NAB has been ordered to reveal payroll data after allegations of discrimination. 

National Australia Bank (NAB) has been instructed by Federal Court Justice Melissa Perry to disclose its payroll data following a lawsuit filed by a trader alleging racial and gender discrimination along with underpayment. 

The court order mandates that NAB reveal base salaries, incentives, bonuses, and share-based payments for its employees from October 2016 to October 2019.

The plaintiff, Dikele Diawara, claimed that she was earning up to $150,000 less annually in base salary compared to her colleagues, and in some cases, even less than her subordinates. Diawara is seeking back pay and compensation from the bank.

Diawara approached NAB's global head of repo, David Bateman, in 2017 after discovering that two male colleagues in similar positions were earning US$250,000 per year, significantly more than her base salary of US$200,000. 

NAB defended the pay disparity, stating that Diawara was initially in a more junior role and was promoted from within, while the men she compared herself to had more complex job responsibilities.

Justice Perry ruled that NAB must provide data regarding the four individuals mentioned in Diawara's claim despite their similar or even lesser experience. 

Furthermore, NAB is required to disclose remuneration details for Sydney-based traders at the director level, including information on bonds, repo, swaps, options, short-term incentives, and bills/collateral. Similar data must also be provided for associate directors, senior associates, and heads of trading and repo desks globally.

Additionally, NAB must produce the documents outlining how Diawara's remuneration was established and benchmarked when she joined as a director of repo in Australia in 2016. 

However, a request for broader access to NAB's pay data was not granted.

Diawara claimed that NAB's trading desk fostered a “boy's club culture” and alleged that the head of trading, Tim McCaughey, carried a baseball bat and did not speak to her on her first day. 

NAB admitted that McCaughey carried a baseball bat as a “fidget toy” but contended that his behaviour was not limited to women.

This case has shed light on trading floor culture and prompted NAB's CEO, Ross McEwan, to issue a strong warning after allegations surfaced that NAB staff manipulated an employment survey. 

Bonuses at banks often depend on staff engagement scores, making the case of particular importance.

In its latest annual report, NAB expressed its commitment to reducing the gender pay gap to under 10 per cent by 2025, aiming to surpass the approximately 16 per cent gap reported in the previous financial year, aligning with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals.

David Gall, NAB's group executive for corporate and institutional banking, stated that the bank takes these matters seriously and is vigorously defending itself against the allegations.