Feds: Glasgow company must make amends for gender-based pay discrimination

A Glasgow healthcare diagnostics company has agreed to provide back pay to several female employees after the U.S. Department of Labor determined it was engaging in salary discrimination.

The issue at Siemens Healthcare Diagnostics Inc. was discovered during a routine compliance review, according to federal officials.

Since 2020, Siemens has held at least $882 million in federal contracts with numerous federal agencies, including the National Institute of Health and the Department of Defense. As such, the company is subject to a 1965 executive order that prohibits federal contractors from discriminating in employment decisions based on race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or national origin.

The Department of Labor review found that Siemens paid women in system engineer roles less than their male counterparts in similar positions at the laboratory diagnostics manufacturing center, located in the Glasgow Business Community on Del. 896.

Siemens agreed to pay eight women $57,200 in back wages and interest and make $24,821 in salary adjustments for three women. The company will also review its compensation practices and policies and train managers to ensure future compliance.

“Our conciliation agreement with Siemens reflects the U.S. Department of Labor’s continued efforts to bridge gender wage gaps and hold federal contractors accountable when they fail to comply with the law,” Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs Regional Director Samuel B. Maiden said.

Siemens, a German-based company, employs approximately 1,300 workers at the Glasgow facility, which manufactures instruments, reagents and consumables across a range of laboratory diagnostic products.

In 2021, the state of Delaware granted Siemens up to $2 million in grants to expand the Glasgow facility. The project to add 29,000 square feet of additional manufacturing capacity represented a $32 million investment by the company, officials said at the time.