Is a $10,000 pay disparity an illegal difference in salary?
According to a recently filed lawsuit against Apple, training instructor Justina Jong found a coworker’s W-2 on the printer and learned that that male coworker earned almost $10,000 more than she did–even though they did the same job.
Now, for some Silicon Valley jobs, a $10,000 pay disparity would not be an unlawful difference. If one of your employees earns $250,000 and their coworker earns $260,000 for the same job, that 4 percent difference can be easily explained by performance or experience. But, Glassdoor says the average salary for a training instructor at Apple is between $90,000 and $166,000. That $10,000 difference could be highly significant.
Or, again, it could be easily explained. If Jong’s male coworker consistently performed at a higher level or had several years more experience, it could be a justifiable difference.
To keep reading, click here: A $10,000 Pay Disparity Could Cost Apple Millions
One thing I liked about my career in the public sector was the rigid pay transparency. If you so X job with Y years experience, your pay is Z. Yes, it rewarded the poor workers to a point, but you didn’t have pay discrepancies due to race, color or gender.