Dive Brief:

• Most U.S. employers are communicating pay program information to employees in a move that is especially driven by changing regulatory requirements, according to the results of a recent WTW survey.
• Of the 448 U.S. respondents, 6 in 10 disclosed job levels and 48% communicated how individual base pay is determined. Just over one-third of employers disclosed pay ranges, but 46% were planning or considering doing so in the future, WTW said. Regulatory requirements were the most commonly cited factor for transparency, ahead of values, culture, employee expectations and other policies.
• Creating visibility may lead to even more work, as 50% of respondents said they expected more questions from current employees as a result of communicating pay rates or ranges. Managerial training is one consideration; while managers were the most common channel for pay program information, only 38% of respondents said they were effective at training managers about pay.

Dive Insight:

In spite of the proliferation of pay transparency laws in recent years, the subject is not solely a matter of compliance for employers.

Employees largely value pay transparency and hope to work for employers that oblige, according to a Randstad survey published this month. The firm found that 70% of U.S. worker respondents were more likely to apply for a job for which pay or pay ranges were readily available. That included more than 80% of workers ages 18 to 24.

Current employees, too, are likely to bring pay to the forefront of in-house discussions in the near future. Recent data from Robert Half showed that about two-thirds of workers planned to ask for a raise before the end of 2023. Relatedly, Randstad’s survey found that 68% of workers would request a raise if they knew their co-workers in similar roles were making more than them.

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