Cooper Smither and Aleksandra Pressey recently wrote about the the growing importance of pay transparency and equity in Canadian workplaces, emphasizing their role in enhancing employee trust, engagement, and retention while addressing legal and cultural shifts in compensation practices.
See an excerpt below:
The Role of Pay Transparency in Promoting Workplace Success and Recognition
In today’s information-driven landscape, employees have unprecedented access to data about compensation. Recent trends indicate that 40% of Canadian organizations are either interested in or already voluntarily sharing more compensation information than legally required. This shift towards transparency is further fuelled by legal changes, such as Ontario’s new legislation mandating employers to disclose salary ranges in job postings, as well as a renewed discourse about pay equity obligations and addressing the gender pay gap. Considering these developments, easy access to online databases, and open discussions about pay, employees can more easily assess their market value and negotiate their worth.
As employees become increasingly informed about compensation, organizations must adapt their recognition and reward strategies. Traditional recognition methods and one-time bonuses no longer suffice to retain talent. According to a recent survey, more than half of Canadian workers feel underpaid and many express a willingness to leave if their expectations are unmet. Consequently, organizations must adopt a multifaceted approach that addresses both pay transparency and pay equity, ensuring that employees perceive their compensation as fair and equitable.