Google has compensated many of its male workers after finding they received comparatively fewer bonuses and pay rises than women last year.

The company, which has faced many accusations of failing its female employees, said it had automatically topped up men's pay to address a gender gap within its ranks of software developers.

An analysis of pay across the company revealed that more women software engineers at a certain level had been handed bonuses or raises from managers throughout the year.

Google said it paid $9.7m (£7.4m) to 10,667 employees to address last year's pay disparities. It did not disclose how much was spent topping up male software engineer salaries.

The company uses algorithms to define an employee’s compensation based on the market rate, location, level and performance rating, but managers are given an extra budget which they can use for raises and bonuses if they believe a particular employee has excelled.

The company's review found at a particular lower-level software engineering position - these had been disproportionately handed out to women, although it did not find a reason why.

Google has repeatedly faced accusations of an unfair work environment. In 2017 it fired an employee who had written a viral "anti-diversity" memo arguing that a lack of women in senior positions was partially due to biological reasons. Former employees have sued the company claiming a pay bias against women, while a separate lawsuit claims its video website YouTube stopped hiring white men.