Should companies introduce pay transparency?

The question may have already crossed your mind, or even entered your daily professional life: is it desirable for a company to make its employees' remuneration packages public internally? Two of our authors debate the issue.

Chelsea Rolle

YES. Salary is an important issue in the world of work. Lifting this taboo would remove a great deal of frustration among employees, who are often reluctant to broach the subject and swallow their dissatisfaction when they feel that their work is not paid at its fair value. What's more, transparency strengthens the bond of trust between employer and employee, a bond that is essential to the long-term survival of a company. An employer confident enough to publish the salaries it awards internally is an employer who is sure of its choices. It therefore inspires confidence not only in its employees, but also in itself. In this sense, transparency forces him to rely on solid, factual arguments, since he may have to justify the amounts involved. Ultimately, transparency leads to greater equality within an organization, and a reasonable, reasoned approach to setting salaries.

Pablo Sánchez

NO. The details of a contract concern only the employer and the employee. After that, it's up to each individual to share it with his or her colleagues. Salary transparency is well-intentioned, in that it provides more information about salary inequalities, but these inequalities are not necessarily injustices. For the employer, it's a way of valuing individual skills and attracting talent. Transparency leads the company into a dynamic of perpetual justification, which generates a lot of red tape and is not healthy internally. Indeed, if, once made public, salaries are not homogenized - which is desirable in order to continue to promote individual characteristics - then there is a risk of deterioration in the working environment. In a kind of generalized surveillance, everyone becomes a judge of the merit of his or her office neighbor. Comparisons and petty jealousies will be amplified, whereas only the employer has the necessary overview to judge. It is up to him to make his choices according to the company's results, interests and possibilities, without being subjected to constant justification.

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