UEH UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF BUSINESS
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS - MARKETING FACULTY
Case Study: Salary Inequities at Astrazeneca
Group
:
2
Subject
:
International Human Resources Management
Class code
:
23C1BUS50307802
Classroom
:
B1-406
Lecturer
:
Ms. Duong Ngoc Hong
Ho Chi Minh City, 27th September, 2023.
UEH UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF BUSINESS
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS - MARKETING FACULTY
MINICASE
Subject: International Human Resources Management
Member
Student ID
•
Trần Nam Khánh
•
Lê Khánh Huyền
31211025954
•
Trần Quỳnh Nhi
31211023679
•
Phạm Đoàn Minh Khang
31211023176
Hồ Chí Minh, 27th November, 2023
CASE STUDY: SALARY INEQUITIES AT ASTRAZENECA
OUTLINE
I.
Summaries case ........................................................................................................................ 1
II.
Company Introduction .............................................................................................................. 2
III.
Answer the question ................................................................................................................. 3
IV.
References ................................................................................................................................ 5
I.
Summaries case
AstraZeneca - a large international pharmaceutical company, is caught in a lawsuit from the
U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs (OFCCP).
Previously, because of a signed contract worth over $2 billion with the U.S. Department of
Veterans Affairs, AstraZeneca also complied with Executive Order 11246, which aims to ensure that
employees of U.S. contractors and subcontractors with federal contracts pay their employees fairly
without regard to sex, race, color, religion, or national origin.
Accordingly, OFCCP sued AstraZeneca because it violated Executive Order 11246 by failing
to ensure certain female employees were paid equitably compared to men through the company’s pay
secrecy policies (At one AstraZeneca sales center, female pharmaceutical sales specialists earned
average salaries is 1,700 USD lower than men).
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AstraZeneca entered an agreement with U.S. Dept. of Labor to pay certain female employees
$250,000.
AstraZeneca an OFCCP expand their review records in over 14 states.
Now, as a compensation consultant of AstraZeneca and we are trying to solve the company's
problems.
II.
Company Introduction
AstraZeneca Company is one of the largest multinational pharmaceutical companies in the world,
specializing in research on drugs & pharmaceutical chemistry, and products provided to hospitals.
One of the key strategic activities of this multinational company is to create a talented workforce
around the world, led by managers with a global vision and a willingness to move around and
continue their work, interact with people from different cultures, and conduct business across
countries.
● Established year: 1999 (merger of Sweden's Astra AB and the UK's Zeneca Group).
● Headquarters: Cambridge, England.
● Human resources: 76,100 employees (51% European, 32% American, 17% Asian, African,
and Australian.
● Network: has branches operating in more than 100 countries (Vietnam in 1994) and has
revenue exceeding 25 billion USD.
● Biggest Achievement: Creating a new turning point for disease prevention vaccine
technology. It is considered the key to opening the door to life and ending COVID.
● Objective: Placing a scientific foundation as the core, AstraZeneca exists with the goal of
applying scientific innovations, research, and biological methods to create new products and
treatment directions.
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● Mission and core values:
○ Taking care of people's health must come first.
○ Ethical values, humanity, human rights.
III.
Answer the question
Question 11-15: Although the case with OFCCP is closed, we wonder if there are any less
discriminatory explanations possible for why our women sales reps on average earned less
than men. If so, what are they?
In certain circumstances, women do earn less than their male colleagues, even if they do the
same job. One of the causes for this has been education, with many companies noting that there are
more educated males than women, which contributes to the salary disparity.
According to the report "The Gender Wage Gap: Women, Work, and Wage Inequality,"
corporations pay women 3% less than males for the same tasks, with some companies paying as much
as 30% less.
Women are also more likely to work in areas where they are paid less than their male
counterparts. The implication is that, despite having the same qualifications, a corporation may not
put women in control of critical procedures, resulting in their being paid less than men. Another
reason why women earn less than men during their careers is because they take more maternity leave.
