Littler Launches Pay Equity Assessment Tool
Littler, with an employment and labor law practice representing management, has launched the Littler Pay Equity Assessment, which the firm says provides an analysis that assesses litigation risk and points towards solutions.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, women are still paid 80 cents for every dollar paid to men, and the gap is even greater for African American and Hispanic women, Littler says in a release. As concerns about pay inequality continue to intensify – bringing new legal and reputational risks for employers – Littler’s platform provides a means of identifying pay disparities for people performing similar work under similar circumstances and proactively fixing them using tested legal strategies. Organizations can access the results of the assessment in a user-friendly dashboard that provides deep and concise examinations of compensation data in a privileged context.
The release continues:
“Having been at the forefront of every development in labor and employment law for the last 75 years, expanding our data-driven approach to address the complicated and important issue of pay equity was a natural evolution,” said Tom Bender and Jeremy Roth, co-managing directors of Littler, in a joint statement. “Not only does this new resource deepen our data analytics capabilities, it expands our commitment to improving diversity and equality in the workplace. By combining innovative technology with our deep experience counseling employers, we can help clients uncover issues they might not have known about and identify causes and possible solutions.”
The Littler Pay Equity Assessment measures compensation differences between demographic groups, identifies those that are statistically significant, and determines the extent to which these differences reflect legitimate business considerations. In a privileged context, Littler can also assist employers with crucial steps for a defensible audit and create a record of the criteria that drives a company’s compensation system and legitimate distinctions among employees that explain any disparities. This information helps human resources departments respond to questions from employees and creates an evidentiary record in the event of future litigation.
“The plaintiffs’ bar is increasingly targeting employers with class action lawsuits focused on fair pay, and state and local governments continue to adopt and expand pay equity laws,” said Denise Visconti, a shareholder and member of the firm’s Wage & Hour Practice Group, who is leading the Littler Pay Equity Assessment. “Proactively addressing this issue on a state specific basis can help lessen the risk of costly litigation and negative publicity that impacts employee morale and customer relationships. But it’s also the right thing to do and gives companies a competitive advantage by demonstrating their commitment to paying employees fairly.”
