Dianne Pajo
The pay gap in the US is substantial. There’s a lot to unpack to find solutions. Every company should ensure their employees are paid equally. There are several strategies for fixing pay inequality in your business. Let’s go over some now.
Open the Floor for Honest Discussion
While it’s not ethical to discuss pay while in the office or even remotely, it’s okay to hold a meeting on the topic; however, these meetings should be contained to related roles. For example, a content writing team could come together and discuss their roles, duties, and responsibilities. Employers shouldn’t base salary on work performance but on market factors and demographics.
Employers should take the time to learn their demographic and marketable factors before deciding on salary. If you were hiring content writers, you would want to look at the average salary for entry-level content writers. Most would start at $15 an hour, and after working well for a while, they should be considered for a raise.
The only time an employee should be making more than another in the same role is if there is another position they can be promoted into, such as senior content writer. The role change sees a pay increase because of the boost in workload intensity and the need to work quickly and communicate effectively.
Think About Extending Parental and Medical Leave
Parental and medical leave are two things workers struggle to access. Sometimes, employers don’t offer this or have shorter terms that make taking leave useless. This is your chance to change that, especially for parents. It would be a good practice to equalize parental and medical leave when basing salary.
When parents have better parental leave, they won’t feel forced out of the workforce, and the other parent won’t be the only one bringing in money. The same policies should apply to more than maternity leave. For example, you should offer leave for adoption as well. By making parental leave easily accessible, parents can bond with their children and establish equity in the household.
Avoid Basing Pay on Salary History
While interviewing for new roles, you negotiate salaries with interviewees and onboard employees. You must use best practices to ensure your compensation plan is fair. One of the worst things you could do when hiring new employees is basing pay off an applicant’s salary history. Salary history is what it is—it’s a history of what an employee was paid in the past, and it shouldn’t be used to determine a starting salary. You may end up turning good employees away with low offers.
The best way to ensure pay equality is to implement a thoughtful strategy to determine a good salary for every employee. Although these solutions for fixing pay inequality in your business might help, not every plan will work for everyone. If you want all of your employees to earn well and equally, start with these ideas.
