Knowledge is Power
HR Magazine has been in touch to ask Mark Irvine to write a short piece on the importance of sharing pay information - the magazine editor poses the question and asks 3 'experts' to have their say - here's the question and, below that, Mark's contribution:
Should employees share their pay information with colleagues?
In a modern workplace, knowing what different groups of employees ear, relative to one another, is a matter of fairness and good practice.
If information and undertsanding are restricted to an elite group, there is scope for mischief and bad behaviour.
In 1998 UK councils and the trade unions signed a landmark Single Status (equal pay) agreement, after years of painstaking negotiations.
Both sides acknowledged that many female dominated jobs (e.g. home carers) were badly undervalued and paid less than unskilled male groups (e.g. refuse workers), who earned big bonuses of 50% on top of their basic pay.
But the existence and size of the pay gap was deliberately kept hidden. By the same employers and trade unions (Unison, GMB and TGWU) who promised - a decade ago - to deliver a non-discriminatory pay structure and a better deal for women workers.
So, as in other areas of public life, daylight really is the best disinfectant.
Mark Irvine
May 2008
Should employees share their pay information with colleagues?
In a modern workplace, knowing what different groups of employees ear, relative to one another, is a matter of fairness and good practice.
If information and undertsanding are restricted to an elite group, there is scope for mischief and bad behaviour.
In 1998 UK councils and the trade unions signed a landmark Single Status (equal pay) agreement, after years of painstaking negotiations.
Both sides acknowledged that many female dominated jobs (e.g. home carers) were badly undervalued and paid less than unskilled male groups (e.g. refuse workers), who earned big bonuses of 50% on top of their basic pay.
But the existence and size of the pay gap was deliberately kept hidden. By the same employers and trade unions (Unison, GMB and TGWU) who promised - a decade ago - to deliver a non-discriminatory pay structure and a better deal for women workers.
So, as in other areas of public life, daylight really is the best disinfectant.
Mark Irvine
May 2008
