UKG Announces Multimillion-Dollar Initiative to Help Close Gender Pay Gap and Promote Pay Equity

December 6, 2021 , LOWELL, Mass., and WESTON, Fla.

UKG (Ultimate Kronos Group), a leading global provider of human capital management (HCM), payroll, and workforce management solutions for all people, today announced the UKG Close the Gap Initiative — a multimillion-dollar pay equity initiative to drive awareness and action to resolve pay disparity between men, women, and underrepresented groups that continues to significantly impact today’s workforce.

“Pay inequity is still a very real and pervasive problem in the U.S. and across the world,” said Brian Reaves, chief belonging, diversity, and equity officer at UKG.  “According to U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data, for every dollar a man in the U.S. earned in 2020, a woman made $0.82 — a gap of 18 cents.[i] And that gap widens even further when you look at intersectionality such as Black, transgender, and immigrant women.[ii] As an organization whose purpose is people, we know that an individual’s income impacts every aspect of life, including their health, wellness, family, and future. Through this campaign, we are committing several million dollars towards the work for meaningful and permanent change in the area of pay equity.”

The UKG Close the Gap Initiative will fund a number of critical programs, nonprofits, awareness building efforts, education, and research in support of pay equity, including:

  • Close the Gap Commitment: To help close the wage gap, UKG is contributing $0.18 (the current gender wage gap) for every single employee paid each year via a UKG payroll solution toward the fight for pay equity. UKG payroll solutions are used to pay over 15 million employees per year, meaning UKG will make a $3 million investment in the critical programs and initiatives described below that support the fight for pay equity.
  • Philanthropic Support: UKG is announcing partnerships with four nonprofits that are focused on bringing greater access to education, career, opportunity, and pay equality to women, women of color, and other traditionally underrepresented groups: Grantmakers for Girls of Color, LeanIn.org, Reboot Representation, and 9to5. These organizations help women, girls, and people of color, including Black, Latina, and Native American women, as well as those who identify as transgender, gain access to opportunity through education, enter the workforce, grow their careers, and advocate for critical policy changes to create equitable workforces.
  • Pay Equity in America Research Study: UKG is sponsoring research by Harvard Business Review Analytic Services on pay equity in America to examine the existing pay gaps between men and women in the workforce, as well as the progress employers are making nationwide to create more equitable conditions among all genders. Results of this study will be released in 2022.
  • Educational Resources and Awareness: UKG is partnering with experts to develop educational resources for best practices in HR, compensation planning, recruiting, and hiring that are known to support pay equity and make these resources publicly available for all. In addition, UKG is launching a pay equity awareness campaign that will focus on building awareness of the gender wage gap through broadcast and digital media platforms.
  • Close the Gap Pledge: UKG invites all people to join the Close the Gap Pledge to fight inequality in the workplace. Participants will be the first to receive research, educational assets, learning opportunities, and tools to make their workplaces more equitable for all.

UKG is also committed to helping thousands of customers around the world understand pay equity within their own organizations through its HCM solutions, which are built to help remove bias, identify potential imbalances at work, and build fairness into hiring practices, employee scheduling, performance management, succession planning, and compensation. UKG’s pay equity analysis can help organizations identify potential areas to further investigate for disparities based on gender, ethnicity, age, and disability status — helping companies determine if they should do more detailed pay equity analysis. Employee survey tools allow organizations to solicit feedback from employees to get a pulse on equity and diversity issues that matter to them, allowing businesses to enact meaningful change.

“UKG has a long history of helping organizations take care of their people and create great workplaces. We believe in equity for all people, including fair, consistent and equitable pay for everyone regardless of gender, race, or background,” said Reaves. “Through the UKG Close the Gap Initiative, we seek to enact change related to pay inequity and encourage others to join the fight for more inclusive, fair, and unbiased workplaces.”

UKG has been recognized for creating a culture of inclusivity and support of women in the workplace worldwide, most recently achieving a ranking of #16 on Fortune’s Best Workplaces for Women list,[iii] being named again to India’s Best Workplaces for Women list, and being named a 2021 AnitaB.org Top Companies for Women Technologists Leader.

Supporting Resources

About UKG

At UKG (Ultimate Kronos Group), our purpose is people. Built from a merger that created one of the largest cloud companies in the world, UKG believes organizations succeed when they focus on their people. As a leading provider of HR, payroll, and workforce management solutions for all people, UKG delivers award-winning Pro, Dimensions, and Ready solutions to help tens of thousands of organizations across geographies and in every industry drive better business outcomes, improve HR effectiveness, streamline the payroll process, and help make work a better, more connected experience for everyone. UKG has 13,000 employees around the globe and is known for an inclusive workplace culture. The company has earned numerous awards for culture, products, and services, including consecutive years on Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For list. To learn more, visit ukg.com.

Copyright 2021 UKG Inc. All rights reserved. For a full list of UKG trademarks, please visit ukg.com/trademarks. All other trademarks, if any, are property of their respective owners. All specifications are subject to change.  

Footnote 1: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2021). 2020 Annual Report: Highlights of Women's Earnings. Retrieved from https://www.bls.gov/cps/earnings.htm.

Footnote 2: Center for American Progress. (2020). Quick Facts About the Gender Wage Gap. Retrieved from https://americanprogress.org/article/quick-facts-gender-wage-gap.

Footnote 3: Results are based on Great Place to Work Certification for 2020. UKG acquired Great Place to Work on Sept. 1, 2021 and will be ineligible for rankings which consider Certification in 2021 and beyond.