Salaries: Should They Be Public Knowledge?
There is a very interesting article in the New York Times Op-Ed section today arguing that Congress should pass legislation mandating that all workplaces post the salaries of all employees. The argument is made right on the heels of the Supreme Court’s decision last week requiring employees to file pay discrimination complaints under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act within 180 days of the last pay adjustment.
The article also raises an important issue that the majority in the Ledbetter case must have overlooked when issuing their decision--it is not always possible for an employee to find out what a colleague is earning and thereby ascertain whether they are being discriminated against. Obviously there is a big risk that some employees will not be able to discover evidence that they are paid less until after the 180 days has expired.
Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg was cognizant of these risks when noting in her dissent the following examples: a veterinarian in Massachusetts, who learned that she was being paid less than her male counterparts only after a newspaper published a list of her colleagues’ salaries. The other dealt with a worker at General Motors who learned long after the fact that her starting salary was set lower than those of her male co-workers.
If we are really going to enforce the 180-day rule, then Congress needs to make it easier for workers to procure the necessary evidence. The solution is to make salary data transparent for ordinary workers.
Most business owners don’t want salary information released, reasoning that it would give their competitors an advantage. Yet many courts have said that wages are set by the market, but a market isn’t free if only the buyers of labor know the wages that are paid.
To ease the tension that posting salaries may create, the E.E.O.C. could issue guidelines to employers about how to determine fair salaries and identify the biases against women that result in lower salaries. The E.E.O.C. could remind employers that it is illegal to base pay and promotions on racial and sexual stereotypes.
Requiring companies to post salaries would give employers and employees a chance to begin discussing wages as responsible adults instead of as king and supplicant, or owner and beggar. It would help employees to better understand what their jobs are worth, and it would encourage their bosses to see how much more loyalty and productivity they could get from their workers in the absence of secret salary negotiations. In the end, fewer employees might file discrimination complaints, and if they did, at least they’d be able to gather enough evidence to meet the deadline.
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