Study Hall: What To Do After Pay Transparency?

I agree that pay transparency is important. But, what do we do once we discover that the pay is vastly different from each other? We want to make sure that we address this the right way without making anyone get penalized.

It's important to remember that you're all in this together—regardless of who is getting paid more, everyone is being impacted by structural inequities! I recommend escalating this to leadership without shame or blame against any individual. Be sure to present the facts that you have without centering the people and keeping the conversation solely focused on the wages. It's helpful to request the organization to do a comprehensive pay audit so they can be accountable for examining and rectifying the problem. However the organization decides to respond is not your fault. You might not be able to control the outcome, but you can present the facts. Someone in your group may feel uncomfortable bringing this up because of repercussions. If they're firm that they don't want to be included, it might be best to reach out anonymously or pause the initiative entirely. Beyond this, you may have a case of discrimination based on the Equal Pay Act, which you can learn more about here.

Here are a few more resources for individuals:

• What to Do About a Pay Gap at Your Workplace (GlassDoor)

• How to Handle Salary Inequality in the Workplace (Financial Gym)

And organizations:

• How to Identify — and Fix — Pay Inequality at Your Company (HBR)

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