WHEREAS: The World Economic Forum estimates the gender pay gap costs the economy 1.2 trillion dollars annually. The median income for women working full time in the United States is 80 percent that of men. This disparity can equal half a million dollars over a career. Intersecting race, the gap for African American and Latina women is 60 percent and 55 percent. At the current rate, women overall will not reach pay equity until 2059, African American women until 2130, and Latina women until 2224.

Research suggests diverse leadership leads to superior stock performance and return on equity. McKinsey states, “the business case for the advancement and promotion of women is compelling.” Best practices include “tracking and eliminating gender pay gaps.”

Women account for 31.6 percent of Google’s workforce, but 26.1 percent of leadership. Actively managing pay equity “is associated with higher current female representation at the professional through executive levels and a faster trajectory to improved representation.”

Assessing if a company has pay gaps requires analyzing both equal pay and equal opportunity. This is done using adjusted and unadjusted (median) pay data. The objective of this proposal—median pay gap disclosure—addresses the structural bias affecting the jobs women and minorities hold, when white men hold most higher paying jobs. It is the key metric used by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, World Economic Forum, and United States Department of Labor.

United States companies have begun reporting statistically adjusted equal pay numbers, assessing the pay of men and women, minorities and non-minorities, performing similar jobs, but ignore unadjusted median gaps. Google reports that for 91 percent of Googlers there are 0 statistically significant pay differences across gender and race on an equal pay basis. Yet, that adjusted number is only half the story, failing to consider how discrimination affects opportunity.

The United Kingdom mandates disclosure of median gender pay gaps. Google reported a 20 percent median base pay gap and a 30 percent bonus gap in the United Kingdom, but has not published its global median pay gap.

Public policy risk is of concern. The Paycheck Fairness Act pends before the United States Congress. California, Massachusetts, New York, and Maryland have strengthened pay legislation. The Congressional Joint Economic Committee reports 40 percent of the wage gap may be attributed to discrimination.

RESOLVED: Shareholders request Alphabet/Google report on the company’s global median gender/racial pay gap, including associated policy, reputational, competitive, and operational risks, and risks related to recruiting and retaining diverse talent. The report should be prepared at reasonable cost, omitting proprietary information, litigation strategy and legal compliance information.

The gender pay gap is the difference between male and female median earnings as a percentage of male earnings (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development).

Supporting Statement: A report adequate for investors to assess company strategy and performance would include the percentage global median pay gap between male and female employees across race and ethnicity, including base, bonus and equity compensation.