Nonprofit HR’s Blog

Where does your organization stand in its pay transparency journey? When we think about pay transparency, the first question that often comes up is: Are we required to post salaries in the state(s) where we operate? However, pay transparency encompasses much more than just meeting legal requirements. It involves a thoughtful approach to how your organization communicates salary information and makes salary decisions. Let’s explore the various levels of pay transparency an organization could embrace:

Level 1: Minimal Disclosure

In this first level, your organization only meets the bare minimum state law requirements for salary disclosures. If your state mandates posting salaries, you comply. If there are no such laws, salary information is only shared within the employee’s paycheck.

Level 2: How Pay is Determined Here, your organization goes a step further by sharing with staff how pay is determined. This includes details about market comparators, salary data sources, where your organization aims to meet the market median and the frequency of market data refreshes. While you share general information, you likely aren’t sharing specific salary ranges or the overall salary structure.

Level 3: Positioning/Department Pay Ranges

The third level is where your organization shares salary ranges with department managers and informs them about their employees positioning within those ranges. If an employee requests it, you provide the salary range for their position and their place within that range. This level also includes sharing policies around salary decisions, such as hiring practices and promotion guidelines.

Level 4: Complete Salary Structure

Organizations at this level share the entire salary structure and grade hierarchy, detailing how jobs fit into this structure. Although this information is often considered proprietary, it may be made accessible to all employees. Additionally, organizations might share overall budget information and the criteria used to determine it.

Level 5: Full Individual Salary Disclosure

This rare level of transparency is the highest, and involves providing all individual salary information to all employees. Few organizations operate at this level, but those that do promote an extremely open salary environment.

Reflect and Act

Take a moment to review these levels and reflect on where your organization stands in its pay transparency journey. Remember, posting salaries is just the beginning. To advance through these levels, you need an updated pay structure (within the last two years), well-defined job descriptions, and clear pay philosophy and practices. This transparency can drive motivation, enhance trust, and strengthen your organization’s reputation as a fair and equitable employer.

So, where does your organization stand today, and where do you want it to be tomorrow? Take the next steps towards a more transparent and thriving workplace.

Want to learn where other organizations are on their pay transparency journey? Participate in the Total Rewards Practices Survey and be among the first to receive the survey results!

Contributing Author

Lisa McKeown
Managing Director, Total Rewards
Nonprofit HR

Lisa McKeown offers clients more than 25 years of experience in global total rewards and HCMS, with unique expertise in global compensation strategy, program design and operations. Known to bring a strong service orientation to every project she touches, Lisa is a critical thinker who thoughtfully develops programs that are differentiating for clients and their employees, alike. Lisa’s toolbox is well-equipped, bringing clients stellar services on compensation and benefit program design and strategic thought partnership, systems implementation, compensation communication and training. Read full bio.