A study by Salary.com, a compensation management company, revealed in a survey that one in four workers said that their employer is transparent about the salaries they offer.
Employees perceive a general lack of transparency and pay equity in their organizations. 23% of employees said their employer is transparent about how people at their company are paid, and it’s okay to ask questions about their salary.
Meanwhile, 46% of employees do not believe they are paid fairly compared to people in the same position at other companies, and 37% do not think they are paid fairly compared to their peers.
The survey revealed that there is practically no dialogue between managers and employees on compensation issues, but there is also a gap in the knowledge of managers about what criteria are taken into account to determine payment.
Half of the employees surveyed have never asked a manager how their salary is determined. Half of the 49% who asked said their manager couldn’t answer the question to their satisfaction and 17% said their manager couldn’t answer it.
“There is a lack of pay transparency in corporate America,” said David Turetsky, vice president of consulting at Salary.com. “When we surveyed HR professionals, 35% had established a pay philosophy that supports pay transparency, so these employee results are not surprising.”
The executive explained that companies are under pressure to pull back the curtain on salaries, educate managers on their prevailing pay philosophy, and communicate it.
Salary.com argues that salary discussions’ taboos are not limited to the employee-manager relationship. 45% of employees surveyed do not feel comfortable discussing their salary, and only a quarter have shared salary information with friends and colleagues.
On the other hand, workers were asked if they trust their employer to manage pay consistent with the organizational values being communicated, with 43% saying no, 36% saying yes, and 21% not knowing.
74% said it is important to them that their organization’s pay practices support efforts to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion.