Google refutes charges, says there is no gender pay gap

Google says it has "taken a back" by the government's claim that it doesn't compensate women fairly.

The company says it conducts "rigorous analyses" that its pay practices are gender-blind. It says analysts who calculate suggested pay don't have access to employees' gender data.

Google says it analysed 52 major job categories last year and found "no gender pay gap".

The US Department of Labor had accused Google of shortchanging women doing similar work to men, saying it found "systemic compensation disparities" across the company's workforce.

In a blog post today, Google said that beyond gender pay equity, the company recently expanded the analysis to cover race in the US as well.

The department had no comment, saying the case is ongoing.