Pay Equity: Why it’s Critical to Diversity and Inclusion Efforts — InPower Coaching

Although many organizations profess to support diversity and inclusion (D&I) practices, not as many have stepped up to the E in DE&I: Equity. But what does equity in the workplace actually mean and why is pay equity, in particular, so important?

Check out the video advice to employees on pay equity below.

This is a tricky subject. There are many reasons that pay equity helps fight the social injustices of privilege and bias (read below). However, along with commitments to fair wages comes salary transparency, which is uncomfortable for everyone. Many of us feel self-conscious talking about salary information with fellow employees. Unless we’re unionized or work for an organization with clear pay transparency policies already in place, we worry that we’ll lose favor with our management if we share our salary. Why? If we share our salary, this information immediately becomes bargaining leverage with our employer for everyone else when seeking a raise.

This anxiety is not an idle threat. In fact, I was fired from my first job out of college for “looking at someone else’s paycheck,” while I was handing out salary envelopes. After the fact I came to believe that my boss (a sole proprietor) was just cash strapped and didn’t want to tell me why he was letting…