Why You Can't Discuss Salaries at Work
From the Eye on the Workforce Blog
by Joe Wynne
Workforce management is a key part of project success, but project managers often find it difficult to get trustworthy information on what really works. From interpersonal interactions to big workforce issues we'll look the latest research and proven techniques to find the most effective solutions for your projects.
Recent Posts
Help Your Team Succeed as AI Reshapes Delivery
Show an Explorer's Courage in Today's Work Environment
Facilitating Team When Given New Tight Budget Part 2
Facilitating Team When Given New Tight Budget
Your RTO Employer Missed It But You Can Fix It
Categories
Artificial Intelligence,
Benefits Realization,
Career Development,
Change Management,
Communications Management,
Complexity,
Decision Making,
Employee Engagement,
HR Mgmt,
Innovation,
Leadership,
Learning,
Manage People,
Organizational Culture,
Performance Improvement,
Recruiting,
Risk Management,
Robotic Process Automation,
Schedule Management,
Stakeholder Management,
Teams,
Worker Selection
Date
Faithful reader Naomi C. (not her real last name) wanted me to comment on the newly signed pay discrimination law. This particular law basically changes the acceptable timing of initiating a pay discrimination suit. Now the deadline is related to each check you get rather than when the salary started. So even if your company does a great job of covering up blatant gender-based pay discrimination, you have more time to detect that problem and take them to court or seek a settlement.
In larger firms, compensation analysts have designed state-of-the-art systems that define pay grades and associated performance expectations. The standardization of "job families" has made the practice of consistent pay easier in this day and age. In addition, HR specialists are helping managers avoid discriminatory practices with training and guidance. Still compensation analysts have to "expand" the job band salary ranges for flexibility requested by management. This provides opportunity for miscreants.
So I suspect in the coming years we will be fascinated (if not surprised) at news of firms that will be brought into court and lose court cases, or pay settlements "without admitting guilt." You may even see more emphasis from managers that it is not acceptable to discuss salaries with fellow employees. And now you'll know why.
Posted on: February 06, 2009 06:53 AM |
Permalink
Comments (2)
Please login or join to subscribe to this item
Mark Price Perry
Business Driven PMO Evangelist| BOT International
Orlando, Fl, United States
Joe, nice post and I agree. And, let those discriminating firms face the consequences. It is perfectly fine to discuss with your immediate manager such things as pay grades and the company policy for salary levels, ranges, and structuring, etc. Perhaps I am old school, but I am in the camp that advises that it is not acceptable to discuss salaries with fellow employees. It is a slippery slope and unnecesssary.
Over the years organisations have become very smart by rightly as you say re-evaluating jobs and applying standardisation of ''''job families'''' a way of reducing salaries and pay earned by employees over the years through sheer hard work and loyalty to the company; the job family model usually fits-in with Matrix Management. Common practice and from experience, not all jobs can possibly fit-in into the job families model - to demonstrate this for example, a Project Manager, Business Analyst, Software developer, software tester, infrastructure architect jobs evaluated may end up in the same job family grade with a min and max salary pay scale. If an employee happens to be unlucky and their salary pay exceeds the maximum pay scale for their grade, the only annual pay increase that usually is given by many organisations is a percentage of the ''''Cost of Living'''' and nothing more until such time the salary scales are revised to a higher pay that exceeds their salary for their grade; Additional salary payment is possible and this is usually performance related pay that some employees maybe eligible if they had exceeded expectations and met ALL objectives. Some organisations are using terms such as ''''Raising the Bar'''' the employer expectations are high - fail at your peril means no salary increase. Salaries are therefore not discussed with another member of staff, this is seen as a private matter between the employee and the organisation. Unfair it is in many cases but since no one is prepared to discuss pay it remains the unspoken word, it is taboo even with a pay discrimination law in place it will ve very hard to prove in many cases
It will be interesting to view other members experiences.....
Vasoula
Please Login/Register to leave a comment.
|
Vote early and vote often.
- Al Capone
|
