The consequence of a gender pay gap

Newsflash: ‘Bank Behind 'Fearless Girl' Statute Fined $5M For Underpaying Women And Minorities’.

The investment sector has recently felt the heat of the gender pay gap results and over the pond-the ‘fearless girl ‘facing the ‘charging bull’ is a wonderful juxtaposition of imagery, reminiscent of David and Goliath or even St George and the dragon. If you saw this you might be forgiven for considering the asset management division of State Street who sponsored the figure is a place that promotes gender diversity.

However, the Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP) fined the bank $5 million for paying white men more than women and minorities in similar positions.

The question: Is this called irony or an unfortunately ugly coincidence?

The settlement also alleged that State Street had paid black vice presidents less than their white counterparts.

OFCCP performed a regression analysis on a 2012 audit that showed a "statistically significant disparity in compensation" even when "legitimate factors affecting pay were taken into account."

State Street in a statement to Bloomberg said it is committed to equal pay practices and evaluates on an ongoing basis ,  internal processes to be sure their compensation, hiring and promotions programmes are non discriminatory.

The irony is that the firm had started an initiative to increase the representation of women on the corporate boards of the thousands of companies in which it invests.

It just goes to demonstrate that rhetoric and reality really do need to align. Maybe it would serve the sector well to undertake a BAME pay gap analysis ahead of being asked to do so?

And it also highlights that firm’s who claim to be championing D&I with policies to match, need to also work hard on following through in all aspects.  As with most things, firms will make mistakes and it is important things can be learned from same.