Salary Transparency Is Key to Narrowing Gender Pay Disparities

Jake Rosenfeld, an associate professor of Sociology at Washington University-St. Louis, is the author of "What Unions No Longer Do."

Updated August 15, 2016, 3:20 AM

Similar to a provision in the Massachusetts new law, California recently passed legislation that prohibits employers from penalizing workers who discuss wages and salaries. (Massachusetts goes further by also restricting employers from asking about new hires’ salary histories.)

These laws are useful in helping to erode the norm against discussing wages and salaries. Sapping the strength of this longstanding cultural prohibition could empower women and racial and ethnic minority workers to speak out against unfair pay practices, and potentially reduce stubborn pay gaps.

In many public sector settings, wage gaps between men and women tend to be lower because there is more pay transparency.

I say potentially because the actual impact of these laws will depend on their enforcement, and just as important, on education campaigns to let workers know these laws are on the books. After all, policies that prohibit workers from discussing their pay with colleagues have been illegal for over 80 years. And yet we know from a recent survey that nearly half of the workforce remains subject to this type of speech restriction.

Similarly, banning the use of salary histories in setting pay will matter only if workers and hiring managers are aware of Massachusetts' new law.

And, like other recent legislation, Massachusetts's does not mandate salary transparency — which could be a big step toward eliminating the pay gap. It aims only to prevent employers from penalizing workers who discuss wages and salaries. There is a huge gulf between pay transparency — like we see in many public sector settings, where wage gaps between men and women tend to be lower — and these recent policies to help narrow gender pay disparities.

After all, allowing workers to discuss pay will reduce disparities only if underpaid workers actually have these conversations, and then demand a raise, and their bosses meet their demands.