How to Navigate Pay Transparency Laws

“With pay transparency, the genie is out of the bottle and there is no going back,” says Maggie Hulce, Indeed’s executive vice president and general manager for enterprise. “By setting clearer pay expectations upfront between a job seeker and employer, better matches happen – faster. Pay transparency can also help close pay gaps that still exist across gender, race [and] ethnicity and other factors.”

While the requirements vary, disclosing pay information can present new questions and obstacles for organisations. But there are some efficient ways to incorporate this into your recruiting process – not just to stay in compliance, but to get better hiring results.

Transparency and Successful Recruitment Go Hand in Hand

In a Glassdoor survey on what employed and job-seeking professionals are looking for, 81% of employees emphasised the importance of fair and equitable pay. When pay is public knowledge, this helps level the playing field – committing to pay transparency also demonstrates your commitment to pay equity.

In turn, this commitment drives greater interest in applying for your jobs. Most employees would consider changing a job for one with greater pay transparency. 

How Employers Can Embrace Pay Transparency

Navigating changes in recruiting is never easy, but there are ways to streamline the process and keep pay transparency top of mind:

• Act now. Update existing job posts with pay ranges as soon as possible. This way, if or when there are legal requirements to do so, you’re all set.
• Follow pay transparency requirements when posting jobs. When posting new jobs through Indeed’s job posting funnel where a law exists requiring employers to include pay information, Indeed requires employers to do so when posting jobs to Indeed, or to indicate that the law does not apply to their post. This will help ensure your jobs can receive applicants.
• Give accurate and helpful information. Qualified applicants are informed about the compensation they deserve. 
• Stay competitive. Indeed Hiring Insights can provide guidelines on what other employers are offering on Indeed. With this tool, you can search the job title you’re recruiting for and its location to see the average salary for similar roles.

Transparency for job seekers is now a top priority for a number of large Australian firms. The consultancy firm PriceWaterhouseCoopers announced that they would be releasing projected pay ranges for staff. Early last year, the Australian bank Westpac also announced it would be scrapping pay secrecy clauses in contracts across their workforce. More recently, significant amendments to the Federal Government’s Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) were passed on 6 December 2022, to have companies remove pay secrecy provisions within employment contracts, amongst other workplace amendments. These trends are all strong indicators of how these companies and Australia are addressing their workforce needs through more transparency.

Let’s Work to Close the Pay Gap – Together

“Wanting more insight into expected salary ranges of [jobs] is one of the top pieces of feedback that we receive from job seekers,” says Priscilla Koranteng, Indeed’s chief people officer.

By using these strategies to make pay transparency one of your organisation’s priorities, you can attract more talent within a challenging hiring environment.