Gap Inc.
November 27, 2015
Though millions more women than ever before are entering the workforce, their paychecks likely didn't match those of their male counterparts. And it doesn't seem to be getting better any time soon — a recent study suggested that the gender pay gap is so slow-moving, in fact, that it will take 118 years for women to reach equity.
This disparity is, in part, why the California government passed the Fair Pay Act into law, which requires employers to prove that any pay gap between workers is due to skills and experience — not gender.
The recent law has put a spotlight on companies that are leading the charge on equal pay, including Gap Inc., which has been recognized in the Los Angeles Times for its tradition of equal pay for equal work.
The company — founded in 1969 by Doris Fisher and her husband, Don, with equal investment — crunched the numbers in 2014 with an auditor, Exponential Talent. They found that across the board, women and men were paid equally for equal work — at a company where 74 percent of the employee population is women.
"Obviously we think that paying women and men equally for equal work is the right thing to do," said Dan Henkle, Gap Inc. SVP of Global Sustainability and Gap Foundation President. "But we also think it's a smart business decision."
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