New pay transparency legislation - what will be the impact?

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SPEAKER_2 (1:00)

The Hard Shoulder with Ciara Kelly and Shane Colman on Newstalk with Kia.

Shane Colman (1:08)

Now new legislation is to be enacted next year, which will enforce employers to tell job applicants to salary range for a role when they advertise it. The new rules will also ban employers from asking job applicants what they are currently paid.

In a moment, we'll talk to Louisa Meehan of Woodview HRM. But first, our reporter Henry McKean spoke to people today about how they feel about sharing what they earn with their colleagues.

Henry McKean (1:34)

Would you tell your colleagues how much you earn?

SPEAKER_1 (1:36)

No. Why not?

Louisa Meehan (1:37)

It's nobody's business.

SPEAKER_1 (1:39)

Do you think it should stay that way?

Henry McKean (1:41)

Exactly, yeah.

SPEAKER_1 (1:42)

And do you think the men in your work earn more than you?

Louisa Meehan (1:46)

They probably do, yeah. They're management though, so yeah, they would be on more than me, yeah.

SPEAKER_6 (1:49)

I don't think it's something that they need to know really.

Shane Colman (1:52)

So it's kind of private?

SPEAKER_6 (1:53)

I don't see how they're going to gain anything from it. It's not going to be beneficial to them knowing how much I earn, really, you know.

Henry McKean (1:58)

And do you earn like a lot?

SPEAKER_6 (2:00)

Well, average, that's it really, you know.

Shane Colman (2:01)

Whatever average is.

Henry McKean (2:02)

And it's a personal question more than your colleagues?

SPEAKER_1 (2:04)

Nothing like the politicians anyway.

Shane Colman (2:06)

More than your colleagues?

SPEAKER_6 (2:08)

I do more hours, yeah. So it would be overtime based, basically, yeah.

SPEAKER_1 (2:11)

Would you tell your colleagues how much you earn?

Henry McKean (2:13)

I have done. I wouldn't shout about it. Like, my close people.

SPEAKER_1 (2:17)

Close people?

Henry McKean (2:18)

Yeah.

SPEAKER_1 (2:18)

And who's on more, you or them?

Henry McKean (2:19)

They were there longer, so it would be them. But like, increases, percentages in the year, they differ and it would depend on what you're doing as well. I had been lucky enough to get decent pay increases where they didn't get as high of an increase, so like, depends on the situation.

SPEAKER_6 (2:38)

Is it right to share?

SPEAKER_1 (2:39)

I don't think so.

Henry McKean (2:40)

I don't think so.

SPEAKER_1 (2:41)

It's best to keep it private. Should you share how much you earn with your colleagues?

SPEAKER_6 (2:45)

I think if it's a direct colleague who is on a similar scale, I don't see why there's any reason not to.

Shane Colman (2:52)

Okay, Henry McKean out and about there today. Let's bring in our HR and dispute resolution expert, Louisa Meehan of Woodview HRM. Louisa, what do you make of this change?

Louisa Meehan (3:04)

So the change that we're talking about is pay transparency. So today, I think Andrew Burnham in the UK has come out and said in the UK that you have to put it on the salary for a job when it's being advertised. Across the EU, the EU directive on pay transparency was supposed to be enacted last June. We still haven't got it. We don't have a specific date, but that will require when roles are advertised in Ireland that we have to say what the salary range is and be specific upfront, which we don't currently have to do, that we cannot ask somebody what their current salary is in an interview process and also the piece that was covered in the segment.

An employer cannot request that an employee does not share their salary or their bonus or their pay structure with their colleagues. And if I want to know what my comparators are being paid and I put a request in, I can't find out what you're getting paid. But if there is five of you, I can get, I can find out what the average pay is.