Strong Majority of Americans Opposed to Disclosure of Pay Data

Employee Relations, Inclusion and Diversity

Despite efforts to increase the reporting of pay by companies, a new survey shows that most Americans are not comfortable revealing what they earn or their companies' pay ranges.  The Point Taken-Marist survey found more than 70 percent of Americans do not think employers should be required to publish employee salaries, either internally or externally, and almost two-thirds said they would rather not disclose their pay (62% of men and 70% of women) to anyone.  Moreover, 58 percent say that if private companies make salaries public "it will increase conflict among employees within the company."  Only 33 percent say it will improve fairness in the company.  The survey raises serious privacy and confidentially questions as the EEOC proposes to collect more detailed compensation data from employers.