Salary and benefits: why do we ask?

In recent years, we have seen increasing coverage, data, and opinion on the subject of pay disparity and inequality.

At Peridot, we are committed to playing our part in addressing this inequality.

We are especially aware that this inequality can disproportionally affect candidates and employees who are women, disabled, LGBTQ*, and/or from certain ethnic groups. As a company, we have recently reflected on why, when, and how we will ask for salary information.

As a result of these reflections, we have enhanced our focus on salary expectations and reduced our focus on salary history when speaking with our candidates. We are also making it clear that sharing salary information with us is your choice.

This, of course, raises the question: if it’s your choice, why are we asking?

We have seen a growing amount of external guidance suggesting that candidates should refuse to supply information on their current salary and benefits packages when asked by recruiters and potential future employers.

We understand why this guidance exists and respect those candidates who wish not to disclose.

However, for us to be effective advisors to our candidates and our clients, it’s important that you understand the advantages that sharing your salary and benefits package can have.

By understanding what you are asking for and why, we can be more upfront with employers about your expectations. This helps us to advocate more effectively for you and means we can secure the right offer the first time one is made, avoiding protracted negotiations and the emotions that go with such discussions.

Having this information also helps in several other ways too:

1. We can avoid our clients making inappropriate offers, thereby helping us better meet your expectations as a candidate.
2. We will have a better idea about what opportunities will most appeal to you, and we can avoid making inappropriate approaches.
3. Where we see a candidate is underpaid or requesting a package below their market value, we can work with them to negotiate for a better package (and have the data to back this up).
4. We can better advise our clients to set appropriate pay and benefits packages. The more information we have from the market, the more we can help to contribute to better pay and conditions across all the sectors in which we operate.
5. We can monitor how effective we are at playing our part in addressing pay inequality, which will inform our ongoing practice.