Want to know what all your co-workers earn? Be careful what you wish for | André Spicer

A new proposal for openness about pay could have unexpected downsides – if workers become demotivated, resentful and more likely to quit Would you like to know what your colleagues are paid? If the Equality and Human Rights Commission gets its way, you will be able to find out. Under its proposals, workers will be able to request detailed information about the pay, bonuses and other perks received by their co-workers. The government agency argues that if we increase pay transparency, we can also reduce the pay gap between men and women. But countries that have tried this model have discovered that there are downsides to it too.The gap between men’s and women’s pay had started to close when equal pay legislation was introduced in Britain in the 1970s, and then more women moved into previous male-dominated occupations in the 80s and 90s. Today, women in the UK earn on average about 6.8% less than what men earn.André Spicer is professor of organisational behaviour at the Bayes Business School at City, University of London. He is the author of the book Business Bullshit Continue reading...