If salaries are made public, shouldn’t other parts of the HR file be public since they affect salaries?
Performance evaluations, total leave taken, overtime worked, education, training, etc.
Inspired by the question: Would it be good policy to make public the salaries of individuals we work with?
My salary is not connected to my coworkers. I demand a certain level of compensation and what I perceive to be fair for my time, efforts and performance–this is not determined by my coworkers or their numbers. What they make won’t make a difference when I need to pay my mortgage.
Open salaries are a dumb idea:
1- They only lead to needless resentment and frustration in the workplace. It will create a "false" sense of unfairness because they only see numbers without getting the details, history and the reasons behind the numbers. So even if the salary is fair compensation to one’s performance, it’s easier for other employees to "perceive" it as unfair. Who needs that kind of turmoil and headache? No, thanks.
2- Numbers do not reflect non-monetary advantages, so again, an employee may get more combined benefits, yet "perceive" to be under compensated. Employee A’s flexible schedule may have more value to him than getting a $200 bonus that employee B got. An employer has to use different kinds of incentives to encourage employees differently, depending on their individual circumstances. Open salaries will require everyone to receive identical benefits but all employees are not identical with identical needs.
3- Salary is a personal matter. I may not want everybody knowing how much money I make. I don’t like people all up in my business.
3- It’s time consuming for the company and not productive to have to defend/explain every raise. This is a guaranteed disaster and distraction. HR has enough issues to deal with.
4- Sometimes the employer is forced offer someone a higher salary because of the timing of employment, supply and demand. For instance, the employer may need to meet a deadline for a project, no one else is available so the employer is forced to raise compensation to get the work done. The decision should not be publicly micromanaged by all employees.
I can go on and on…but I need to get back to work