Workers increasingly agree with that sentiment. In a recent survey from the human resources analytics platform Visier, 80% of respondents said they wanted some form of salary transparency and 68% said they would switch jobs to work somewhere with greater visibility into pay. Younger generations are also much more likely to feel comfortable sharing how much they make than older ones.
Andrew Wright, a Denver based finance professional currently on the hunt for a new job gets turned off when he comes across otherwise good opportunities missing that crucial data. “Even if there’s a job where the duties and the day to day things sound interesting to me, if I know that they are supposed to be listing the salary and they don’t, that does lose a bit of trust,” the 31-year-old said.
Wright says he has seen postings that try to skirt Colorado’s rules by being vague where the job can be done.
“Are they trying to hold back for some specific reason? Are they trying to hide it because they aren’t going to offer very much?” he said.
Some companies, trying to get ahead of regulations and appeal to workers like Wright in a tight labor market, have decided to be upfront about pay for all new roles, regardless of location. Seattle-based Microsoft Corp., for example, announced a blanket salary-range rule for all postings—not just ones based in Washington state, as will be required by the state’s law in a few months.
Job search portal Indeed earlier this year said 75% of new postings to its site include salary expectations; LinkedIn reported a 35% increase in the phenomenon in the first half of this year. Justin Hampton, a compensation specialist, has also seen a rise in public pay data in the UK, India, Australia, New Zealand and the United Arab Emirates.
Some organizations may continue to resist the trend. State fines for violating pay transparency laws are relatively minor, starting as low as $100 per incident. Some, like New York’s, exclude first-time offenders. And of course, many states don’t have such laws.
In addition, there are no requirements about listing bonuses or benefits, which make up a good chunk of compensation. And, to skirt the rules, employers could forgo posting openings altogether, using backchannel recruiting and networking to fill jobs, which can hinder diversity efforts. Though, that's difficult to do when hiring on a large scale.
Still, Colorado so far has only fined three companies out of the 278 complaints it has investigated. Moss, Colorado’s enforcer, said most big firms got on board almost immediately. Some smaller companies weren’t initially aware of the law or didn’t have the staff to quickly comply.
“Companies are smart enough to know ‘We can like it, we can hate it, it’s happening regardless. So it would behoove us to prepare and make sure we’re putting our best foot forward.’” Syndio pay consultant Romanyshyn said. “Companies need to have a grown-up conversation with employees about how they get paid.”
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.