Equality | Google repays male employees after finding a pay gap that favours women

Google has paid $9.7m (£7.4m) to 10,667 employees in order to address pay disparities – with many male workers receiving a pay-out – the Telegraph reports.

The American tech giant, which has faced many accusations of failing its female employees, reported that it had automatically topped up men's pay to address a gender gap within its ranks of software developers.

Google allegedly uses algorithms to work out an employee’s compensation based on factors such as market rate, location, level and performance rating, but managers are given an extra budget which they can use for raises and bonuses to hand out at their discretion for high-performing team members.

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However, at a particular lower-level software engineering position these bonuses had been disproportionately handed out to women, prompting an automatic top-up of men’s pay. The Register adds this was the company's Level 4 Software Engineers, a position one level higher than that given to graduates joining from university.