Dow Jones Says It Didn't Find Pay Bias

A review of pay equity at Dow Jones & Co., parent of The Wall Street Journal, found that employee salaries didn't vary based on gender or ethnicity, the company said Wednesday.

The study followed an analysis earlier this year by the labor union representing about one-third of employees at Dow Jones, a unit of News Corp. The union said it found significant discrepancies when comparing the pay of unionized minority and female staffers with their white, male colleagues.

The company's analysis, comprising an external review by consultancy Willis Towers Watson as well as an internal review, determined that "less than 3% of our employees, a group that included both men and women and spanned multiple ethnicities, needed adjustments to align their salaries with those of colleagues as well as the overall marketplace."

The company said changes in pay had already been made for nonunion staff needing adjustments, and the same would be done for affected union employees in January.

A top official at the union representing Dow Jones staff, the Independent Association of Publishers' Employees, said he can't draw any conclusions unless the company shares detailed data on its findings. "I find it hard to believe only 3% of employees are in need of a salary adjustment," said IAPE Executive Director Tim Martell.

A Dow Jones spokeswoman declined to release details about how the company arrived at its conclusions, but said the discrepancy between its findings and the union figures were largely because it looked at a "deeper and broader set of global figures."

The union's survey had looked at the salary figures of about 1,300 union-covered employees in the U.S. and Canada, which includes a large portion of the company's editorial staff. Dow Jones's corporate analysis looked at the salaries of its 4,400 staff members world-wide, which includes many employees outside the newsroom.

IAPE said it is preparing to release a more detailed analysis in coming weeks. The union's first report on the issue in March found that women in the union make 13.2% less annually than men and that unionized minority staffers at Dow Jones were paid less than white employees.

Other media organizations have faced their own internal questions about pay equity. In May, the New York Times' union, the News Guild of New York, highlighted what it said was a pay gap for women and minorities at the paper.

In October, the Times said the union analysis relied on incomplete data and that a full survey done by the company "found no evidence of discrimination in how employees are compensated," according to a memo sent to staff. The Times said it adjusted the pay of some employees.

The disputes over pay equity come amid upheaval at newspapers as declines in print advertising revenue have accelerated.

In recent months, the Journal has instituted costs cuts through buyouts and layoffs and by combining sections of the print newspaper. The Times has warned of staffing reductions early next year. Last month, IAPE and Dow Jones reached a new contract after months of negotiations.

Write to Lukas I. Alpert at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 07, 2016 19:05 ET (00:05 GMT)

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