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Employment networking site operator LinkedInhas reached a conciliation agreement with the US Department of Labor, in order to resolve allegations of gender-based pay disparities in its San Francisco and California locations.
In a routine compliance evaluation, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Program (OFCCP) found that from 1 March 2015 to 1 March 2017, LinkedIn failed to provide equal pay to affected female workers in its engineering and marketing departments in San Francisco, and its engineering and product departments in Sunnyvale, California.
LinkedIn has greed to pay $1.8m in back wages to the 686 affected female employees, as well as conducting staff training to ensure future compliance, and commencing a three-year evaluation of whether compensation is gender-neutral, making salary adjustments if not. The organisation also agreed to revise its compensation policies and submit to monitoring and reporting to ensure ongoing compliance.
LinkedIn reported that while it had agreed to settle the matter, it did not agree with the OFCCP’s claims.
A statement from the business said: “LinkedIn pays and has paid its employees fairly and equitably when comparing similar work.
“In 2021 we conducted an equal pay analysis and found that globally, for every $1.00 earned by men, our female employees earn $0.999. In the US, our employees of colour earn $1.00 for every $1.00 earned by our white employees.
“We recognise that pay equity requires continuous attention and investment.
“We use local and function-based competitive market data to develop pay ranges and guidance to ensure fair and consistent pay across different groups within the same jobs, levels, and regions.
“As part of our annual review cycles, we review our employees’ pay compared to the ranges and to their peers, and we make adjustments as appropriate. We regularly review and evaluate our pay practices to ensure our employees are being compensated fairly.”
Jane Suhr, regional director of the OFCCP in San Francisco, added: “Our agreement with LinkedIn resolves alleged pay discrimination that denied 686 female workers at the company’s San Francisco and Sunnyvale locations their full wages.
“In addition to recovering $1.8 million in back wages and interest for these workers, our agreement will ensure that LinkedIn better understands its obligations as a federal contractor and complies in the future.”