Employee Rewards and Benefits News
Equal pay can 'foster low motivation'
Businesses adopting a clear policy of equal pay among workers can result in a drop in motivation, morale and performance, according to a new study.
The Nottingham School of Economics carried out a poll of attitudes towards the use of the same wages across a workplace, discovering that hard-working staff resultantly resent those who work less hard for the same pay and employee benefits.
As a result, the research concluded that many would resort to slackening their work rate to create what they then see as fairer working conditions, thus threatening the productivity of companies.
"Hard workers get discouraged under equal pay and reduce their effort levels to those of low-performing colleagues," said Dr Johannes Abeler, the co-author of the study.
"But under individual pay the high performers keep working hard - and the low performers change their behaviour and get better."
The law currently states that men and women are entitled to equal pay for work of equal value, whether this is basic salary or contractual benefits such as bonuses and pension contributions.
Posted by Matt Gardner
