Google has agreed to pay $2.5 million (£1.8m) to more than 5,500 underpaid female software engineers and overlooked Asian job applicants.
The Silicon Valley giant announced the settlement to resolve the issue with the US Department of Labour in California and Washington state.
Google was accused by the federal government of underpaying its female engineers and of having “hiring rate differences that disadvantaged female and Asian applicants” for its engineering positions.
The alleged disparities took place between 2014 and 2017 at Google offices in Mountain View, California, and Seattle and Kirkland, Washington.
The tech giant will hand over a total of $1,353,052 in back pay and interest to 2,565 of its female engineers.
It will also pay $1,232,000 in back pay and interest to 1,757 female engineering applicants and 1,219 Asian engineering applicants for “engineering positions not hired”.
Google will also set aside $1.25 over five years for any future pay-equity adjustments for its engineers in Mountain View, Seattle, Kirkland and New York, for a total settlement of $3.8 million.
The settlement will hardly be felt by Google, whose parent company Alphabet generates more than $130bn in annual revenue.
In January, Google workers formed the Alphabet Workers Union, which now has more than 800 members, in an effort to structure activism at the company.
“We believe everyone should be paid based upon the work they do, not who they are, and invest heavily to make our hiring and compensation processes fair and unbiased,” said Google in a statement.
“For the past eight years, we have run annual internal pay equity analysis to identify and address any discrepancies.
“We’re pleased to have resolved this matter related to allegations from the 2014-2017 audits and remain committed to diversity and equity and to supporting our people in a way that allows them to do their best work.”
