OPM has recommended—although not required—agencies to study the gender pay patterns in their workforces, as a followup to a government-wide report OPM issued last year.
That report found that the average federally employed woman makes about 13 percent less than the average male, but also said that all but about 4 percentage points of that difference was explainable by under-representation of women in better-paying positions. That report spurred OPM to take several initiatives, including efforts to recruit women for the so-called STEM occupations and to encourage agencies to put more in developmental programs leading toward senior executive positions.
OPM also recently issued a memo stressing that agencies, when using flexibilities in setting starting salaries for newly hired employees, are to consider prior salary history as only one of a number of factors so as not to disadvantage those who, for example, had a career break for child-raising or who suffered pay discrimination in a prior job.
The memo further recommended that agencies conduct their own gender data analysis to identify areas where potential gender-related pay disparities exist; determine if there are statistically significant reasons for those disparities; and provide a basis for the development of targeted strategies to reduce gender-related pay disparities, to the extent possible.
“In addition, we recommend that your agency develop a plan for conducting ongoing data analysis related to gender pay equality on a regular and recurring basis to remain focused on addressing this important issue and to measure progress in closing the gender pay gap,” it said. The memo included an attachment describing how OPM conducted its study for agencies to use as a basis for their own studies.