The United States Department of Labor pointed out to LinkedIn systemic pay discrimination against its female employees, for which the company must pay $1.8 million after reaching a settlement agreement with the plaintiffs. That amount, which includes interest, is what at least 686 workers failed to receive for two years.
That is not the only country where the most important social network in job search, recruitment and contact in the professional and business field pays women less than men. In the United Kingdom, according to information from your government, the wage gap is 16.5% to the detriment of female workers.
According to a statement from the Department of Laboreither released late last week, after a routine compliance review “found that, from March 1, 2015 to March 1, 2017, LinkedIn did not comply with Executive Order 11246.” This law, on equal opportunities in employment, prohibits the Discrimination in the work area based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or national origin.
The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP), of the US agency, indicated that “the employer did not provide the same salary to the affected workers” in positions of engineering and marketing in the LinkedIn offices in San Francisco, and engineering and products in Sunnyvale, both cities in California.
Last week the social network fulfilled 19 years of life. It was launched in May 2003 and in June 2016 Microsoft bought it for $26.2 billion. Just in March of this year, the company opened offices in Mexico with a workforce of just over 30 people.
In England too
Although it accepted the settlement agreement with the United States labor authorities, the company denied the accusations of wage inequality. “LinkedIn pays and has paid its employees fairly and equitably when comparing similar jobs,” he responded in a statement.
According to the response of the multinational, in 2021 it carried out an analysis of equal pay. “We found that globally, for every dollar men earn, our female employees earn $0.999. In the United States, our employees of color earn $1 for every dollar our white employees earn.”
However, according to Gender Pay Gap Report 2020/21 from the UK government, “in this organisation, women earn 84 pence for every pound sterling that men earn when compared to the average hourly wage”, i.e. they earn 16.5% less per hour than their peers.
In 2017, the UK mandated that all companies with a workforce of more than 250 people must report how much men are paid and how much women are paid. The data is disclosed through the government portal of the Gender Pay Gap Service with the aim that people compare companies and decide whether to accept a vacancy or not.
The report on LinkedIn in London, England, indicates that “women occupy 50% of the highest paid positions and 69% of the lowest paid.”
Another important gap is in the bonuses, as they receive 56 pence for every pound sterling they pay them. “Their average bonus salary is 44.3% lower than that of men.”
Other remedial measures
“In addition to recovering $1.8 million in back wages and interest for these workers, our agreement will ensure LinkedIn better understands its obligations as a federal contractor and meets them in the future.
The company committed to implementing a staff training program to eradicate discrimination. Likewise, during the following three years, it will evaluate its compensation policies and will analyze “if it is gender neutral and, if not, will make salary adjustments.” Finally, it will continue to report on compliance and the results of those actions.
For its part, LinkedIn noted: “We recognize that the pay equity it requires ongoing attention and investment.” And it defended itself by saying it uses competitive, local, and role-based market data to develop pay ranges.
He said that every year they review the salaries of your staff compared to job ranks and peers. If necessary, “we make the necessary adjustments. We regularly review and evaluate our pay practices to ensure our employees are fairly compensated.”