Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site amdahl.UUCP
Path: utzoo!decvax!decwrl!sun!amdahl!muth
From: muth@amdahl.UUCP (John A. Muth)
Newsgroups: net.women
Subject: Re: Job protected maternity leave
Message-ID: <1978@amdahl.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 3-Sep-85 20:50:13 EDT
Article-I.D.: amdahl.1978
Posted: Tue Sep  3 20:50:13 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 4-Sep-85 00:42:16 EDT
References: <2711@sun.uucp> <10225@ucbvax.ARPA> <409@mhuxr.UUCP>
Distribution: na
Organization: Amdahl Corp, Sunnyvale CA
Lines: 22

<>

> Note: The European countries you disparage also have a *far* lower
> per capita wages. By all appearances, workers and employees there have
> an implicit agreement by which workers settle for lower wages, but
> gain greater benefits and paid vacation.
> 
> Marcel Simon

I year ago, I had a conversation with one of our European employees
about the differences in compensation between American and
European employees. He told me that the major reason that the
European employees got better benefits and less base pay than
American employees was because of the tax system in Europe. The
marginal tax rates in Europe are far higher than in the US.
He said that in order for the company to give an employee $1 more
in take-home pay, the employee's gross pay had to go up by $12.
(I'm not sure about that figure, but I remember it was somewhere
in that ballpark.) No implicit agreement nessesary, just simple
economics.
-- 
John A. Muth           ...!{ihnp4,hplabs,sun,nsc}!amdahl!muth