Employee Initiative in Pay Information Disclosure: Antecedents of Internal and External Pay Information Seeking

Research increasingly recognizes employees as important actors in pay information disclosure. However, less is known about when employees seek pay information. Drawing on motivated reasoning theory, we examined how employee-, organizational-, and societal-level factors predicted internal and external pay information seeking. Data from a representative two-wave employee survey in Swiss regions differing in uncertainty avoidance showed that employees sought more pay information externally than internally. Employees with higher turnover intention were more likely to seek pay information both internally and externally, while other factors influencing internal and external pay information seeking differed. Newcomers, employees in organizations with greater distributive pay transparency, and those living in regions with higher uncertainty avoidance were more likely to seek internally. Employees willing to share their pay information, working in organizations restricting pay communication, those who had recently received a pay raise, and those who trusted their organization less were more likely to seek externally.