Are you paying women at your company less than men who are performing the same work?

If so, you may have to fork over millions like Goldman Sachs recently did to settle a class action alleging widespread bias against women in pay and promotions — $215 million to be exact. 

Here are three tips on how to prevent this from happening to you.

Tip Number 1:  

Start conducting pay equity studies now, before a judge orders that you do so, or you have to agree to it as part of a settlement agreement. 

Tip Number 2:  

Close any gender wage gaps you find. Pay less now to avoid paying much more later to both your attorneys who will defend you and the aggrieved women as part of a settlement or a judgment. 

Tip Number 3: 

Don’t use a new hire’s salary history as the basis for setting their pay. This can perpetuate an already existing gender wage gap. Offers should be based strictly on the candidate’s competencies for the role, not on their salary history. 

In fact, New York, New Jersey, and some other states have laws on the books that prohibit using a new employee’s salary history as the basis for setting their pay. And the White House recently proposed regulations that would prohibit managers at federal agencies from doing the same. 

How would an employee know that she’s being paid less than her male counterparts? 

That’s easy if you’re a public employer, as employees’ pay is usually published. But even if you’re a private employer, New York and several other states require that you publish pay ranges in your job ads. 

In addition, all a non-supervisory employee in any state has to do is ask, and their employer must give them this information. In New Jersey, if any employee requests pay information in connection with a potential wage disparity claim, you have to give it to them. 

So, don’t be like Goldman Sachs.  

Close your gender wage gaps before you have to pay millions. Otherwise, you may be forced to close your doors. 

To learn more, watch our video

Do you need help conducting a pay equity study and closing the gender wage gap in your company? Give us a call today at 973.787.8442. 

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