Show me the money – and I’ll show you mine

2 months ago 03rd May 10:33

The key word is openness. The details of your salary policy should be available to all employees.

Conduct a regular review of your policy, testing whether it is working.

Ensure a structure is put in place that permits workers who feel they are comparatively underpaid to discuss their concerns with a senior member of management in an off-the-record, constructive session. Feedback should be discussed and acted upon at management level within a reasonable time period.

Ensure line managers engage regularly with employees to gauge satisfaction levels so that any problem areas can be acted upon.

Getting a fair day’s pay:

Ask colleagues. Given the findings of this report, you may be surprised how many of your peers are prepared to share information that has traditionally been a sensitive subject.

Ask your line manager. They should be able – and happy – to tell you the company’s policy on pay, and possibly even what the salary bandings are for a particular position and how they work. If they don’t know, they should be able to find out for you within a reasonable time frame.

Look at salary surveys for your industry, often published annually in trade publications and online, and job adverts for similar positions. If, having compared these, you feel you are being underpaid, take this evidence to your line manager and demonstrate how you are operating at this level.

The research also identified some regional variations:

Scottish workers feel strongest that pay transparency would combat the gender pay gap (69% compared to 63% national average)

Scottish workers also feel most strongly that managers should have to disclose their earnings (67% compared to 62% national average)

West Midland employees are the most comfortable with the idea of disclosing their earnings (68% compared to 60% national average)

Londoners are the least comfortable with the idea of disclosing their earnings (50%) Women in the South East are far less comfortable with the idea of disclosing their earnings (51%) than men (65%) Women in the North West are far less comfortable with the idea of disclosing their earnings (56%) than men (70%) Women in the North East are far more likely to believe that pay transparency would combat the gender pay gap (69%) than men (54%)

Women in the South East are far more likely to believe that pay transparency would combat the gender pay gap (64%) than men (55%)

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