After years of negotiations with the U.S. Department of Labor, Texaco Inc. has agreed to pay $3.1 million in a package designed to ensure pay equity for its women employees, who were found to be systematically underpaid as compared to men working in the same or comparable positions.
Under the agreement, Texaco has agreed to monitor the salaries of its work force each year and to take steps to expand opportunities for women, especially those seeking upper level management positions. Texaco also agreed to give the Dept. of Labor a report on the company’s progress on these initiatives within 45 days.
In 1995, the Dept. of Labor’s Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs began investigating the employment practices of companies that conduct business with the federal government to ensure that they were treating women and minority employees fairly. Labor Dept. Secretary Alexis Herman said that the Dept.’s investigation found that mid-level women employees of Texaco were “underpaid as a matter of course for years.”
One hundred eighty-six women employed between 1993 and 1996 will share $2.2 million in back pay, in amounts ranging from $1,500 to $51,000. Eight-hundred sixteen thousand dollars has been allocated for salary increases for women, and $84,000 will be set aside to correct future charges of pay inequity.