Americans have a cultural aversion to discussing personal income. A 2018 survey from Capital Group found “salary or household income” to be Americans’ foremost conversational taboo, ahead of “marriage problems, mental illness, drug addiction, race, sex, politics, and religion.” And when it comes to the corporate world, many companies make it a matter of policy to keep the reality of who makes how much locked in a figurative vault.

But workers’ willingness to share and even demand salary details may be on the rise, as employees across various industries spanning tech, publishing, media, and human resources have collected their own salary data, in an effort to highlight what they make and, if necessary, hold their employers accountable.

Advocates for pay transparency argue that secrecy regarding salaries perpetuates unequal compensation between employees. The lack of transparency has contributed especially to pay inequity for women, who earned 82 cents for every dollar earned by men in 2020, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

While the Equal Pay Act of 1963 outlawed wage discrimination based on gender at the federal leval, additional laws have been enacted in at least 19 states and Washington, DC, that make it illegal for companies to stop workers from discussing wages, according to a Department of Labor tracker.

“If you make pay transparent in its extreme form, it clearly illuminates inequities, like gender inequities, or other types of inequities,” Todd Zenger, a professor of strategic leadership at the University of Utah, told HR Brew.

And some workers are adamant that money must be talked about openly. Salary spreadsheets compiled by anonymous employees in the publishing, media, and HR sectors have been circulating online for years, and at least one effort launched by workers attempts to highlight the wage gap for people of color in tech.

Some organizations are heeding the call for greater pay transparency, albeit with their own ideas of what it entails. Read more about that right here.—SB

Do you work in HR or have information about your HR department we should know? Contact Sam Blum via the encrypted messaging app Telegram (@SamBlum_Brew) or simply email [email protected].

The new year brings new, increased wages to a growing number of minimum-wage workers in the United States. While 21 states and 35 cities and counties saw their minimum wages rise for the New Year’s Eve ball drop and into January 1, 2022, a total of “81 jurisdictions—25 states and 56 municipalities—will raise their minimum-wage floors before the end of 2022,” according to a report from the National Employment Law Project.

Here’s a rundown of where the minimum-wage hikes have already gone into effect, and where they’re slated to take effect later.

A record wage increase. The NELP described 2022’s wage increases as a “record,” galvanized largely by years of worker-led “organizing, demanding, and winning higher wages,” the report described. Many of the jurisdictions are upping wages to different levels, but a total of 44 cities and counties will have increased the minimum wage to $15 an hour by the end of the year for at least some employers. In New York State, a rolling phase-in of $15-an-hour has now expanded to include employers in Long Island and Westchester, and California’s state minimum wage will also reach $15 an hour for employers with 26 or more employees.

The hikes implemented by most states and jurisdictions fall short of the $15-an-hour benchmark advocated by labor activists for years. Here’s a glance at some states’ hourly pay increases that went into effect on the first day of the year, presented here in a map compiled by USA Today.

• Arizona: $12.15 to $12.80
• New Mexico: $10.50 to $11.50
• Colorado: $12.32 to $12.56
• Montana: $8.75 to $9.20
• Virginia: $9.50 to $11.00
• Vermont: $11.75 to $12.55

Not all state wage increases are the same for all employers. Minnesota’s minimum wage, for example, is either $10.33 or $8.42 an hour, depending upon the size of employer, while Oregon will up its three different minimum wages when hikes go into effect later, on July 1 ($14.75 in Portland, $13.50 for “standard employment” outside of Portland, and $12.50 for non-urban counties).

Activism and resistance. The NELP attributes the surge of wage hikes to the consistent activism of workers, who’ve been periodically spilling out into the streets to protest their low wages.

“The upcoming minimum-wage raises in January 2022 and later in the year are a testament of the power of underpaid workers coming together to demand higher wages,” Yannet Lathrop, the report’s author, told HR Brew. Lathrop noted that work remains for advocates, however: “Twenty states—many of them in the South—have refused to raise their minimum wages, and most of them also block cities and counties from enacting their own minimum wages,” she wrote in an email.

Opponents of a federal $15-an-hour minimum wage, which include industry groups such as the National Federation of Independent Business, have argued that a $15-an-hour wage would result in massive job losses for the broader economy.

Last July, another NELP report noted that the Fight for $15 movement had netted $150 billion for 26 million workers over the previous nine years.—SB

Do you work in HR or have information about your HR department we should know? Contact Sam Blum via the encrypted messaging app Telegram (@SamBlum_Brew) or simply email [email protected].

As we calmly and confidently jump-start 2022 like a grown adult who knows exactly how to safely use jumper cables without wandering around a deserted Target parking lot googling a YouTube video about it, we are also contemplating the road ahead and wondering what potholes, washed-out bridges, and epic traffic jams might await us around the bend. To guide us on this journey into the unknown, we asked a handful of HR leaders what challenges they’re anticipating in 2022. Here’s what they said.

Carla Yudhishthu, Chief People Officer at Mineral

HR used to be part art and part science. The operational components (managing an office, benefits, employee safety, etc.) used to be mostly science. We had a framework, we put it into practice, and it was largely self-sustaining. The art of HR was largely focused on recruiting, engaging, and retaining employees. Today, all of it is art and hardly any of it’s science. In fact, managing an office environment used to be something I thought about on rare occasions and now it’s top of mind. That’s on top of dealing with things like ensuring employees feel connected to a bigger purpose at work and figuring out how to turn the “Great Resignation” into the “Great Reengagement” for our company. The task in front of HR is monumental, and I believe we’ll see the same challenges from 2021 heightened in 2022.

Annette Reavis, Chief People Officer at Envoy

I expect to face two major challenges next year. One, hiring the right people as quickly as we can. Two, reintroducing the people team and explaining why our team’s core value—“In service with a point of view”—is so important.

As a team, we’re here to serve our company, but we’ll do it proactively and with a point of view. We’ll show up with recommendations of what we think is best and play a role in the decision-making. Restructuring the way the people team operates and interacts will require a cultural shift and will involve education, preparation, and communication across the company. It’s a huge change-management project that I’m thrilled to take on.

For more 2022 predictions from HR leaders, step right this way.—JDS

Do you work in HR or have information about your HR department we should know? Contact John Del Signore via the encrypted messaging app Telegram (@John_Del_Signore) or simply email [email protected].

Today’s top HR reads.

Stat: United Airlines paid pilots working New Year’s weekend 3.5 times their normal wages in an effort to get staff on planes. Since Christmas Eve, airlines have had to cancel 10,000 flights in the US due to crew shortages related to Covid-19 infections and inclement weather. (Associated Press)

Quote: “I didn’t sign up for this, there was nothing in the offer letter/job description about this.”—A DoorDash engineer reportedly dishing online about a newly instated policy called WeDash that requires all employees, no matter their title, to deliver at least some orders or perform gigs. The policy is intended to bring employees closer to the product, merchants, and customers.

Read: A DE&I consultant with over 50 years of experience opens up about her decision to leave the field entirely. (TLNT)

Catch up on the top HR Brew stories from the recent past:

• 2021: A year-end performance review
• HR professionals: What are your New Year’s resolutions?
• Three things I learned while reporting on HR this year