Google accused of methodical gender pay gap
What's the story
According to The Guardian, US Department of Labour (DoL) has accused Google of "systematic compensation disparities" between its male and female employees. Regional solicitor of DoL, Herold noted that the investigation is not complete yet, but the findings so far suggest "significant discrimination against women in the most common positions at Google headquarters", which is a violation of federal employment laws.
Official stance
Google refutes claims, calls it baseless
A Google spokesperson replied to DoL's accusation saying it was baseless and devoid of data and methodology. The spokesperson also said, "Every year, we do a comprehensive and robust analysis of pay across genders and we have found no gender pay gap..." The accusation came after Google shared a message on Twitter saying it has "overcome gender pay gap globally" on Equal Pay Day.
In a fix
Google is hiding employee data following accusations?
As a federal contractor, Google is supposed to comply with DoL's inspection of record and information, but it has now refused to hand over the data. Google claimed that the data requested in the lawsuit will reveal confidential information leading to a violation of privacy. DoL lawyers have now asked the court to cancel the company's federal contracts, if it fails to comply.
Equal Pay
Google celebrated "Equal Pay Day" with a message
"Google supports equal pay" followed by "#20PercentCounts" surfaced on Google search engine, commemorating "Equal Pay Day." Google's message on Twitter was linked to a video titled "#20PercentCounts: See what 20% less looks like" that carried a message about unequal pay among male and female employees. Google also tweeted that, "We're proud to share that we have closed the gender pay gap globally..."
Revoked rule
Trump revokes Obama's equal pay protection, faces criticism
The Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces orders were formulated by Obama in 2014 to prevent inequality and instability in the American workplaces, but they were revoked in an executive order signed by Trump on 27th March. It means federal contractors do not need to provide employees with a step-by-step "wage statement" anymore, which experts feel would lead to more discrepancies.
More disparities
Women in Silicon Valley fare no better
According to data released by Hired, a job recruiting start-up, the women in the Silicon Valley are paid 3% less wage for the same designations as men. Further, it is estimated that 69% of men receive higher salary offers than women for the same job title. Microsoft's women employees in the US earn 99.8 cents compared to men's $1 at the same designation.
Pay Gap
India at 87 on gender pay gap among 144 countries
A 2016 report by World Economic Forum found women in India are being paid 1/3rd of men in the corporate sector. Women also faced unequal representation of being only 1/4th of the labour force while they actually account for half of India's population. In the report, India ranked 87 on gender pay gap list, out of the 144 participating countries.
Do you know?
Bridging gaping anomalies
Women are estimated to work 44 extra days in order to reach the pay scale received by men. Adult women aged 25-34 account for comparatively less gap with just 90 cents against the $1 earned by men.