Resolved clauseRESOLVED: Myra K. Young of CorpGov.net and other shareholders request Marriott International, Inc (“Company” or “Marriott”) report on median 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 clauseWHEREAS: Pay inequities persist across race and gender. They pose substantial risks to companies and society. Black workers’ median annual earnings represent 77 percent of white wages. The median income for women working full time is 84 percent that of men. Intersecting race, Black women earn 76 percent and Latina women 63 percent.1 At the current rate, women will not reach pay equity until 2059, Black women in 2130, and Latina women in 2224.2
Citigroup estimates closing minority and gender wage gaps 20 years ago could have generated 12 trillion dollars in additional national income. PwC estimates closing the gender pay gap could boost the economies of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries by 2 trillion dollars annually.3 Actively managing pay equity is linked to superior stock performance and return on equity.4
Best practice pay equity reporting consists of two parts:
1. Unadjusted median pay gaps, assessing equal opportunity to high-paying roles,
2. Statistically adjusted gaps, assessing whether minorities and non-minorities, men and women, are paid the same for similar roles.
Marriott reports only statistically adjusted pay gaps but ignores unadjusted gaps, which address the structural bias women, and underrepresented minorities face regarding job opportunities and pay, particularly when men hold most higher-paying jobs. While we are glad, Marriott now reports adjusted pay gaps, median pay shows, quite literally, how Marriott assigns value to employees through the roles they inhabit and pay they receive. Median pay gap reporting also provides a digestible and comparable data point to determine progress over time.
Racial and gender-unadjusted 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.
It is also worth considering that Marriott reported a CEO pay ratio of 477 to 1.
Supporting statementSUPPORTING STATEMENT: An annual report adequate for investors to assess performance could, with board discretion, integrate base, bonus, and equity compensation to calculate:
· percentage median gender pay gap, globally and/or by country, where appropriate
· percentage median racial/minority/ethnicity pay gap, US and/or by country, where appropriate Pay Equity Affirms Human Rights and Increases Long-Term Shareholder Value Vote FOR Racial and Gender Pay Gap Report – Proposal [4*]
1 https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/income-poverty/cps-pinc/pinc-05.html-par_textimage_24
2 https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5bc65db67d0c9102cca54b74/t/622f4567fae4ea772ae60492/1647265128087/Racial+Gender+Pay+Scorecard+2022+-+Arjuna+Capital.pdf
3 Ibid.
4 https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/promoting-gender-parityin-the-global-workplace; https://www.issgovernance.com/file/publications/ISS-ESG-Gender-Diversity-Linked-to-Success.pdf