Fact Sheet: White House Announces New Commitments to the Equal Pay Pledge

“Today we can announce that 28 of America’s leading businesses are committed to closing the gender pay gap. We should encourage more businesses to join them.” -President Barack Obama, United State of Women Summit, June 14, 2016

Today, on Women’s Equality Day, we are announcing new signatories to the White House Equal Pay Pledge. This pledge was launched at the first-ever United State of Women Summit, encouraging companies from across the American economy to take action to advance equal pay. These 29 newly-committed employers bring the total number to more than fifty companies and organizations that collectively employ millions of Americans. The new commitments are from a diverse range of employers, including Apple, CVS, Facebook, Target, and Visa.

Equal Pay has been an Administration priority since President Obama signed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act into law as his first piece of legislation. Policies that ensure fair pay for all Americans and that help businesses to attract the strongest talent can not only narrow the pay gap, but also boost productivity and benefit our economy.

As noted in the President’s Proclamation on Women’s Equality Day, this day commemorates the 1920 certification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, granting women the right to vote. It is also the day that we observe the continued work towards gender equity for all women and girls.

View the additional commitments and statements from signatories below, and learn more about President Obama's record on empowering women and girls.

By signing the Equal Pay Pledge, these employers are:

• Acknowledging the critical role businesses must play in reducing the national pay gap.
• Committing to conducting an annual company-wide gender pay analysis across occupations.
• Reviewing hiring and promotion processes and procedures to reduce unconscious bias and structural barriers.
• Embedding equal pay efforts into broader enterprise-wide equity initiatives.
• Pledging to take these steps as well as identify and promote other best practices that will close the national wage gap to ensure fundamental fairness for all workers.

Companies and organizations interested in signing are encouraged to take the Equal Pay Pledge here.

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WHITE HOUSE EQUAL PAY PLEDGE

The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act was the first piece of legislation President Obama signed into law. Policies that ensure fair pay for all Americans and that help businesses attract the strongest talent can not only narrow the gender pay gap, but also boost productivity and benefit our economy. Yet, the typical woman working full-time all year in the United States only earns 79 percent of what a typical man working full-time all year earns. While the gap has narrowed slightly over the past few years, there is much more work to be done to ensure fair pay for all.

Building on the Administration’s numerous actions to close the national pay gap, the White House challenged businesses to take the Equal Pay Pledge. Several U.S. private sector companies have come together in support of advancing equal pay.

We applaud the growing number of countries that have already made significant progress in closing their gender wage gap. Despite passage of the Equal Pay Act of 1963, which requires equal pay for equal work, the gender pay gap in the United States persists. Women working full-time earn only 79 percent of men’s wages, and we are committed to taking action individually and collectively to reduce that national pay gap.

We believe that businesses must play a critical role in reducing the national pay gap. Towards that end, we commit to conducting an annual company-wide gender pay analysis across occupations; reviewing hiring and promotion processes and procedures to reduce unconscious bias and structural barriers; and embedding equal pay efforts into broader enterprise-wide equity initiatives. We pledge to take these steps as well as identify and promote other best practices that will close the national wage gap to ensure fundamental fairness for all workers.

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We received a very positive response to the pledge and welcome our new signatories, including the employers below.

These signatories put forth their pledges as follows:

A.T. Kearney: A.T. Kearney is passionate about and committed to diversity and inclusion.  We provide our employees with equal opportunities to contribute, develop, and succeed irrespective of gender, race, religion or sexual orientation. Diversity enables us to achieve immediate impact and growing advantage – for our clients, our people and the communities in which we work and live. We believe that equal pay to promote diversity and inclusion is a business imperative.

Our approach to diversity and inclusion has and will continue to evolve with the changing needs of our business and our people. We offer global programs that create an inclusive environment and culture, ensuring all employees feel comfortable bringing their best selves to work each day. We enable our employees to achieve their personal and professional aspirations. A.T. Kearney is proud to collaborate with the White House and enthusiastically adds our name to the Equal Pay Pledge.

