Pay Equity and Salary Studies

After working in the nonprofit sector for a number of years, we have seen firsthand the difficulties of finding and retaining employees in a changing economy. Unfilled jobs equate to a client not receiving services such as food, clothing, and shelter. Meanwhile, the remaining employees experience unreasonable workloads.

This situation reaches all businesses, not just nonprofits. Pay equity and parity intersects with demographics and hierarchies, and assessing pay is one way to dismantle a key system of injustice - wage inequality. What is pay equity and pay parity? The Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) defines the terms in this way:

• Pay equity, or paying employees fairly and consistently, without discrimination on the basis of gender, race or other protected categories but taking into account job-related factors such as education, work experience and tenure.

• Pay parity, which requires that employers show there is no pay gap across the entire workforce between men and women and between whites and racial or ethnic minorities.

Additionally, the United States is experiencing a wage gap problem due to higher costs of living and wage stagnation. Too often, the cost of living is higher than the cost of labor. Listen to Sally Loftis on discussing the research about wage inequality as a system of injustice.

Loftis Partners can help you identify the areas of needed work within your organization through research-based assessments, analyses, studies, and project facilitation.

• Pay Equity Assessment - An assessment will dig into demographic data, such as race, gender identity, ethnicity, and age across all salary bands. Loftis Partners will audit your current pay structures and provide a regional economic review of your cost of labor versus cost of living expenses. This option provides entry level data and recommendations for ongoing conversations about pay equity. Pay equity assessments take an estimated 6-8 weeks. $7500 plus $500 per additional geographic location

• Pay Equity Analysis - An analysis allows you to add depth to the pay equity assessment with an internal review of HR policies and practices and a quantitative survey to gauge employee feedback. Loftis Partners works with you to complete a When Works Assessment, which provides information on how work-life friendly your workplace is, and an online survey for employees, which is based on the SHRM Effective Workplaces Index. A pay equity analysis with Loftis Partners includes the pay equity assessment and takes an estimated 10-12 weeks. $10,000

• Salary Study - A salary study compares individual salaries with industry data and peer organizations, which is helpful after pay equity and parity have been addressed. Industry compensation reports are used in addition to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. A list of peer organizations is co-created between the client and Loftis Partners to build a relevant survey group. Peer organizations receive a survey request to provide pay rates for individual positions. Salary studies take time; expect 3-6 months. Pricing is a combination of base work and number of employees. $10,000 plus $500 per employee

• Compensation Structure Review - You may already have strong salary benchmarking data to use and just need some expert HR help to review your overall compensation structure. Our review includes an extensive analysis of the compensation philosophy, pay structure, pay progression, job descriptions, job classifications, and salary bands. We work with your HR team to analyze your compensation structure through a diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) lens and provide future-friendly recommendations that support transparency and clarity at all levels of the organization. Compensation structure reviews take 4-6 months. $10,000

We offer discounts on packaged services. Please contact us for more information. Read more about the vital need for consistent and sustainable income on our blog.