Pay transparency is here to stay, and your HVAC business needs to embrace the change. Experts suggest that by the end of this year, 1 in 4 workers will be covered by a law that requires businesses to be transparent about their wages.   

In some states, employers are required by law to add salary ranges to their job ads. But even in states where it’s not mandated yet, pay transparency is trending. Job seekers tend to prefer applying to ads with compensation information.

Let’s take a deeper dive at what this is all about and how it might affect the way you attract talent.

What is Pay Transparency?

It’s a broad term that refers to making salary information available to all potential employees prior to beginning a job search or applying for a position. This information could include base pay, benefits, bonuses, commissions, overtime pay, and more.

Some companies provide detailed descriptions of the compensation package for each position that they offer. Other companies choose to simply list out a wide range of salaries they offer without providing additional details about individual roles or specific salary amounts.

Why Is Salary Transparency Important For The HVAC Industry?

The main goal of pay transparency is to ensure that all potential job applicants have access to accurate information.

Young people entering the workforce don’t really consider a career in the HVAC trade. They don’t see or hear about what’s possible with a career in HVAC. But maybe this is where it shifts. They’d be surprised at how much money and opportunity there is – without a degree and student loans.

HVAC applicants can view a job ad to learn what they can expect in terms of compensation when they accept a job offer from a particular employer. 

In addition, many proponents of pay transparency believe that it helps prevent wage discrimination among workers based on gender or ethnicity by removing ambiguity about what different positions earn. By having complete financial clarity on their employment opportunities, people can make informed decisions about which jobs are right for them and which ones may be less desirable based on pay alone.

How Does Adding Salary to Job Ads Affect Your HVAC Business?

Adding salary ranges to job ads comes with a mixed bag of pros and cons for employers nationwide.  

The pros 

1. Helps you attract better-qualified candidates who know your wages and benefits packages ahead of time.
2. Promotes fairness by ensuring that all employees are paid fairly based on their qualifications and experience level.
3. Reduces confusion and anxiety among applicants who don’t know what kind of salary they should expect from a particular role in your organization. 
4. Increases your company’s reputation because you demonstrate trustworthiness by being upfront.
5. Fosters trust between you and employees by creating a more transparent hiring process.

These authors argue pay transparency should be viewed as a tool for change, but not necessarily an end in and of itself. https://t.co/MuXSHKf4hN

— Harvard Business Review (@HarvardBiz) February 9, 2023

The cons

1. You’re competing for local talent. If you post a job ad offering $60,000 for a role, what’s to stop your competitor up the street from offering $60,500? Or vice-versa.
2. Higher labor costs due to increased competition among applicants who may be willing to ask for more money than what was initially offered in the job posting.
3. Salary ranges might not accurately reflect individual employee value or performance which could lead to further resentment among current staff members.
4. Potential discrimination issues if certain groups of people feel like they’re not being treated equally when it comes to salaries.
5. Competitors post job ads with crazy wide salary ranges to attract talent to their job ads. Imagine being an applicant looking at a pay range for a job between $90,000 and $900,000? 

While this isn’t a comprehensive list of EVERY pro and con, the fact remains–pay transparency is here and it’s complicated. So what should you do next?

• Embrace the change and use it to your advantage to attract better talent
• Be thoughtful, accurate, and honest about your compensation in job ads
• Highlight your fringe benefits

Best Resources To Stay Updated on Pay Transparency

Talk to local business owners, Chamber of Commerce members, or your lawyer to keep on top of these issues.

Thanks to the Internet, keeping up with laws about HVAC pay transparency is much easier. You could simply do a Google News search for your area. 

We found a great resource to stay up-to-date on the ever-changing landscape of pay transparency. At Compa, you can view what’s happening across the United States. You can view state laws, local laws, pending laws, and more. Additionally, you can see what you can and can’t do as an employer. 

Pay transparency is quickly becoming the norm in many industries—including the HVAC industry—so it’s important for employers in this field to stay up-to-date on their state’s laws. Even if pay transparency isn’t mandatory where you do business yet, consider adding salary ranges to your job ads as part of your recruitment strategy. Doing so will not only help you recruit better-qualified candidates but also help build trust between employers and potential employees which is essential for long-term success!