This week, I had a heated argument with my boss about pay transparency.
“Pay is a very private thing,” she insisted, “why is it anyone else’s business what someone earns?”
It would be terrible for staff morale, she told me, to suddenly discover that the person sitting next to you is on a higher salary. This could be for a myriad of reasons, she explained; maybe they’re a better negotiator, maybe they jumped ship, or maybe they are understood to be of more value to the business in a way that is difficult to quantify.
Listen: I argued with my boss about the need for pay transparency on this week’s episode of Mamamia Out Loud. It got very heated. Post continues below.
But I’m not convinced.
Some industries have full pay transparency, including teaching, nursing and politics – and they’re not rioting about pay grades. But there are others, particularly industries where the wage gap between bottom and top is astronomical – that have a policy of secrecy.
And historically, it’s served the big guys very well.
On Monday night it was announced that Lisa Wilkinson, who co-hosted the Today Show for more than 10 years, had left the Nine network due to their failure to meet her salary expectations.
This came after leaks over the weekend published by the Daily Telegraph that Wilkinson, a journalist with over 35 years experience, was being paid half of what her co-host, Karl Stefanovic, was taking home each year.
Top Comments
Perhaps we should pay people what the role is worth plus what they bring to the role rather than talk about negotiation skills? It seems we want to get away with paying people as little as possible, and perhaps the assumption is that we can pay women less as they won't do anything about it so we are offered less.... then we don't negotiate as we are fearful of being seen as difficult. It's a viscous cycle!
I am lucky enough to work for a business who has clear pay levels for the majority of employees, with an element dependant on the size of the business you look after and the results you achieve (and this is all transparent). No one argues about it and in fact it makes others aspire to achieve results and run a larger part of the business as they know exactly what $$$ they can earn. I have definitely worked for companies not like this and have been paid over 25% less than a male colleague for doing the same role (and I was achieving better results!). It is soul destroying and made me feel like I was not worth what he was
The pay model that Defence uses is great.
Everyone is paid the same and only depending on time in the job, rank and special career specific bonuses (which are open to everyone who puts the hard work in) will you get a “raise”.
Transparency and it’s great. There’s no arguments, no not knowing where you sit in the pay hierarchy.