Most U.S. Companies Are Willing to List Salaries in Job Descriptions

By Jeff Green, Bloomberg News (TNS)

A majority of companies might soon include salary information as part of U.S. job postings even where it’s not required by law, according to data released Wednesday, as competition for new workers increases pressure to be transparent on pay.

About 19% of companies surveyed by consulting company Willis Towers Watson Plc are planning on giving pay range details in job listings and another 43% are considering it, the research showed. Some 17% of companies already provide the information across U.S. locations that don’t have legal requirements to do so. WTW surveyed 388 executives in June and July, representing companies that employ 7.5 million workers.

“We expect that level of transparency will likely become the norm as external stakeholders demand more clarity and visibility into companies’ pay management practices,” said Lindsay Wiggins, WTW’s North America fair pay co-lead, in a statement.

Pay transparency is seen as being particularly important for women, who are often already paid less and would benefit more from information that could help them bargain for a higher wage. The pay gap for women has been stalled for more than a decade at about 83% of what men earn, according to U.S. Census figures. Pay disclosure is still not required in most states.

California last month joined Colorado, New York City, New York State and Washington state in passing laws that will require companies to list salary ranges for job in those states. Only Colorado’s law is currently in effect; New York City-based employers will have to start listing pay ranges starting on Nov. 1. The New York and California state laws are awaiting signatures from those states’ governors before they can go into effect sometime next year.

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