Equal Pay Commitment
Mpathic (Empathy Rocks, Inc.) strives for equal pay for equal work. Mpathic is committed to complying with federal laws on pay equity, including the long-established Equal Pay Act, which requires that men and women be given equal pay for equal work in the same establishment, as well as all federal anti-discrimination laws applicable to employment, including those within Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. These laws allow pay differentials when they are based on seniority, merit, quantity or quality of production, or a factor other than sex.
Mpathic believes that equal work must be measurable. Pay practices that reward performance and all other legitimate factors should remain lawful. Mpathic is committed to pay transparency. An openness on compensation topics and an understanding of an organization’s compensation philosophy will give employees the information they need to make informed decisions about their personal employment and compensation status.
Mpathic respects privacy concerns, is committed to complying with applicable data privacy regulations, and does not disclose confidential pay information. In addition, we do not require candidates to provide current or prior compensation as part of our recruiting process. We endorse regular, organization-wide pay analyses to aid in reducing any unconscious biases or structural barriers in hiring practices, performance assessment, promotional guidelines and leadership opportunities that may contribute to pay inequities.
Mpathic encourages voluntary adoption of gender-neutral workplace policies such as workplace flexibility and paid family-leave benefits that may help reduce wage gaps and retain employees in the workforce. Public policy should be tailored to encourage organizations to offer these benefits not through universal mandates, regulations, or taxes, but rather via policy innovation, support of strategic national goals and individual organizational marketplace initiatives.
Actions and Commitments
- A commitment to providing equal pay for equal work (including basic pay, non-discretionary bonuses, and other contractual benefits)
- Undertaking regular equal pay reviews or audits for all employees in line with the S. Dept. of Labor and Equal Pay Act , repeat them at regular intervals and use the details to address any instances of discrimination in pay
- Established equal pay group to assess findings of the equal pay review and take necessary action
- Annual internal and external publication of results of our equal pay audit to staff
- Monitoring starting salaries for new staff
- Training and guidance were provided for those involved in determining pay
- Discussing and agreeing on equal pay policy with trade unions when applicable
Policies – Seed Stage
We have taken some structural actions in our policies to ensure equity for our stage of company; these policies will be reviewed at each stage of funding.
- We do not have flexibility in vesting schedules for equity; all employees have the same vesting schedule, including founders (1-year cliff, 4-year vest)
- We abide by applicable laws for contracted (1099) positions and opt to hire W-2 employees for ongoing work
- We do not ask salary history in job interviews but make offers based on similarity to salaries for comparable positions at mpathic combined with consideration of the Equal Value Estimator for the position (especially if no one has held a role like the one we are hiring for).
- Our salary band is $150k for all executives; we offer no full-time positions under $70k. Compensation bands will be adjusted upon future rounds of funding.
- For sales based salaries, commissions are delivered after each performance review (currently, bi-annually). No other positions have salaries.
Complaints
Complaints and grievances with regards to pay will be reported to our independent contracted fractional DEIB Officer – Alison Cerezo (alison@mpathic.ai) for independent review. As our team grows, the equal pay group may also be involved in mitigating grievances.
Monitoring
Monitoring of salaries occurs annually in Q1 of each year; with a report published internally and externally by start of Q2. See our past reports here.
Monitoring will include a review of positioning with the Equal Value Estimator and we will also ensure equity across racial groups and gender (cis men, cis women, trans and non-binary) following this protocol:
Pay Equity Questions for Tech
| Question | Yes | No |
|---|---|---|
| Are the basic hourly earnings the same for cis men and other employees doing this job? | ||
| Are the total hourly earnings the same for cis men and other employees doing this job? | ||
| Do cis men and other employees doing this job get the same type of benefits? |
The answer to every question at mpathic is a Yes.
When it is not, we evaluate to understand what is causing the discrepancies. Some of the common causes of differences doing equal work include:
- differences in starting pay or in pay increases since joining the company
- different lengths of service in the job leading to either higher or lower pay
- differences in overtime and shift pay, with some jobs attracting higher rates
- some jobs are being paid commission but others are not
- some jobs are receiving bonuses but others are not