More workers tackle pay transparency taboo

Despite many businesses choosing not to disclose the salaries of their staff members, more workers want greater pay transparency.

In fact, when asked what level of compensation transparency they would most like from their organisation, 39% of employees want to understand their total comp, 26% want more knowledge on salary ranges for different positions and eight percent want to know how salary ranges differ by location.

The report dubbed 2022 Compensation and Culture Report carried out by Beqom found that fewer than half of Brits are aware of their total compensation.

It seems that more women (41%) than men (36%) would like to understand their total compensation, but more men (31%) than women (24%) want to understand salary ranges for different positions in their company.

The research also found that more than a third of employees believe they don’t think their current company pays employees fairly.

Tanya Jansen, co-founder of Beqom, stated: “At a time when many workers are struggling to make ends meet, employers need to focus now more than ever on establishing pay transparency within their organisations.

“Pay transparency offered directly by management, rather than being whispered among colleagues, is a win-win scenario. Aside from strengthening trust between employees and employers, it improves employee motivation and performance, and reduces the risk of losing top talent who do not believe they are being fairly compensated.

“Transparency also helps reduce the expense of hiring replacements, which can cost as much as one-third of a former worker’s salary to rehire.”

34% of respondents who shared that their business doesn’t pay employees fairly, added that they know this to be true following conversations with peers in the same role at their organisation that they aren’t paid the same amount.

Nearly one in five agreed that their company fails to pay workers what they are due because there is a deliberate secrecy around the disclosure of pay and/or bonuses.

31% added they think it’s because their pay is lower than the same role at a competitor business.

Despite this subject remaining a taboo, more employees are taking action to change their compensation, for example more than two-thirds admitted to talking to co-workers about their salaries in the past year.

In addition, 35% of workers surveyed said they had asked for a raise or job promotion in the last year.

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