The employer does not pay them during the maternity leave thus they fall behind their male colleagues
in terms of wages in the process. Similarly, males change employment more frequently than women,
giving them more bargaining leverage. Men are paid more than women while doing the same job
because of the company's clandestine compensation policy. As a result, the corporation offers a
volunteer overtime program with more male than female participation. One of the reasons males earn
more than women is that they participate in more overtime activities, which increases their chances
of earning more. The firm has made certain that both men and women are appropriately paid for their
contributions to the company. However, it is difficult to address the wage disparity efficiently when
more women end up in lower-paying jobs.
Question 11-16: Our own company now uses a point method to evaluate jobs for pay
purposes, and each resulting job class also has a rate range associated with it. Sales associates
are now paid a salary that is not based on incentive pay. List three specific things we can do to
ensure that a similar problem (inequitable pay based on gender) does not arise again,
assuming they continue using the point plan.
Astra Zeneca has numerous options and actions to take to guarantee that inequitable compensation
based on gender does not occur again. Three strategies that may be included in Astra Zeneca's human
resources policies and processes are as follows:
1. Developing a fair wage-setting strategy to ensure that salaries are not constrained by
sexual orientation disposition.
2. Implement methods and policies that improve pay value.
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3. Begin a compensation value evaluation in certain sectors and professions where sexual
orientation discrepancy may occur, with the goal of resolving it.
Furthermore, human resources must guarantee that pay fairness is consistent with employment
rules. Human resources' involvement in pay equality is to assure pay fairness, which begins with wage
offers and promotion levels. Furthermore, documentation of original salary choices might be utilised
in future lawsuits. Furthermore, wage parity in the workplace increases employee happiness and has
an impact on the organization's reputation ("Sex discrimination in social work careers", 1979).
Question 11–15: What sort of compensation plan would you recommend for
us, and why?
1. Compliance with Equal Pay Laws: Begin by learning and following the laws that require
equal pay for equal effort. The Equal Pay Act, for example, requires that men and women be paid
equally while doing identical duties in the same workplace (EEOC, 2017).
2. Internal Wage Equality Policy: Establish an internal policy that expressly bans wage
discrimination. Ensure that all employees are rewarded fairly and equitably for their duties and skills.
3. Fair Employment Decisions: Ensure that choices for promotions, pay increases, bonuses,
and other benefits are made without bias, taking into account variables like as skill, merit, and
performance.
4. Supervisor and Manager Training: Provide thorough training to supervisors and
managers in order to avoid pay discrimination and create a fair workplace.
5. Transparent Salary Guidelines: Establish clear and recorded salary, bonus, and overtime
rules based on objective and verifiable criteria.
6. Regular Payment Audits: Implement frequent audits and payment evaluations to ensure
that no discrimination occurs, lowering the risk of wage discrimination lawsuits.
7. Diverse Workforce Recruitment: Concentrate on hiring diverse and inclusive staff,
selecting suitable applicants based on their education, abilities, and qualities, regardless of gender.
8. Timely Performance Evaluations: Provide timely and effective performance assessments
to assist staff in realising how effectively they achieve expectations.
9. Open Pay Policy: Maintain an open and transparent pay policy that allows workers to
participate in mutually protected activities and work together to improve earnings, hours, and working
conditions.
These steps collectively promote fairness, equality, and compliance within the organization's
compensation practices.
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IV.
References
1. Barón, J. D., & Cobb-Clark, D. A. (2010). Occupational Segregation and the Gender Wage
Gap in Private- and Public-Sector Employment: A Distributional Analysis Journal of
Economic Record, vol. 86, no. 273, pp. 227–246
EEOC. (2017). U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission Equal Pay Act of 1963 Retrieved
from https://www.eeoc.gov/laws/statutes/index.cfm on March 27, 2017
Sex discrimination in social work careers Jennings, P. L.; Daley, M.; National Library of Medicine.
Social work research and abstracts 15.2 (1979): 17–21.
Zoller, Beth (2017) XpertHR, Legal Editor How to Prevent Wage Discrimination and Ensure Equal
Pay Retrieved from http://www.xperthr.com/how-to/how-to-prevent-wage-discrimination-andensure-equal-pay/9836/ on March 25, 2017
The Gender Wage Gap: Women, Work & Wage Inequality - Hired. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://hired.com/gender-wage gap?
utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=media&utm_campaign=q2_16_gender_wage_gap&utm_con
tent=
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