In a survey conducted by Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc. at the end of 2014, 55% of a group of Human Resources professionals were of the opinion that companies should practice some form of salary transparency. As a result, John Challenger voiced the expectation that over the next five years, more employers will set out to evaluate, test and implement pay transparency policies.
Fast forward to today, and a recent Marist Poll might leave you thinking differently.
According to that poll, more than seven in 10 Americans (72%) do not think private employers should be required to publish the salaries of their employees. Nor do they believe private companies should disclose the wages of their employees internally. However, Americans favor including a range of salary or wages in new job postings instead of a fixed rate of pay.
When asked what the result would be if private employers were required to publish salaries—that is, make public the amount each employee earns— 58% of Americans thought that publishing salaries would cause conflict between employees rather than increase fairness of pay within the company. White residents (63%), are more likely than non-white residents (51%) to expect this result.
When asked whether salaries of employees should be disclosed internally, 73% of Americans said salaries should remain private for most people. Here, gender differences were present. Men (79%) were more likely than women (67%) to say employees’ wages should not be published within companies for everyone to see.
When asked whether they personally would prefer their salaries to be private or public, 66% of U.S. residents say they would prefer that information not be made public. More than three in four Americans (77%) favored the inclusion of a range of salary or wages in new job postings.
The latter finding coincides with a recent April Glassdoor poll of employees. Glassdoor’s Global Salary Transparency Survey found that 69% of those surveyed wanted a better understanding of what fair pay is for their position and skill set at their company and in their local market and believe that salary transparency is good for employee satisfaction.
Given the above, the question of transparency may really be is how employer set salaries as opposed to what people are paid. The reason for this type of transparency is that another Glassdoor survey found that technology is a prime mover for gaining compensation information and it is fairly easy to do. The Glassdoor survey also found that 56% of employees feel that they have to switch jobs to get meaningful raises, and many may not want to move but feel compelled to do so.
“There’s no doubt that when it comes to publishing wages, most Americans think it’s a sensitive topic and a private matter,” says Dr. Lee M. Miringoff, Director of The Marist College Institute for Public Opinion. However, Scott Dobroski, a spokesman for Glassdoor, states that “[t]he genie’s out of the bottle when it comes to salary transparency and it’s now time for employers to just re-evaluate their pay practices and catch up. Most employers do want to pay equally for equal work, but there has been an imbalance to date.”
Sources: CCH Ideas and Trends, 3/4/15; Exclusive Point Taken - Marist Poll; Glassdoor; Forbes 4/12/16