More American companies than ever before are sharing how much jobs pay

Written by Jeff Green | Bloomberg

Ready or not, what your job pays for is about to get a little less special.

California, home to about 19 million workers and some of America’s largest companies, has become the latest state to join the rapidly growing salary transparency movement nationwide.

Just a year ago, Colorado was the only one that required employers to include salary ranges in job advertisements. In November, a similar rule in New York City will go into effect, followed by another in Washington state early next year. With California joining, companies like Alphabet Inc. and Meta Platforms Inc. and Walt Disney Co., and Wells Fargo & Co. Within 270 days after signing it, a few other states required companies to share expected wages for open on-demand roles.

Even where it is not required, employers have begun to list wage information in job advertisements — with more likely to follow. A recent survey of CEOs from Willis Towers Watson Plc found that 17% of companies are already voluntarily listing pay ranges and another 62% of organizations are planning or considering doing the same.

“We are approaching the point where an unpaid job posting is like going to a supermarket and not seeing a price for your can of soup,” said Scott Moss, director of the Colorado Department of Labor and Statistics. Labor and Employment, where he supervises the implementation of the wage transparency law in the country.

Regulators have stuck to salary transparency as a way to reduce stubborn gender pay gaps. Historically, employers have kept their paychecks in secrecy, reinforcing old taboos that keep workers silent about what they make. This can lead to contradictions that disproportionately harm women and other underrepresented workers. However, a little sunlight can reveal inconsistencies and force correction.

This new set of laws does not mean that everyone will know exactly how much their colleagues in the office earn. But they only ask for enough information to help employees know if they are underpaid. All anyone has to do is look at the open positions for their current role and see if they fall into the range or where.

“Why doesn’t someone know what the job pays for?”

“Companies are very concerned and expect employees to raise their hands [for pay bumps,]said Nancy Romanishin, director of Syndio, which makes software that helps companies eliminate pay differentials. At the very least, managers need to be prepared to explain why some jobs are paid more or less than others to help workers understand where they fit in. In some cases, they may even have to reset or reassess wages.

Romanishin said the process can be annoying and uncomfortable, although it ultimately does more justice. I know I get upset when talking about salaries. “I’m at an age where you don’t talk about your politics, you don’t talk about your salary, you don’t talk about religion,” she said. “But why doesn’t someone know what the job pays?”

Workers increasingly agree with this sentiment. In a recent survey by HR analytics platform Visier, 80% of respondents said they wanted some form of salary transparency and 68% said they would switch jobs to work somewhere with greater visibility into pay. The younger generations are also more likely to feel comfortable sharing how much you earn from the older generations.

Andrew Wright, a financial professional in Denver currently looking for a new job, is fired when he faces otherwise good opportunities missing that important data. “Even if there is a job where the duties and everyday things seem interesting to me, if I know they are supposed to record the salary and they don’t, it loses some confidence,” the 31-year-old said.

Wright says he’s seen posts trying to get around Colorado’s rules by being vague about where the job can be done.

“Are they trying to hold back for a certain reason? Are they trying to hide it because they won’t do much?” he said.

Some companies, in an effort to get ahead of regulations and appeal to workers like Wright in a tight labor market, have decided to be upfront about pay for all new roles, regardless of location. For example, Seattle-based Microsoft Corp., announced a comprehensive salary range rule for all hires — not just those in Washington state, as required by state law within a few months.

Job search portal Indeed reported earlier this year that 75% of new jobs on its site include salary forecasts; LinkedIn reported a 35% increase in this phenomenon in the first half of this year. Justin Hampton, a compensation specialist, also saw public wage data rise in the UK, India, Australia, New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates.

Some organizations may continue to resist this trend. State fines for violating pay transparency laws are relatively minor, starting at $100 per incident. Some, such as New York, exclude first-time offenders. And, of course, many states do not have such laws.

In addition, there are no requirements about the inclusion of bonuses or benefits, which constitute a large part of the compensation. And in order to get around the rules, employers can forgo job posting altogether, using back-channels to recruiting and networking to fill positions, which can hamper diversity efforts. Though, this is difficult to do when hiring on a large scale.

However, Colorado has so far fined only three of the 278 complaints it has investigated. Most of the major companies joined almost immediately, Moss, who is in charge of enforcement in Colorado, said. Some small businesses were not familiar with the law initially or did not have employees to comply quickly.

Companies are smart enough to know we can love it, we can hate it, it happens regardless. So we have to prepare and make sure we do our best.” Romanishin, a Sindeo wage consultant, said. “Companies need to have a conversation with employees about how they are getting paid.”

More stories like this are available at bloomberg.com

© Bloomberg LP 2022

from San Jose News Bulletin https://sjnewsbulletin.com/more-american-companies-than-ever-before-are-sharing-how-much-jobs-pay/