July 24, 2018
Salary Equity: Fair Is Fair
Sometimes I write to celebrate our system and our profession. There are times when I write about changes. Sometimes I have to write about bad news. Sometimes I write to be motivational, and other times I write to point out issues that we need to address.
Today, I am writing with the latter in mind. It is a very important topic that will help us to address our strategic emphasis of developing a better workplace. It regards salary and equity.
Salary determination is complex. There are many legitimate factors to consider. Experience, seniority, education level, performance, competing salaries, and an area’s cost-of-living are just a few examples of legitimate factors that affect differences in salary.
There are also factors that should never be considered in salary determination. We are an equal opportunity employer. We cannot from both moral and legal perspectives use a person's race, color, religion, sex, pregnancy status, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability or genetic information as a basis for differential pay.
Another factor that should never be considered in our system when it comes to local unit agent salary is program area. If all of the legitimate factors affecting salary are similar, it is our system’s policy that the pay of agriculture and natural resource, community development, family and consumer science, and 4-H youth development agents should be the same.
There have been previous initiatives in our system to improve salary equity. Unfortunately, it has been a while since the last major effort. Evidence suggests we need to improve salary equity among our local unit agents. Based on our agent salary data, agents with five years’ experience and a bachelor’s degree can expect to earn an average of $47,077 per year. Male agents with the same education and experience level typically earn $2,344 more. Female agents with the same level of experience earn $588 less. 4-H agents with the same education level and experience earn $412 less than the average. Family and consumer science agents with 5 years’ experience and a bachelor’s degree typically earn $1,257 less than the average.
Is this inequity intentional? I would hope not, but, unintentional or not, it has to be addressed. I am asking our regional directors and local unit directors to work with our Extension Councils to examine the salary differences among their agents (Note: I also encourage our center directors and department heads to do the same with their Extension professionals). Where differences in pay cannot be tied to legitimate reasons, we need to work to increase the salary of those adversely affected. It is the right thing to do. Fair is fair.