Google confident there is "no gender pay gap" at its company

Gender pay inequality is a big topic currently and Google has stepped up to outline why it believes it doesn’t exist at its company. In fact, Google has even created a methodology specifically to put this idea to the test, and has made it available to other businesses.

Google discussed this in a blog post earlier today as a response to the recent allegations from the Contract Compliance Programs at the U.S. Department of Labor (OFCCP) that it isn’t compensating women fairly. Google said it was “taken aback by this assertion,” as it “conducts rigorous, annual analyses” to ensure its pay practices reflect its stance on equality.

Each year, Google suggests an amount of compensation (salary, bonus and equity) for an employee based on their role, job level, location, and performance. This suggested compensation isn’t tied to gender, Google says — the analysts who calculate it do not have access to employee gender data.

“Our pay equity model then looks at employees in the same job categories, and analyzes their compensation to confirm that the adjusted amount shows no statistically significant differences between men’s and women’s compensation,” Google says.

This process is said to provide a confidence level of more than 95 percent, which Google notes is the same standard used in medical testing. “Our analysis gives us confidence that there is no gender pay gap at Google,” the company said. Further, Google also revealed that it has now expanded its analysis to cover race in the US too.

“We hope to work with the OFCCP to resolve this issue, and to help in its mission to improve equal pay across federal contractors,” Google said in the blog post.

What are your thoughts on the current controversy? Let us know in the comments.