US male in-house counsel earn $19k more per year: report
There is a significant gender pay gap among in-house counsel, especially in the US and EMEA, according to a new report from a legal research firm.
According to the new report from Major, Lindsey & Africa, US-based male counsel’s average base salary was $19,000 more per year than their female counterparts.
But the gap widens even further when taking into account total cash compensation, including bonuses.
Male counsel’s annual cash compensation was 11.4% higher than their woman counterparts, the report said.
The gap was bigger the larger the company, MLA found: “For instance, at companies with revenue over $10 billion, men’s average total annual cash compensation is $1.1 million as compared to their female counterparts who earn $739,436 on average.”
At companies with annual revenue of less than $1 million, female counsel in fact tended to earn slightly more, the report said.
Similar trends can be observed in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA). MLA concluded that the average cash paid to male general counsel in the EMEA region was $67,000 higher than that paid to women.
But the reverse can be true in China, Hong Kong, India, and Singapore, according to the report. It found that the average salary for a female general counsel or chief legal officer in these countries was $437,429, compared to $385,884 for males.
The report attributed this to household helpers in these countries, who look after children and allow women to return to work sooner after pregnancy.
“[Women] do not have long interruptions in their professional work and are therefore on a more equal playing field with their male counterparts when compared with women in western countries,” the report said.
The report’s findings were gathered via an online survey which received 3,900 responses from 36 countries.
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