External Equity and the Free Market Myth

Abstract

This article is a case study of the pay system for registered nurses in Los Angeles County. It provides an example of employer power in setting wages for female dominated occupations. A benchmark job description circulated to 81 percent of all acute hospitals in the Hospital Council of Southern California is the basis for obtaining current salary information from major employers. The detailed wage summary enables employers to moderate competition and delay upward pay adjustments. Recommendations address the role of public personnel in overcoming the recurrent shortage of nurses. Reforms change the pay system rather than assume that individual nurses will change an occupation that has modest educational requirements, low unemployment, accommodates easily to outside interests, and provides high intrinsic job satisfaction.