Akamai Technologies: Akamai Technologies is pleased to sign the White House Equal Pay Pledge. This pledge aligns with the expectations we have of ourselves to lead with a sense of transparency, while embracing diversity and respect for all employees.

At Akamai, we seek to ensure every employee can work in an environment where they are valued and able to work at their best. We believe in fair and equitable pay for all our employees, and we are committed to monitoring our pay practices regularly and to making adjustments if necessary to deliver on this pledge.

Anheuser-Busch: Anheuser-Busch is proud to sign the Equal Pay Pledge. We value equality throughout all levels of our organization, and believe diversity enriches our workforce. This commitment to inclusivity begins with our mission - to be the best beer company, bringing people together for a better world - and extends to our meritocracy-based compensation practices.

At Anheuser-Busch, we believe in equal pay for equal work. We use a rigorous and gender-blind compensation process that was developed and validated by independent experts. We recognize that there is still much work to do to create a truly equal playing field in the workforce. It is our ambition to lead the change and create more opportunities for women in the beer industry.

Today, six of our 12 U.S. breweries are led by female head brewmasters, and women now represent the majority (51 percent) of our marketing organization. In support of our workforce and their families, this year we introduced a new parental leave policy that offers 100% paid Parental Bonding leave for all parents, on top of paid Maternity Leave for a birth mother.

Apple: Equal work deserves equal pay. This past year, Apple looked at the total compensation for U.S. employees and closed the gaps we found. We’ve achieved pay equity in the United States for similar roles and performance. Women employees at Apple earn one dollar for every dollar male employees earn. We’re now analyzing the salaries, bonuses, and annual stock grants of all our employees worldwide. If a gap exists, we’ll address it. And we’ll continue our work to make sure we maintain pay equity.

Chobani: Since day one, diversity and inclusiveness have been at the core of Chobani. We’re proud to stand with other leading businesses to give one voice to a simple, common sense principle: women deserve equal pay for equal work.

We were founded with the belief that everyone on our team deserves the same chance to achieve their dreams and live up to their full potential. By joining the White House in taking this important pledge, we’re committing to continuously reviewing our practices to ensure that, as we grow, we never stray from our founding principles – and that our hiring, promotion and compensation practices and procedures stick to our deeply-held belief that women deserve equal opportunity.

The Coca-Cola Company: The Coca-Cola Company values and celebrates diversity. This includes a long-standing commitment to equal opportunity that spans our employment practices and development of existing employees. There is overwhelming evidence that achieving equality and empowerment for women has both immediate impacts that benefit them directly and broader ripple effects that are good for society. We have made meaningful strides as a company in our equal opportunity efforts. Still, we recognize there is more we can learn by building upon best practices across the U.S. private sector.  We are pleased, therefore, to join the Equal Pay Pledge and work with the Administration and other partners towards reducing the national gender pay gap.

CVS Health: At CVS Health, we are committed to fulfilling our company’s purpose of helping people on their path to better health by living our values, including integrity, accountability, caring, collaboration and innovation.

By living our values, we embrace a dedication to paying our colleagues equitably regardless of their gender. We take a purposeful and systematic approach to evaluate compensation to ensure we are accountable to our pay equity commitment.

We actively work to seek out, listen to and leverage the voices of our diverse colleagues, customers, clients, and communities. For our company, diversity and innovation go hand in hand and we strive to model best practices to promote and develop diverse talent.  Our CEO serves as the executive sponsor of CVS Health’s Women’s Success Network, one of our largest Colleague Resource Groups.  And we have been recognized as a best practice company by the 20/20 Women on Boards Initiative. 

We value the contributions of all of our colleagues and we are proud to join other leading employers in signing this pledge and making a commitment to this important issue.

Delta Air Lines: At Delta Air Lines, the very nature of our business is bringing people together. We rely on a worldwide family of Delta Air Lines people 80,000 strong to care for our customers and ensure they get where they’re going promptly and safely, regardless of the origin or destination. Our success is built on diversity, where our differences make us stronger and all people are welcomed, supported and – above all – treated equally.

