• by Steve McClellan , April 4, 2017

Doner, the MDC Partners agency, is supporting the equal pay movement with a series of steps including committing to a pay audit by an independent consultant to determine to what extent gender pay disparity exists at the agency, which will lead to corrective measures if needed.

The Detroit-based agency is also adjusting its branding and replacing the “o” in its name with the universal symbol for woman and is staging walkouts at its offices in Detroit, Cleveland, Los Angles and London today at 3:24 p.m. local time (or after the completion of about 80% of the workday) to demonstrate the shop’s commitment to eliminating the gender pay disparity.

The name change will be in place leading up to the 3% Conference, which Doner is partnering with to bring the event to Detroit for the first time. This year’s conference starts May 18th.

The agency is packaging its efforts into a campaign called Exit 3:24 that includes PSAs, a website and other materials that individuals and groups can access to learn about the issues and potential solutions, such as how to conduct a wage audit.

“With Exit 3:24, we want to help pave the way toward fairness and transparency in our industry, especially as it pertains to wage equality,” said Doner President and CEO David DeMuth. “ We are also following through on a commitment we made to our employees last year, when we conducted a global talent survey that identified fairness as an area where we could improve on our promise to be a top global employer,”  he said.

DeMuth added that “Our hope is that others will join us in this commitment to making progress on an issue that unreasonably persists across a majority of industries.”

The agency cites figures from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics that show that on average women earn 80% percent of what men make in the same position, across most industries. For minorities the disparity is even bigger, with African American women earning 63% and Latina women earning just over half of a white male’s earnings for the same job. 

Kat Gordon, founder of The 3% Movement applauded Doner’s efforts. “You can't claim to value women equally if you don't pay them equally,” she said. "Kudos to Doner for committing to equal pay and inviting other agencies to take the pledge to join them."