Some states like Colorado and New York have already made pay transparency a legal requirement for employers. This means that on the company’s job postings or advertisements, in those states, they have to include an accurate salary range.
We, at A People Partner, LLC, encourage employers to be a leader in change for pay transparency. Don’t wait for your local state to force the change onto your organization. Make the necessary change to compensation and transparency because it’s the ethical and right thing to do.
Many people argue against pay transparency. One of the major arguments on the against side is that employees or prospective employees will always want the highest or top end of the range listed. Well, duh! Who doesn’t want more money to support themselves and their families?
There are plenty of ways that companies can implement pay transparency and still ensure they are paying individuals according to their experience.
One example of this for a company is to create a policy where they outline specific criteria to fit in a certain pay window. The employer must still be careful that they are not creating pay discrepancies based on opportunity, accessibility or discriminating factors.
One way this policy could look:
The range for a Customer Service Representative at A People Partner, LLC is $21-$30/hour depending on experience.
Level I CSR: 0-1 year of experience within a customer service related role = $21-$22/hour
Level 2 CSR: 2-4 years of experience within a customer service related role = $23-$25/hour
Level 3 CSR: 5-7 years of experience within a customer service role = $26-$28/hour
Level 4 CSR: 8-10 years of experience within a customer service role = $29-$30/hour
Other criteria of transferrable skills can be included within this policy to incorporate those that might have obtained “untraditional” experiences.
Avoid requiring degrees (unless a degree is necessary in the field, i.e. lawyer, doctor, teacher, etc.). Not everyone has equal access to education and secondary schooling, therefore building this in could increase disparities.
In the attached article from SHRM, compliance measures are discussed as this law went into effect. The compliance measures addressed in the article are ones that should be completed by an employer each year. These include:
- Salary assessment of current employees in the role.
- Thorough documentation of salary analysis.
- Conduct a pay equity audit and address pay disparities.
- Confirm that agency partners are also in compliance with the newly adjusted parameters of the law.
If you have any questions on this new law, how to conduct an accurate compensation review, need support with realigning your pay ranges or anything else related to these pay transparency changes, please contact A People Partner, LLC.