Divulging salary information in the workplace has historically been frowned upon, but against the backdrop of gender pay gap reporting and pay parity amongst employees, a number of businesses now see it as the way forward. 

Many employers now publish salary information and pay bands at the recruitment stage as they claim that it creates a firm footing for women, people of colour and disabled people to negotiate pay on a fairer basis. They also argue that it saves administrative time as it prevents applications from those whose salary expectations exceed what the company can offer. 

Some employers go further and also publish salary information within their employee handbook to promote “a straight forward culture” and to promote general trust and confidence between the employees and their employer. The business in this article even asks employees to vote on whether they think their colleagues deserve a pay rise. 

While this last example may seem extreme, research by HEC Paris Business School shows that imposed salary transparency could bring a number of benefits, including helping to dramatically reduce the gender pay gap. Perhaps we will see more and more businesses adopting this method going forward.