Pay transparency can reveal some uncomfortable truths — and employees are quitting over it

PAY TRANSPARENCY: Visier Inc. conducted research on the impact of?compensation strategies ?and found that when employees discovered pay differences between themselves and new hires, they were nearly two times more likely to resign if their pay was not adjusted within six months. Employees whose salaries remained the same over one year were 2.3 times as likely to resign.?Managers themselves are even finding out that they're being paid less than some of their direct reports.

"It's part of the employee experience to know: Do I get paid fairly or not?" says Andrea Derler, Ph.D. , principal of research and value at Visier. "It's something that needs to be carefully handled. If you don't adjust the salary of the existing team members quickly, they will leave for another job somewhere else for more salary."?

Read: Pay transparency has left middle managers unprepared to defend salary discrepancies

LGBTQ: In a recent survey by job insights platform Glassdoor , 55% of LGBTQ employees report they have experienced or witnessed anti-LGBTQ comments by co-workers. As a result, 45% of employed queer Americans say they believe being "out" at work could hurt their careers, whether the result is not being selected for a project, being overlooked for a promotion or even losing a job.?

Read: 45% of LGBTQ employees feel being out at work could cost them their careers

LEGISLATION: The U.S. is making an effort to protect pregnant workers from losing their jobs — and employers need to be ready.?Under the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, or PWFA, signed into law by President Biden on Dec. 29, 2022,?employers with at least 15 employees will be required to provide reasonable accommodations to workers with known limitations due to pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions. Starting June 27, employees can file charges of discrimination to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission if their employer fails to be?compliant ?with the PWFA.?

If employers do not want to risk fines and lawsuits this summer and beyond, they should take extra care to review the PWFA and prepare the accommodations their employees need to be productive, but comfortable.

Read: The PWFA is expanding protections for pregnant workers — how employers can prepare