Littler Expands Pay Equity Audit Capabilities with New Offering

The Littler Pay Equity Assessment™ Provides Enhanced Data Analytics to Help Employers Assess Risk and Proactively Identify Solutions

(February 14, 2018) – Littler, the world’s largest employment and labor law practice representing management, is pleased to announce the launch of the Littler Pay Equity Assessment™. The offering combines Littler’s deep experience in employment law and compensation with proprietary technology, resulting in an analysis that assesses litigation risk and points towards solutions. It is part of Littler’s Big Data Initiative which helps clients leverage data analytics to better manage their workforces and enhance employment litigation strategies.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, women are still paid 80 cents for every dollar paid to men, and the gap is even greater for African American and Hispanic women. As concerns about pay inequality continue to intensify – bringing new legal and reputational risks for employers – Littler’s platform provides a means of identifying pay disparities for people performing similar work under similar circumstances and proactively fixing them using tested legal strategies. Organizations can access the results of the assessment in a user-friendly dashboard that provides deep and concise examinations of compensation data in a privileged context.

“Having been at the forefront of every development in labor and employment law for the last 75 years, expanding our data-driven approach to address the complicated and important issue of pay equity was a natural evolution,” said Tom Bender and Jeremy Roth, co-managing directors of Littler, in a joint statement. “Not only does this new resource deepen our data analytics capabilities, it expands our commitment to improving diversity and equality in the workplace. By combining innovative technology with our deep experience counseling employers, we can help clients uncover issues they might not have known about and identify causes and possible solutions.”

The Littler Pay Equity Assessment measures compensation differences between demographic groups, identifies those that are statistically significant, and determines the extent to which these differences reflect legitimate business considerations. In a privileged context, Littler can also assist employers with crucial steps for a defensible audit and create a record of the criteria that drives a company’s compensation system and legitimate distinctions among employees that explain any disparities. This information helps human resources departments respond to questions from employees and creates an evidentiary record in the event of future litigation.

“The plaintiffs’ bar is increasingly targeting employers with class action lawsuits focused on fair pay, and state and local governments continue to adopt and expand pay equity laws,” said Denise Visconti, a shareholder and member of the firm’s Wage & Hour Practice Group, who is leading the Littler Pay Equity Assessment. “Proactively addressing this issue on a state specific basis can help lessen the risk of costly litigation and negative publicity that impacts employee morale and customer relationships. But it’s also the right thing to do and gives companies a competitive advantage by demonstrating their commitment to paying employees fairly.”

The Littler Pay Equity Assessment is part of the firm’s suite of innovative Service Solutions. Littler’s commitment to technology and innovation has drawn accolades from major organizations that recognize innovation in the delivery of legal services, including the Financial Times, National Law Journal, Association of Corporate Counsel, International Legal Technology Association, College of Law Practice Management and Fastcase 50.

About Littler

Littler is the largest global employment and labor law practice, with more than 1,300 attorneys in over 75 offices worldwide. Littler represents management in all aspects of employment and labor law and serves as a single-source solution provider to the global employer community. Consistently recognized in the industry as a leading and innovative law practice, Littler has been litigating, mediating and negotiating some of the most influential employment law cases and labor contracts on record for over 75 years. Littler Global is the collective trade name for an international legal practice, the practicing member entities of which are separate and distinct professional firms.