Pay Equity Study Finds No Discrimination

A pay equity study done in Pittsburgh finds that city employees are underpaid compared to their peers in other organizations. But there is no evidence of compensation discrimination based on race or gender. Evergreen Solutions Executive Vice President Dr. Jeff Ling says the study focused on women and minority representation in government, pay between workers who hold the same job and the effectiveness of the overall human resources system. Ling says the biggest problem found was, in fact, Pittsburgh's antiquated human resource system, which he says has been updated little since its establishment in the 1970s. Representation can also be improved. He says while there is no compensation discrimination, there are tendencies for caucasian males to hold better positions than women and minorities, and therefore tend to get paid more. Ling also says city employee jobs are "behind market," meaning that employees are likely to find similar jobs elsewhere that pay more.