuclear medicine technologist salary, keep reading!