We’re proud to join the White House in signing the Equal Pay Pledge and voicing our commitment to fairness and diversity in the workplace, which is reflective of our long-standing commitment of pay equality among all Delta Air Lines employees.

Dropbox: Dropbox is honored to sign the White House Equal Pay Pledge and join the other companies who have taken a stand on this issue. Gender equality and equal pay are priorities for us, and they are part of our deep commitment to creating an equitable workplace that includes and supports employees of every background and identity. Our products are used around the globe by millions of people from all cultures and backgrounds, and our team needs to reflect the world we’re building for.

At Dropbox we review all of our hiring and HR processes for potential bias, including a gender impact analysis at every compensation and promotion cycle. Additionally, we've built inclusive leadership into our framework for managers, and all of our senior leadership and nearly all of our employees have participated in unconscious bias training.

While we are proud of our track record of compensating our employees fairly and equitably — from our most junior team members to our senior leaders — we know there is more work to be done in order to create a world in which both men and women have the same opportunities and choices.

Dunkin’ Brands: Dunkin' Brands is committed to gender pay equity, and we are honored to join the White House in the Equal Pay Pledge.  At Dunkin' Brands we regularly review our pay practices to ensure pay equity and strongly believe that a corporate culture in which each person is valued, respected and earns equal pay for equal work, delivers better business results.

EY: EY is committed to pay equity and a culture of inclusion. Equity in opportunities, advancement, and compensation is a business imperative, and we work hard to promote fair practices for all of our women and men. EY’s leadership is actively engaged in fostering gender equality at EY and in the marketplace.

Facebook: At Facebook we value those who bring varying perspectives, for many reasons including background, community, culture, race, ethnicity - and gender. We call this cognitive diversity, and we want more of it. It propels our mission: to give people the power to share and make the world more open and connected.

Facebook is a longtime supporter of equal pay. We regularly review our compensation practices to ensure pay equity, and have done so for many years. We complete thorough statistical analyses to compare the compensation of men and women performing similar work. As such, we are proud to share that at Facebook, men and women earn the same.  We encourage efforts to establish methods to close the wage gaps around the world.

General Motors: General Motors is pleased to sign The White House Equal Pay Pledge. We believe strongly in gender equity, and we are dedicated to having a diverse and welcoming workplace that values the contributions of all employees.

We know that a diverse workforce promotes fresh, innovative thinking that translates into both a competitive advantage for GM and winning products for our customers. To this end, among other efforts, GM has employee resource groups, whose mission is to attract, engage, develop and retain a diverse mix of talented employees to positively affect GM’s performance, through networking and professional development opportunities.

GM is supporting this pledge because it reflects our shared belief that employees’ gender should not factor into compensation decisions. We believe that fair and equitable pay should be an essential element of any successful business model and are proud to stand with other companies that share this same value.

The Hartford: At The Hartford, gender equality is a top business priority.  The Hartford prides itself on its diverse workforce and inclusive culture, and its commitment to equality for ALL employees. The Hartford, recently named as one of twenty-six firms on Bloomberg Financial Services Gender-Equality Index for demonstrating strong commitment to gender equality, is proud to take the next step in signing the White House’s Equal Pay Pledge.  

The Hershey Company: At The Hershey Company, diversity and inclusion is a commitment that is embedded in who we are.  It’s about advancing our vision, our culture, and our environment, so everyone can bring a meaningful contribution.  As part of this commitment, we believe that discrimination has no place in our workforce, which is why we have a no-tolerance policy.

Our policy is to extend opportunities and terms and conditions of employment to qualified applicants and employees on an equal basis regardless of an individual’s race, color, gender, age, national origin, religion, citizenship status, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity, transgender status, physical or mental disability, protected veteran status, genetic information, pregnancy, or any other categories protected by applicable law.  For wages, this includes equal pay for equal work.

