How Much Do You Get Paid? Part II
How can we open community discussion around compensation and pay inequality in healthy and useful ways?
Yesterday I wrote a post on the importance of people in tech talking about compensation inequality locally — within their teams, companies, roles and communities — as a small act of rebellion against the existing power structures in the industry.
Yet discussing compensation can be fraught with peril for members of marginalized groups who can be threatened, intimidated, bullied, punished and fired for advocating for pay transparency and equality.
Many members of the tech community report being asked to sign agreements stating that they will not share salary information, even though sharing salary information is federally protected and in California, where many tech employees work, employers are forbidden from firing or otherwise discriminating against any employee for sharing information, like salary, about their working conditions. The implicit and explicit legal threats around discussing compensation can also disproportionately affect people from marginalized groups, who may not have access to the knowledge base, legal counsel and community support to effectively defend against such threats.
It’s important that women, PoC, GLBT individuals and members of other marginalized groups aren’t further punished for pursuing openness around compensation information and fighting for pay inequality; and that responsibility for such doesn’t fall solely to them. So, here are some thoughts on specific ways that we can open up community conversation about pay inequity in tech in light of these concerns.
Please keep in mind that none of these strategies are without risk- indeed, no strategy that challenges the existing power structure is without risk. Still, they are important to consider and discuss if we are to seriously pursue openness and reform around compensation in the industry. Any strategies implemented in practice should be thought through critically and throughly.
- You can learn a lot, with a higher degree of safety, by confidentially sharing salary information with people like you, that you trust in your community. Many marginalized groups in technology have communication channels to safely share important information relevant to their group, such as information on abusers, harassers and other dangerous or harmful persons in the broader community. But because of the politeness politics and taboos around discussing comp, we don’t always use these same channels to talk $$$. Still, talking to other women in tech is where I’ve historically gotten most salary data that wasn’t otherwise accessible to me, and the anecdotal data that such communities can collect and disseminate is both large and invaluable. This information can help you make better decisions about asking for raises, interviewing and negotiation, switching companies, moving into different roles and other things that can benefit you financially.
- It’s important to get compensation information not only from within your company, but from the broader industry. I’ve found that sharing compensation information with people who don’t share my employer has really helped me to contextualize my compensation, and ultimately advocate more effectively for market rate compensation for myself and the people I have managed and advised. In some cases, gaining compensation information from people outside of your immediate company may be safer and more practical for both you and them, and in some cases, more useful as well.
- Help create awareness around worker’s rights in your community. Many people in tech don’t know about section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act, and in California, section 232.5 of the California Labor Code, which protect worker’s rights to share information about their working conditions — including salary — without retaliation from employers.
- People in positions of privilege should be open to sharing their compensation information, if it is desired, without requiring mutual disclosure from people in marginalized groups. Oftentimes, data about their relative compensation compared to members of privileged groups is not accessible to people in marginalized groups.
- Talking about compensation does not just imply the context of 1:1 conversations. How can larger groups help facilitate these discussions — by negotiating safe, even anonymous disclosures within groups, or simply by discussing the silence and taboo around compensation in order to start facilitating group coordination?
- Within companies, groups that bring together diverse individuals can organize to promote organizational practices that lead to more openness around compensation, such as anonymized publishing of compensation across role and across privileged and marginalized groups (gender, race, age, etc.). This may be safer in larger companies where anonymized data is unlikely to result in any particular individuals being personally identified and/or targeted as a result of this disclosure.
- Managers inside of companies are in a significant position of power to change the norms around compensation. Managers can work with other managers to discuss and implement policies that contribute to pay equity, such as regular reviews and correction of unequal compensation across diverse groups in the company. This is just one way that managers can use their power and privilege to advocate for positive transformation in the workplace.
- People in positions of privilege within the industry can use their platforms and influence to draw attention to compensation inequity. I’d love to hear more people discussing the role of equity in compensation inequality, the roles of privilege in affecting the long-term financial conditions of tech workers, and paths to better organization of workers to advocate for equal pay.
- Unionization is an incredibly taboo topic in tech — perhaps even more so than discussion of compensation itself. The tech community’s narcissistic focus on individualism, devotion to large corporate entities, uncritical love of capitalism, and lack of social consciousness all contribute to an environment where formal workers’ organization is generally considered out of the question. However, data conclusively shows that the interests of marginalized workers in tech are not in line with the ruling corporate interests… which makes formal worker’s organization increasingly appealing.
Read the first part of this series on compensation here, and please remember that just looking at salary through the dimensions of the gender binary (men and women) isn’t sufficient — please read my post on Analyzing Diversity in Your Workplace for a more complete (but not exhaustive) look at other relevant dimensions.
