Gendered Reactions to Employer Pay Information Nondisclosure
研究德国2017年薪酬信息披露法律下，雇主不披露薪酬信息对男女员工的不同影响，发现雇主不作为会降低员工组织公民行为，增加女性离职意向和薪酬沟通，降低女性薪酬满意度。
Pay information disclosure (PID), defined as “the communication of relevant pay information between and among actors” (Brown, Nyberg, Weller, & Strizver, 2022), is increasingly important, as evidenced by numerous countries enacting PID legislation. Such legislation aims to reduce the gender pay gap (GPG) by helping women evaluate and renegotiate their pay. Despite these benefits, companies are hesitant to disclose pay information. This study leverages a PID law passed by the German parliament in 2017, which entitles employees to request pay-related information from employers. This law, unlike stricter regulations in other countries, provides a unique opportunity to examine organizational PID actions under relatively lenient requirements. Our research addresses three questions: How do employers respond to increasing public demand for PID? How do employees react to employers withholding pay information? Do men and women respond differently to their employers’ PID decisions? By exploring these questions, we provide insights into organizational transparency and gender pay equity. Our study extends PID research by conceptualizing PID as a management practice, examining employee reactions in a less regulated context, and exploring gender differences in PID responses. Specifically, we find that employer inaction in response to the PID law negatively affected employees’ organizational citizenship behaviors. In addition, it increased women’s (but not men’s) turnover intentions and communication about their pay, and decreased women’s (but not men’s) pay satisfaction. Our findings have meaningful implications for practitioners and policymakers.