The perceptions of inequity need to be approached depending on the philosophy of the organization, its culture, and payment beliefs. Simultaneously, employers need to consider such laws as the Lily Ledbetter Pay Act and Equal Pay Act of 1964, which help prevent possible discrimination cases and motivate them to thoroughly assess and report on how bosses pay their workers. An important contributor is a philosophy of payment used in the workplace, i. e.; entitlement focuses more on years of experience and one’s rank, while pay-for-productivity accentuates the amount of work provided by the employee. Another helpful aspect is the incentive to not require employees to report their salaries from past jobs, which helps prevent wage gaps and other cases of inequality.
If my employer announced that they wanted to reveal payroll records to the public, I would focus on the possible outcomes and the context. This idea is more suitable in two cases: when performance quality is obvious and when the pay levels are centered on rank and experience. If neither of the two events applies, it may be devastating to workplace culture, as employees often overvalue their effort while undervaluing that of their colleagues (Valentine et al., 2020). This could negatively affect their motivation and productivity, as they may feel unjustly treated.
I think that employers need to discuss the two aforementioned equity acts and accentuate the payment philosophy in the organization. Moreover, employers need to have an approximate idea of how their occupation is valued in the market and guarantee that there is equitable and reasonable compensation in the workplace. That way, there would be fewer conflicts regarding payment decisions and workers would have a better idea of the environment and culture.
Reference
Valentine, S. R., Meglich, P., Jackson, J. H., Mathis, R. L. (2020) Human resource management. Chapter 11: Total rewards and compensation. 16th ed. Cengage Learning.
