LinkedIn — the social media platform designed for professionals to increase their business clout, network, share knowledge, and find career resources — has been hit with a $1.8 million fine.
The reason? LinkedIn has a history of underpaying women who work at the company, and it’s time to pay up. It’s definitely not a good look for a company known as a fair employment resource.
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The fine stems from a complaint with the U.S. Department of Labor.
In a release, the Department of Labor (DOL) says that LinkedIn underpaid some 686 women who worked at the company’s California offices between 2015 and 2017.
The $1.8 million figure equates to back wages plus interest for the affected women.
LinkedIn doesn’t have to admit to doing anything wrong.
Because the final fine is paid in the form of a conciliation agreement , LinkedIn does not have to acknowledge fault. It does, however, have to analyze how it pays its workers and ensure that women are paid fairly.
Where did LinkedIn mess up?
The DOL reviewed pay records, finding that women were regularly paid less at LinkedIn’s offices in San Francisco and Sunnyvale, California. This is in violation of executive order 11246, which ensures equal pay to employees, regardless of their gender, race, or national origin.
LinkedIn officially doesn’t like it.
Although the company willingly paid the settlement, the company said in a release that it does “not agree with the government’s claims; LinkedIn pays and has paid its employees fairly and equitably when comparing similar work.”
The damage control has already begun.
Last year, while this issue was still pending, LinkedIn said they’ve been reviewing employee pay “with a lens focused on internal equity … when we find issues, we take action and make adjustments” since 2015.
LinkedIn’s own report kind of confirms the finding.
In a 2021 diversity report , LinkedIn said its global workforce is about 54% male and 45% female. The report went on to say that for every $1 LinkedIn’s male employees make, female employees make $0.999. This might be very close, but it isn’t equal.
LinkedIn faces a common problem in tech.
While 45% of LinkedIn’s employees are women, the tech staff specifically is nearly three-quarters male. Many companies face this issue, as tech jobs — and the STEM field in general — skews towards men.
We’ll see what LinkedIn does next.
With this increased scrutiny and a company-wide pledge to change things up, we’ll likely see some incremental changes at LinkedIn. Let us know what you think of this story — and share you stories of discrimination in the workplace — in the comments section.
