HR Brew: Disclosing CEO-to-worker pay ratios made employees happier with their compensation

Lisa LaViers, assistant professor of accounting, was interviewed by HR Brew for a story about her research on pay transparency. In a recent study, LaViers and her co-authors found that SEC-mandated pay transparency disclosures increased employees' satisfaction with their compensation by giving them a realistic reference point for their own earnings.

When considering how transparent to be about pay, “employers should try to get an understanding of what their employees think already and what information they have access to,” LaViers said. “If you know that your employee is getting on Glassdoor and seeing salaries for their role that are not accurate or are inflated, this might be a place where more transparency is better, because you’re correcting the misunderstanding.”

To read the story in its entirety, visit hr-brew.com:

https://www.hr-brew.com/stories/2025/08/27/disclosing-ceo-to-workers-pay-ratios-made-employees-happier-with-their-compensation