Hilton: At Hilton, we are proud of our long history of supporting a diverse and inclusive workplace. Our goal is clear - we strive for an inclusive work environment that allows all of our Team Members to be comfortable bringing their entire selves to work every day.   Simply put, our culture is a reflection of the backgrounds, passions and perspectives of all of our Team Members around the world. To be the most hospitable company in the world, we must also represent the many different cultures, backgrounds and viewpoints of our guests, which includes supporting and empowering women at every level of our organization.  In fact, women make up more than 50 percent of our global workforce.

In this regard, we are honored to join the White House in signing the Equal Pay Pledge.  We are committed to advancing our efforts in ensuring equity not only in our pay practices, but also across recruitment, learning and development, benefits, and our overall Team Member value proposition. In doing so, we continue to deliver on our promise of a great environment, great careers and great rewards for all of our Team Members.

Supporting women in the workplace is part of who we are. In fact, we provide a wide-range of opportunities for women such as our Women’s Team Member Resource Group, Women’s Executive Networking Program, and Women in Leadership Excellence Program in partnership with the University of Virginia. Most recently, we were honored to be selected by DiversityInc as one of the Top 50 Companies for Diversity, the Human Rights Campaign rated us at 100 percent on their Corporate Equality Index, and Professional Woman’s Magazine named us as a Top Diversity Employer of Women. We were also chosen by the Pax Ellevate Global Women's Index Fund for being one of the highest-rated companies in the world for advancing women leadership. Additionally, we are committed to offering family-focused benefits across our hotels and offices, including our industry-leading maternity leave policy, flexible working environments, 10-day advanced scheduling, paid time off, and educational assistance.

IBM: In 1935, IBM founder Thomas J. Watson Sr. said, "Men and women will do the same kind of work for equal pay. They will have the same treatment, the same responsibilities and the same opportunities for advancement."

IBM established a broad equal opportunity policy more than a decade before the Civil Rights Act, and we have maintained and continually improved a formal pay analysis and adjustment process for women and minority employees for 40 years.

And now, in IBM’s second century as a company, we remain firmly dedicated to providing fair pay based on job responsibilities and performance, which is critical to meeting today’s evolving business and technology challenges. IBM is proud to sign the White House’s Equal Pay pledge as another step in our long history of fostering fairness, diversity and inclusion in the workplace.

IKEA US: IKEA is a values-driven company, and our approach to diversity and inclusion is grounded in our values. We believe in people and see each individual as a talent. We treat each other fairly and provide our co-workers with equal opportunities, regardless of their gender identity, age, sexual orientation, physical ability, ethnicity, race, nationality, or any other dimension of their identity.

We know that each individual adds value to the team, and we are committed to creating an inclusive work environment that encourages our diverse and competent co-workers to be themselves, to apply their unique perspectives at work, and to assume responsibility for our growth. In addition to being the right thing to do, creating this environment also improves our business results and strengthens our competitiveness.

Several years ago, IKEA launched a proactive global effort to increase the diversity of our workforce at all levels. As part of this, we took – and will continue to take – a hard look at all areas of gender equality, including workforce representation, hiring, career development, succession planning, promotion rates, and pay equity. Over the coming years, we will maintain a comprehensive approach to diversity and inclusion across the entire organization, including pay equality.

We are proud to take the Equal Pay Pledge to ensure fairness for all our co-workers, and to join the many companies contributing to a better society by leading on this issue.

Intel: Signing the Equal Pay Pledge for Intel is a natural extension of our longstanding commitment to paying our employees fairly and equitably at all levels of the organization. We hold ourselves accountable with data by conducting an annual, comprehensive audit of pay in the U.S. to analyze our employees' pay by gender and ethnicity. In 2015 we conducted a comprehensive compensation analysis examining gender pay parity for U.S. employees across job types and levels. The report showed a net result of 100% pay parity, and we're incredibly proud of this result. Our commitment to diversity comes from our conviction that reaching a critical mass of women and underrepresented minorities in our industry brings ample benefits to many.

