Lack of pay transparency in Irish workplaces – survey

Just one in four people believe there is full pay transparency in their workplace and more than half think discussing salaries is taboo, according to new research from hiring platform Indeed.

Almost 1 in 5 respondents to the survey said their partner does not know how much money they really earn.

Just 16% said they would share their salary openly and without hesitation if a coworker asked.

The research shows that 83% believe job postings should include salary ranges as standard, however just 41% of job postings in Ireland list salary details, according to Indeed.

The UK had the highest rates of transparency in job postings, with 71% listing salary details, while Germany had the lowest, with just 16% listing these details.

More than four in ten respondents said that they had discovered that a colleague working in the same position was earning more than them on at least one occasion during their career.

Those surveyed indicated a greater willingness to share salary information if there was full salary transparency in their workplace.

The findings come as the EU Pay Transparency Directive is due to introduce a range of requirements for employers and new rights for employees from next year on.

Organisations will be required to provide information on pay ranges as part of the recruitment process and will no longer be able to ask candidates about the pay they receive in their existing job.

The Indeed survey was carried out by Censuswide and included more than 1,000 workers in Ireland.

“A significant proportion of respondents felt pay was something they couldn’t discuss in their workforce, but they also believe this would change in a situation where pay rates or average pay rates were openly shared,” said Jack Kennedy, Senior Economist at Indeed.

“This suggests that many employees will favour the new EU requirements and the legislation, when implemented in Ireland, could result in a new era of pay transparency and openness that will ultimately allow people to know if they are being paid fairly for the work they are doing,” Mr Kennedy said.