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Google has compensated many of its male workers after finding they received comparatively fewer bonuses and pay rises than women last year. The company, which has faced many accusations of failing its female employees, said it had automatically topped up men's pay to address a gender gap within its ranks of software developers. An analysis of pay across the company revealed that more women software engineers at a certain level had been handed bonuses or raises from managers throughout the year. Google said it paid $9.7m (£7.4m) to 10,667 employees to address last year's pay disparities. It did not disclose how much was spent topping up male software engineer salaries. The company uses algorithms to define an employee’s compensation based on the market rate, location, level and performance rating, but managers are given an extra budget which they can use for raises and bonuses if they believe a particular employee has excelled. The company's review found at a particular lower-level software engineering position - these had been disproportionately handed out to women, although it did not find a reason why. Google has repeatedly faced accusations of an unfair work environment. In 2017 it fired an employee who had written a viral "anti-diversity" memo arguing that a lack of women in senior positions was partially due to biological reasons. Former employees have sued the company claiming a pay bias against women, while a separate lawsuit claims its video website YouTube stopped hiring white men. Last year thousands of employees protested the company's alleged failures to deal with sexual harassment. To keep tabs on salaries, Google has conducted yearly pay equity reviews since 2012. If it finds any discrepancies, it will automatically pay adjustments. It said that it would be undertaking “a comprehensive review” of the system based on last years’ results. Lauren Barbato, Google’s human resources analytics chief said: “Our pay equity analysis ensures that compensation is fair for employees in the same job, at the same level, location and performance. But we know that’s only part of the story. "Because leveling, performance ratings, and promotion impact pay, this year, we are undertaking a comprehensive review of these processes to make sure the outcomes are fair and equitable for all employees.” Liz Fong-Jones, a former Google employee who recently quit the company, said the analysis "failed to control for under-promoting and under-levelling women". "If you have a group of women who are outperforming at level, of course they'll get given more manager discretion. This is not 'sexism against men'," Fong-Jones added.

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