The Libra Group: The Libra Group heartily supports the Equal Pay Pledge. As an employer we are age, sex, orientation, race and religion blind. Yet we are acutely aware that the wage gap is very often a symptom of a broader opportunity gap that may affect some population groups more than others, notably women. So wage parity begins with opportunity parity, which is why so many of our group’s social responsibility programs focus on groups who are experiencing disproportionate lack of educational and career opportunity. In many cases this means providing work experience, or equipping under-served communities with the advice, mentoring, training and support they need to acquire leadership skills or get a new business off the ground.

For the fortunate few we are able to break the cycle of disadvantage and give a helping hand – but there is still more to be done. In our experience tomorrow’s leaders emerge from the most unlikely places. Thus we believe that narrowing the pay gap depends on two things: a culture of equal opportunity and equal treatment within the work environment, combined with selective positive action and intervention to lift people out of endemic disadvantage and give them the chance they deserve.

LinkedIn: LinkedIn's vision is to create economic opportunity for every member of the global workforce. We are committed to ensuring all of our employees have equal opportunities to succeed and be recognized for their accomplishments.

At the core of economic opportunity is equal pay for equal work. We believe it is basic good business to ensure this is true within your own organization, and we regularly review and evaluate our pay practices to ensure our employees are compensated fairly.

In addition, our ongoing focus on improving the gender diversity of our employee base continues to have meaningful impact with gains in women's representation in both technical and leadership roles over the last several years. The Women’s Initiative (WIN) within our Global Sales team and the Women in Technology initiative (WIT) within our Engineering and Product organizations have built a framework to successfully hire, retain, develop and advance women.

We are committed to continuing to create diverse teams in an inclusive work environment where every person feels they truly belong and are paid fairly.

MailChimp: Equal pay is an essential part of MailChimp’s culture of inclusion, and we’re grateful for the opportunity to sign the White House Equal Pay Pledge. We conduct annual pay and benefits analyses, in addition to focusing on fair hiring and interviewing practices, generous family leave policies, flexible work schedules, employee-led resource groups, leadership development opportunities for employees at every level, and meaningful corporate citizenship programs.

It is unacceptable that women working full-time earn only 79 percent of what men earn, and unacceptable that the gap is even greater for women of color. MailChimp promises to do our part to close that gap. We are committed to empowering all of our employees and helping them succeed both within our organization and out in the world.

Microsoft: Microsoft is proud to join others in the effort to drive greater pay equality among men and women, which is a critical component of social progress.  When women are fully engaged in our workforce and communities, society at large benefits from the great ideas and innovation that flourishes.  Our commitment to equal pay gives us the opportunity to attract and hire from a broader talent pool of the best employees, managers and leaders—while gaining important insights into consumers’ needs. In addition to gender pay equality, we are also committed to ensuring that all employees have equal opportunity.

MuleSoft: MuleSoft has signed the Equal Pay Pledge as a testament to our continued commitment to creating a great place to work for everyone. MuleSoft has a long-standing commitment to equal opportunity, and we believe people should be paid equally for equal work and experience. We conduct an annual audit of our compensation, which we readily use to influence changes in our policies. Ensuring that we all have the same platform for opportunities, growth, and compensation is core to our ethos and success. We’re committed to providing a workplace where everyone is supported and inspired by the opportunity to build a successful company where we can do what we love and thrive.

Nike: Today, we are proud to sign the White House Equal Pay Pledge. At Nike, diversity is about acknowledging and valuing our differences and appreciating that everyone brings unique experiences, perspectives and ideas to the team. Investing in our employees to unleash their potential translates into a pipeline of new ideas, methods, and products that drive the future of sport.

In keeping with our culture and what we stand for as an organization, we remain committed to equitable pay and rewarding performance across all roles, for all Nike team members.

By signing the White House Equal Pay Pledge, we’re adding our voice to a movement that we hope will inspire positive change.

