Table of Contents

• Introduction 
• What Does Equitable Pay Mean?
• What equitable pay doesn’t mean
• Competitive Advantages of Embracing Equitable Pay
• What are some best practices for fair pay?
• How can employers implement or improve their pay equity policies?

Introduction  #

Increased social awareness and workplace transparency have made equitable pay more than just a standard compliance issue for many businesses today. In addition to avoiding potential litigation, forward-thinking employers who implement fair pay policies may be able to improve their organization’s reputation, keep employees engaged and attract new monitoring and evaluation talents.

Today, we will discuss what equitable pay means, what equitable pay is not, the competitive advantages, and some best practices for fair pay among monitoring and evaluation specialists.

Let’s dive in!

What Does Equitable Pay Mean? #

Equitable pay is typically defined as equal pay for equal work regardless of a worker’s demographic group. That includes base pay, bonuses, overtime, benefits, and advancement opportunities. Many equal pay laws have also expanded the pay equity definition to include work that is considered substantially similar. Equitable pay also encompasses systemic issues, biases, social norms, educational opportunities, and other factors that may lead workers in certain demographic classes to pursue higher-paying jobs.

Equitable pay applies to, but is not limited to, the following demographic classes:

• Age
• Race
• Gender
• Disabilities
• National origin
• Sexual orientation

For many employers and legislators, however, equitable pay is an umbrella term that covers all issues related to fair and equitable compensation. For example, pay equity may refer to the methods businesses are using to eliminate wage disparities among different groups.

What equitable pay doesn’t mean #

Equitable pay doesn’t mean equal pay for every monitoring and evaluation employee. Differences in wages may reflect legitimate job-related factors such as these:

• Education
• Experience
• Skills
• Location
• Job performance
• Length of time with the employer

Competitive Advantages of Embracing Equitable Pay #

Monitoring and Evaluation experts now have more methods than ever to study and share information regarding how firms compensate and promote their personnel. Social media, employer review sites, and a growing realization that businesses cannot prohibit employees from discussing their pay contribute to a climate where employees have the ability to influence an employer’s pay practices.

There is evidence that fair pay may boost company brand perception while also improving employee morale, performance, and retention. These developments are reflected in the results of a survey done by the Aptitude Research Partners. Organizations that view strong employee engagement are significantly more likely to feel their employees are appropriately compensated. These measures were so closely connected that no business rated below average for employee engagement, and “strongly agreed” that their employees were paid fairly.

Paying employees equitably is the best way to attract and retain top talent. Fair wages can also help avoid internal friction, low morale, and employee turnover if employees find they are being paid differentially for the same responsibilities. As a monitoring and evaluation professional, you can curate a resume that captures your core skills to land that dream job. 

Related: How To Write a Monitoring And Evaluation Resume Summary

What are some best practices for fair pay? #

In addition to performing a pay equity audit, employers may be able to reduce pay inequality by following best practices, such as these:

• Review compensation trends: Track how pay matches up to different groups of employees and use external benchmarks to create hiring and compensation practices that are consistent with industry standards.
• Be transparent about pay: When employees know how pay decisions are made, it helps create an environment of trust and compels managers to justify that raises are based on performance.
• Prohibit salary negotiations: Rely on clearly communicated objectives as the rationale for bonuses and raises instead of reacting to employees who ask for more money or threaten to leave.
• Prioritize budgets: Because it’s a financial investment, closing wage gaps requires careful budget planning and the ability to manage conflicting priorities.

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How can employers implement or improve their pay equity policies? #

Complying with pay equity legislation often starts with taking a hard look at existing company policies and making proactive changes, such as:

• Documenting pay equity strategies and updating job descriptions and pay structures to align with new policies.
• Communicating with employees about the company’s pay equity goals and how it plans to achieve them.
• Adjusting recruitment and talent management tactics if one particular race or gender constitutes the majority of certain roles or departments.
• Conducting a pay equity analysis to identify any potential wage gaps that may be the result of discrimination and correcting them.
• Partnering with a professional employer organization (PEO) for additional support managing compensation data and pay audits.

Final Thoughts  #

Even today, women and people of color experience wage discrimination that often results in a significant pay gap among people holding down similar jobs. That means that women and minority groups often receive lower pay than their white male counterparts for performing identical jobs in the monitoring and evaluation industry. For SMBs, it may be helpful to understand the basics of pay equity in order to eliminate discrimination based on gender and race when setting wages for positions.