Majority of Firms Not Prepared for New Pay Transparency Laws

Two-thirds of companies say they are not prepared for new US pay transparency laws, according to a new study.

 Syndio’s 2023 Workplace Equity Trends Report Although companies are reporting that workplace equity programmes remain a top priority even in a volatile economy, not all are necessarily prepared to tackle what’s ahead. While many employers are pushing ahead with greater pay transparency, two-thirds of companies are unprepared to comply with new pay transparency laws — some of which go into effect in just a few months, according to a new report from workplace equity analytics platform, Syndio.

There has been a steady drumbeat of states enacting or proposing new pay transparency legislation across the country, with California becoming the latest state to pass a bill requiring employers to disclose pay ranges. And many employers are saying they plan to post pay on jobs, even in jurisdictions where it is not required by law. But based on Syndio’s 2023 Workplace Equity Trends Report revealed that only 35% of respondents said their company is fully ready or already posting pay ranges. Another 21% are “almost prepared;” 34% are “somewhat prepared,” and 10% are unprepared.

WORKPLACE PAY EQUITY

“Creating and posting accurate pay ranges is deceptively complex. It requires companies to really understand why they pay what they pay, be confident that they’re paying employees fairly – and that they are ready to confidently communicate that broadly to new and existing employees,” said Christine Hendrickson, VP of Strategic Initiatives at Syndio and a pay equity attorney.

“It’s intimidating but the good news is, there are steps employers can take to get ready, and that starts with throwing out the idea that conducting a one-time, blackbox pay equity analysis will suffice. That may have been the gold standard before, but that just won’t cut it anymore.”  

KEY FINDINGS

Other key findings Syndio identified from the report include:

• Companies are expanding their definition of diversity: Companies are tracking more employee identity groups, such as veterans, people with disabilities, the terminally ill, and caregivers. Among the newest categories, caregiving responsibility (12%) and refugee status (11%) are emerging as identity groups that companies are starting to track.
• The technology sector is lagging in effectively building diverse teams: Healthcare (84%), retail/food service (76%) and education (75%) received the highest marks for effectively building diverse teams at each level. Technology fared worst, with only 59% of respondents agreeing that their organization effectively diversified staff.
• Half of companies don’t believe there is enough leadership accountability for diversity goals: 90% of companies have some type of diversity goal, but half of respondents (46%) do not agree that there is meaningful accountability at the leadership level if those initiatives fail.

TRANSPARENCY & ACCOUNTABILITY

“We’re at a moment in time where employee-employer trust is fractured,” said Syndio CEO Maria Colacurcio. “C-level enthusiasm for DE&I and diversity pledges are empty, performative promises without follow through. Achieving lasting change requires leaders to set measurable, data-driven goals for workplace equity, creating specific action plans to achieve them, and being transparent about progress – good or bad – in order to increase accountability and trust.”

The full Syndio 2023 Workplace Equity Trends Report can be downloaded here.

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