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> Most HR departments set salaries based on "market reference points" derived from data from salary survey companies like erieri.com. But the HR depts also send

> Most HR departments set salaries based on "market reference points" derived from data from salary survey companies like erieri.com. But the HR depts also send their salary data to the salary survey companies (that is how they get a lot of their data). I'm trying to think through this and wondering how companies should set salaries. I mean, I get your point about wage fixing, but I get my information about how much to ask for from shared storage that try to determine "market reference points". Is the idea that it should somehow be done in a vacuum? Seems like a chicken and the egg problem. "Wage fixing occurs when companies in the same industry conspire or agree to suppress employee earnings below the the market rate." According to "https://www.nka.com/practice-areas/employee-rights/wage-fixing.html https://www.nka.com/practice-areas/employee-rights/wage-fixi...". So, as long as they are at market rate and not below market rate, it's not wage fixing? On the flip side it could be that the shared nature of the information makes it easier for companies to compete with eachother on salaries and raises rates.

ghaff 4y ago
Of course, companies very properly do competitive pricing research all the time with pricing that is public or quasi-public. And their general pricing strategy and what the competition is selling for is absolutely taken into account. It's just in this case salary info is (mostly) not public in the US.
tooltower 4y ago
Yet when I'm working in a company, asking for my colleagues' salary is taboo. Either make everyone's salaries public, or ban employers from using full-market surveys. If I have to guess at the market rate from a few samples, employers need to as well. This level of information asymmetry (in the US at least) is bs.
- tqi 4y ago
  Cultural taboos are hard to overcome, but taboo or not, you absolutely have the right to discuss wages. If a company is telling you to keep your wages secret they're breaking the law: https://www.nlrb.gov/about-nlrb/rights-we-protect/your-rights/your-rights-to-discuss-wages https://www.nlrb.gov/about-nlrb/rights-we-protect/your-right...

ghaff 4y ago

Of course, companies very properly do competitive pricing research all the time with pricing that is public or quasi-public. And their general pricing strategy and what the competition is selling for is absolutely taken into account. It's just in this case salary info is (mostly) not public in the US.

tooltower 4y ago

Yet when I'm working in a company, asking for my colleagues' salary is taboo. Either make everyone's salaries public, or ban employers from using full-market surveys. If I have to guess at the market rate from a few samples, employers need to as well. This level of information asymmetry (in the US at least) is bs.

tqi 4y ago
Cultural taboos are hard to overcome, but taboo or not, you absolutely have the right to discuss wages. If a company is telling you to keep your wages secret they're breaking the law: https://www.nlrb.gov/about-nlrb/rights-we-protect/your-rights/your-rights-to-discuss-wages https://www.nlrb.gov/about-nlrb/rights-we-protect/your-right...