Study: Wal-Mart Pays Sam More than Samantha

By George Anderson


An analysis of Wal-Mart’s payroll demonstrates the company pays men more than women for doing similar jobs. The payroll data obtained by the Impact Fund, an Oakland, CA-based nonprofit legal organization, is part of the discovery in a federal lawsuit alleging discrimination at the world’s largest retailer, says The Los Angeles Times.


The study alleges that men earn 37 cents more an hour than women among non-salaried associates. Male management trainees earn an average of $23, 175 a year compared with $22,371. Male senior vice presidents make $419, 435 a year on average while their female counterparts earn $279,772.


Brad Seligman, executive director, Impact Fund, says the study demonstrates, “At every level, men get paid more than women, and it does not appear to be explained by anything objective like seniority or anything else that we can identify. The only difference is gender.”


The compensation study did not compare Wal-Mart’s salary structure with other retailers. The analysis was based on “more than 1 million pages of documents, including depositions of Wal-Mart executives, internal corporate memos, government-reported employment demographics and payroll data.”


Wal-Mart denies discrimination in its hiring and/or compensation practices.


Moderator’s Comment: What is your reaction to this
story? Does it have implications beyond Wal-Mart? [George
Anderson – Moderator
]

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