Resolution askConduct due diligence, audit or risk/impact assessment
ESG sub-theme- Diversity, equity & inclusion (DEI)
- Remuneration or pay
Type of voteShareholder proposal
Company HQ countryUnited States
Resolved clauseRESOLVED: Shareholders request Visa report on both quantitative median and adjusted pay gaps across race and gender, including associated policy, reputational, competitive, and operational risks, and risks related to recruiting and retaining diverse talent. The report should be prepared at reasonable cost, omitting proprietary information, litigation strategy and legal compliance information.
Racial/gender pay gaps are defined as the difference between non-minority and minority/male and female median earnings expressed as a percentage of non-minority/male earnings (Wikipedia/OECD, respectively).
Whereas clausePay inequities persist across race and gender and pose substantial risk to companies and society at large. Black workers’ hourly median earnings represent 64 percent of white wages. The median income for women working full time is 83 percent that of men. Intersecting race, Black women earn 63 cents, Native women 60 cents, and Latina women 55 cents. At the current rate, women will not reach pay equity until 2059, Black women until 2130, and Latina women until 2224.
Citigroup estimates closing minority and gender wage gaps 20 years ago could have generated 12 trillion dollars in additional income. PwC estimates closing the gender pay gap could boost Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development countries’ economies by 2 trillion dollars annually.
Actively managing pay equity is associated with improved representation. Diversity in leadership is linked to improved innovation and financial performance. Minorities represent 60 percent of Visa’s US workforce and 38 percent of leadership. Women represent 42 percent of the workforce and 35 percent of leadership.
Best practice pay equity reporting consists of two parts:
unadjusted median pay gaps, assessing equal opportunity to high paying roles,statistically adjusted gaps, assessing whether minorities and non-minorities, men and women, are paid the same for similar roles. Visa reports only a qualitative assurance of adjusted pay parity and ignores unadjusted gaps, which address structural bias women and minorities face regarding job opportunity and pay, particularly when men hold most higher paying jobs. Median pay gaps show, quite literally, how Visa assigns value to employees through the roles they inhabit and pay they receive. Median gap reporting also provides a digestible and comparable data point to determine progress over time.
Racial and gender median pay gaps are accepted as the valid way of measuring pay inequity by the United States Census Bureau, Department of Labor, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, and International Labor Organization. The United Kingdom and Ireland mandate disclosure of median gender pay gaps. Visa discloses data for United Kingdom employees, reporting a median hourly gender pay gap of 11.6 percent and median bonus gap of 20.4 percent
Supporting statementAn annual report adequate for investors to assess performance could, with board discretion, integrate base, bonus and equity compensation to calculate:
percentage median and adjusted gender pay gap, globally and/or by country, where appropriatepercentage median and adjusted racial/minority/ethnicity pay gap, US and/or by country, where appropriate