The solution to this is not to hide data (it's illegal in the US to forbid employees talking about it with each other anyway, which means they can compile a lis

The solution to this is not to hide data (it's illegal in the US to forbid employees talking about it with each other anyway, which means they can compile a list of what everyone's making). The solution is to take salary negotiation out of it. Flat pay structure within a job title/level, with criteria laying out what the requirements are for each title and each level, solves this immediately, and rather than turning into "Why should Bob make more than me when I work as hard", turns into "Here's what we need to see in order to promote you to Widget Adjuster level 3, would you like to work out a plan for how to get there?"