Patagonia: Since they founded Patagonia in a small Tin Shed more than 40 years ago, Yvon and Malinda Chouinard have worked hard to build a culture where women and families thrive. Today, Patagonia continues to value and honor our working women with equal pay and opportunity. We believe women shouldn’t have to make the unnecessary choice between family and career and they can grow a career at the same pace as a family. At Patagonia, thanks to onsite child care, nursing moms are a few feet away from their babies versus miles apart. New moms and dads take paid time off to bond with and care for infants and families can eat breakfast and lunch together daily. We have an equal number of women and men at every level of the company, including among executive positions and the boardroom. Women and men are paid equally for comparable work. All of these things amount to a work environment where 100 percent of women return to work from maternity leave, 100 percent of dads take paid time off from work to bond with their new babies, and the business thrives as a result of the working families we support in our business.

We also believe that there is so much more to be done to reinforce the true drivers of pay equality – such as paid maternity and paternity leave, quality on-site childcare, and a family-supportive work environment – which allow working moms and dads to continue to grow their family, career and income with equal opportunity. Patagonia commits to continuing to build on the progress we’ve made and supporting working families through every avenue possible as we continue to grow our business in line with the values we were founded on.

“Women will never be able to effectively “lean in” without the proper economic, social and community support for the most critical work of all: raising children.”

-Rose Marcario – CEO, Patagonia

Target: At Target, we believe diversity and inclusivity make teams and Target better. We work to create a diverse and inclusive working environment and cultivate an inclusive guest experience, building a better Target for our team members and guests – and a better society for all.

Target is honored to sign the White House Equal Pay Pledge and affirm our commitment to making pay equitable for everyone at Target, including women in the workplace. To achieve our goal of pay equity, we’ve implemented meaningful business practices, including continued leadership training designed, in part, to reduce the likelihood that leaders’ decisions are improperly influenced by bias or stereotyping.  We also use other internal measures, such as a comprehensive annual pay audit process, to ensure compensation is fair and equitable across the organization.

Additionally, earlier this year, Target CEO Brian Cornell joined PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi to co-chair the Network of Executive Women’s Future Fund – an industry-wide campaign aimed at achieving 50/50 gender parity in the workforce. We’ve also earned a spot on the list for the Top Companies for Executive Women from the National Association for Female Executives for the past four years.

We are proud of our internal initiatives and external partnerships, and we remain committed to improving pay processes and policies that ensure equality and fairness for all.

Unilever: At Unilever, we strive to create a bright future and believe business has a critical part to play in closing the national gender gap. As part of our Unilever Sustainable Living Plan - which is our blueprint to grow our business, while decoupling our environmental footprint from our growth and increasing our positive social impact - we have the ambition to empower the lives of five million women by 2020.

Unilever is in a strong position to help empower women around the world: over 70% of our consumers are women and they play essential roles in our value chain. Unilever is proud to take the Equal Pay Pledge and confirm our commitment to gender equality. We consider the advancement of women’s economic inclusion a business priority and by promoting the formal and active participation of women in the economy—we aim to transform lives, families, communities and economies and in turn, have the opportunity to grow our markets, brands and business.

Over the past six years, Unilever has been in the process of making sure we have gender balance throughout our business. We are currently at 49% gender balance for managers and above in North America and continue to strive to foster an environment where each individual feels uniquely valued and has equal opportunities. 

Unilever is committed to creating a working environment that promotes diversity and equal opportunity. We are proud to have developed an inclusive culture and respect the contribution of all employees regardless of gender, age, race, disability or sexual orientation. 

Visa: Universal acceptance for everyone, everywhere is not only our brand promise, it’s the foundation of our company culture. Diversity and inclusion is a strategic imperative at Visa, and it requires equal pay for equal work. We regularly review our compensation practices and conduct thorough analyses to ensure pay equity.

An inclusive workplace enhances and enriches our environment, successfully drives business results and leads to improved leadership effectiveness and employee engagement. We will continue to take meaningful steps to make progress in this important journey. And we’re proud to sign this pledge as way of affirming our commitment to pay equity for our female employees in the U.S.

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