Organization: Alphabet Inc.

Year: 2018

Whereas:

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 of that of their male counterparts. This 10,470 dollar disparity can equal nearly half a million dollars over a career. The gap for African American and Latina women is 60 percent and 55 percent. At the current rate, women will not reach pay parity until 2059. The gender pay gap is present across society and no industries are immune. While Google reports women make 99.7 percent of that of their male counterparts after statistical controls, Payscale reports a 15.2 percent mean pay gap at Google, and employee leaked data shows salary gaps in 5 out of 6 levels. Glassdoor finds an unexplained 5.9 percent gender pay gap in the technology industry after statistical controls, noting many tech jobs top the list for largest gender pay gaps. Robeco Sam finds a 10 percent pay gap for managers at software companies and a lower retention rate for female managers than male managers. At Google, approximately 31 percent of our Company's employees are women, and women account for 25 percent of our firm's leadership. Mercer finds actively managing pay equity is associated with higher current female representation at the professional through executive levels and a faster trajectory to improved representation. Research from Morgan Stanley, McKinsey, and Robeco Sam suggests more gender diverse leadership leads to superior stock price 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. While there is a compelling business case to manage gender pay equity, addressing related public policy risk is of particular import to United States companies. Google has already faced a Department of Labor investigation regarding pay inequity. The Paycheck Fairness Act pending before Senate punishes employers for retaliating against workers who share wage information, puts the justification burden on employers as to why someone is paid less and allows workers to sue for punitive damages of wage discrimination. California, Massachusetts, New York, and Maryland have passed some of the strongest equal pay legislation to date. The Congressional Joint Economic Committee reports 40 percent of the wage gap may be attributed to discrimination. S&P 500 and technology peers including Intel, Apple, Expedia, Adobe, Amazon, Microsoft, and eBay have publically reported and committed to gender pay equity.

Resolved:

RESOLVED: Shareholders request Alphabet Google prepare a report on the risks to the company associated with emerging public policies on the gender pay gap, including associated reputational, competitive, and operational risks, and risks related to recruiting and retaining female talent. The report should be prepared at reasonable cost, omitting proprietary information, litigation strategy and legal compliance information. The gender pay gap is defined as the difference between male and female median earnings expressed as a percentage of male earnings (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development).