Early in my career I hired someone who came to us from local government where compensation information was publicly available. Right after she started, a coworker asked about her compensation, which she shared. Since she was paid more than her longer tenured peer, it created quite the fuss.
At that point, sharing compensation at work was taboo. Now, there’s a push to open those conversations so employees can assure compensation equity.
Since 2020, nine states, including Maryland, Colorado, Nevada, Connecticut, California, Rhode Island, Washington, Illinois, and New York have passed pay transparency laws. An additional 15 states, including Michigan, have pay transparency laws pending.
What does this mean for Michigan based employers?
If you don’t have a defined compensation system with grades and ranges and well-organized data, now is the time to develop one. Whether you intend to share compensation information or not, you will want to ensure that you are compensating employees equally for similar work.
Whether or not the State of Michigan enacts the transparency laws that were introduced this spring, having your compensation house in order is good business.
Not certain how to improve your compensation system? We can help!