Wells Fargo says hardly any pay disparity for women, minority staff

BOSTON (Reuters) – Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N) pays female and racial minority employees very close to what male and white employees earn, an executive said, making the bank the third top U.S. lender to detail its pay ratios in recent weeks.

Mike Branca, head of compensation for the San Francisco bank, said in a telephone interview late on Wednesday that according to recent analysis of its U.S. employees, women earn more than 99 cents for every dollar earned by male peers, and minorities earn more than 99 cents for every dollar earned by their white peers.

All three banks and others have been under pressure to give the figures from activist investor Arjuna Capital. Arjuna Managing Partner Natasha Lamb said she plans to withdraw a shareholder resolution at Wells Fargo for this spring’s annual meeting. But she hopes the bank and others will disclose more details such pay ratios within job levels and the median pay of women and men across the entire company.

Asked about the further details, Branca said the bank will “continue to look at that and see how that contributes to the conversation.”