Google Underpays More Men Than Women?
On behalf of Fausone Bohn, LLP on Wednesday, March 27, 2019.
CNBC reported that a recent internal study at Google indicated that the company is underpaying at least one category of men when compared with women performing similar work.
Google’s study found that a group of male software engineers “received less discretionary funds than women.” This only looked at the company’s discretionary spending and did not analyze other pay equity factors.
The Equal Pay Act of 1963 prohibits sex-based wage discrimination between men and women in the same organization working under similar conditions. However, not all pay disparity is discriminatory or improper. Pay differentials between men and women are ok if the differences are based on (1) a seniority system, (2) a merit system, (3) a quality or quantity of production system, or (4) any other non-sex factor.
Google’s internal studies, along with a full spectrum of pay-equity factors, will continue to be in the spotlight as Google defends itself in ongoing litigation against a federal lawsuit in California, which alleges sex-based discrimination and pay disparity against Google’s female employees.