In the first blog post from Fairness & Friends, I highlighted that one of the key aspects of the upcoming pay transparency directive is the shift in accountability. “The burden of proof” is now increasingly on the employer rather than the employee. A concrete example of this is that, under the Pay Transparency Directive, salary ranges must be presented in job advertisements or, at the latest, when a candidate is invited for an interview.
As we know, and as I reflected in the previous blog post, it has been common in Finland to leave salaries undisclosed in job advertisements, placing the responsibility for knowing the correct salary level on the job seeker. (Read the previous blog for more on this topic.) However, changes are indeed on the horizon, and salary ranges will need to be disclosed.
In practice, introducing salary ranges in job advertisements requires a clearly structured compensation system that is applied within the organization in such a way that pay differences between various job roles can be explained by sustainable, consistent, and fair criteria. When the groundwork is solid, there should be nothing particularly challenging about presenting salary ranges. If the rules are the same for everyone, well-known, and trusted to be applied consistently, a salary range outlined in a job advertisement should not pose an issue within the organization.
In contrast, in a culture based purely on negotiated salaries rather than a structured pay system, the situation can be more complicated. If salary amounts vary for similar positions depending on an individual’s negotiation skills during the hiring process and later during salary review rounds, presenting salary ranges in job advertisements becomes more complex. Where, in this case, would one find the “justification” for a fairly set salary range presented in a job advertisement?
If organizations lack pay structures that support transparency and a unified approach to salary increases, it is entirely possible that publicly disclosing salary ranges in job advertisements will spark critical discussions about how and in what way employees’ salaries are determined, and whether these determination methods are fair.
I understand that there have been concerned opinions in public discussions about the disclosure of salary ranges in job postings. There are many reasons for this concern, starting from a strong competitive situation. However, a large part of the worries related to presenting salary ranges can be addressed by building trust within the organization through the establishment of principles and rules for remuneration that are systematically followed and apply to everyone, both current and future employees.
