Do you want to find out how much your colleagues earn?

Image source, Vinciane Lebrun

While we might talk about love and loss at work, we don't usually share how much we make with the people we work with.

Everyone at Alan knows their workmates salaries.

Staff can give an opinion on whether someone deserves a raise.

The creators of Alan decided to create a transparent pay structure from the moment the business started.

It is convenient to have full transparency, as it removes the mental load of having to know who should know what.

Image source, Vinciane Lebrun

New recruits can't negotiate over pay when they join the firm. If an existing member of staff says that they have been offered a new job somewhere else, salary cannot be used as a negotiating tool.

New joiners are not given the salary they have had in the past.

Everyone at Alan gets an automatic 3% annual pay rise, but for someone to receive an additional increase it is first reviewed by their colleagues.

The advantage is that we have a straightforward culture, and people will only apply if they really want to experience it. It may not sit well with some people.

Image source, Getty Images

On both sides of the Atlantic, greater transparency appears to be a growing trend when it comes to salaries. The aim of this shift is to try to finally tackle the so-called gender pay gap.

A pay transparency trial was launched by the UK government last month. Businesses will have to list a salary range on every job advert, and not ask applicants to reveal their salary history.

The Government Equalities Office said that these two things were meant to provide a firm footing for women to negotiate pay on a fair basis.

Women, people of colour and disabled people are more likely to be paid less than men. "So, when you ask about salary history, past pay discrimination and bias follows through from one job to the next, perpetuate gender, disability and ethnicity pay gaps."

A survey of 2200 people by the Fawcett society found that 61% of women and 53% of men said being asked about their salary had damaged their confidence to ask for better pay.

Pay transparency legislation is due to become law in New York City on May 15. Firms with more than four employees will be required to post salary ranges in order to tackle the gender and race pay gaps.

The Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is set to publish guidance to employers on voluntary ethnicity pay gap reporting.

The UK travel firm, Flash Pack, has adopted a transparent pay policy. The firm started up again this year after having to close down during the Pandemic and now puts the exact salary on its job adverts.

It used to only say that the pay was competitive, and then negotiate with a new recruit from there.

The new policy saves a lot of time, as they no longer get applications from people who expect to be paid a lot more than the company can offer.

Image source, Radha Vyas

We found that great candidates would be far apart on salary expectations.

The company had time to reflect on the problem.

The gender pay gap was perpetuated through salaries. We thought we were a generous employer, but suddenly we could see a difference.

In my previous experience of hiring, I found that some people were better at negotiating their salary.

A human resources company called Justly has worked with a London-based company called FlashPack.

Everyone knows each other's band, but they don't know each other's exact salary.

There is no flexibility to overpay or underpay people. We're at 14 staff so we're doing it now before we grow bigger.

Image source, Getty Images

Melanie Folkes-Mayers is the founder and chief executive of HR consulting company,EDEN MEYERS.

She says it cuts out so much waste.

She says that it can be very grey as some companies bring in people hand-picked by a recruiters and ask them what their salary expectation is.

I think it will get to the stage where companies will be more transparent, but more likely to have a graded system with a salary between this and that.

Ms Folkes-Mayers wonders if people will want to know their salaries. I am not sure how comfortable everyone will be.

Image source, Getty Images

It helps the gender pay gap. Smaller companies face challenges when they headhunt a person.

People will inevitably talk, they become friends, even though some organizations want to stop them from talking about salaries. If you are concerned about the disparity, you can either freeze some salaries or make a conscious decision to increase certain others every six months.

Although there is no general legal requirement on employers to be transparent about pay in the UK, there are two statutory provisions which touch on aspects of pay transparency.

He says that the first relates to pay secrecy clauses in a contract of employment.

The second statutory provision only applies to employers with a workforce of 250 people or more. Companies are required to report on their gender pay gap.

New Economy explores how businesses, trade, economies and working life are changing fast.

Businesses have to submit data about gender pay gaps in basic hourly pay, gender pay gaps in bonuses, and the proportion of men and women who get bonus payments to a government website.

It needs to be published on the employer's website in an accessible place, along with supporting narrative on the accuracy of the calculations.

If you really care about diversity, you have to do it, says Ms. Vyas, who has already seen the benefits of pay transparency. You have to do this work to do it.

Do you want to know how much your coworkers make? What have you experienced? Please email haveyoursay@bbc.co.uk.

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