The allegations stemmed from a routine compliance audit
several years ago required by Google's status as a supplier of technology to
the federal government.
Google said it was pleased to have resolved the matter.
The Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs had found
"preliminary indicators" that Google from 2014 to 2017 at times
underpaid 2,783 women in its software engineering group in Mountain View, California,
and the Seattle area.
Investigators also found hiring rate differences that
disadvantaged women and Asian candidates during the year ended Aug. 31, 2017,
for software engineering roles in San Francisco, Sunnyvale, California, and
Kirkland, Washington.
The settlement includes $2.6 million in back pay to 5,500
employees and job candidates and calls on Google to review hiring and salary
practices.
Google also will set aside $1.25 million for pay adjustments
for engineers in Mountain View, Kirkland, Seattle and New York over the next
five years, according to the settlement. Any unused funds will be spent on
diversity efforts at Google.
The company already conducts annual pay audits, but like
other big tech companies, it remains under public scrutiny for a workforce that
does not reflect the country's makeup in terms of race and gender.
The company said in a statement, "We believe everyone
should be paid based upon the work they do, not who they are, and invest
heavily to make our hiring and compensation processes fair and unbiased." -Reuters