#SayThePay – our journey to salary transparency at Jack & Grace

Salary secrecy fuels workplace inequality. And it’s a widespread problem, with 41% of people in the UK admitting they’ve found a colleague in the same job to be earning a different salary.*

It’s unfair and hits hardest for those already systematically disadvantaged. That’s why we launched #SayThePay, a campaign calling on UK employers to help fix the problem by including salaries in job ads.

But what’s in it for the business? The benefits speak for themselves. It builds trust between employers, employees, and future recruits, boosts productivity, improves retention, and minimises legal risks. And by reducing pay gaps, it creates fairer and – we think – better workplaces.

So, how do you become salary transparent? Here’s how we did it at Jack & Grace… 

 

Step 1: Start the conversation

When Laura and Nyree founded Jack & Grace back in 2020, they knew first-hand what it was like to receive unequal pay for the same job (Nyree had left her first job after discovering she was paid less than Laura).

So, from day one, being fair about salaries was non-negotiable – which was easy since there were only two people to pay. But when the Jack & Grace team started to grow, we soon realised we needed a policy to show our commitment to fair pay.

Before going ahead with any changes, we consulted the team and asked: How far do you want to go with it?

Everyone had space to air any concerns and ask questions. After several conversations, the consensus was clear: the J&G team was keen to be transparent – but with the right balance. So, rather than disclosing individual salaries, we chose to share salary bands for all our roles, to ensure transparency and privacy at the same time.

 

Step 2: Run a pay audit

With the team on board, we moved to the next step: reviewing existing pay structures and identifying any unfair inconsistencies – a key part of the process.

Luckily, although perhaps unsurprisingly, we discovered there weren’t any disparities but if you do find people are being paid differently for the same job, this needs to be corrected. Obvs.

The pay audit also helped us to define salary benchmarks, which then led to shaping our pay bands for each role.

 

Step 3: Create your salary bands

With the pay review results in mind, we looked at industry benchmarks to decide what our salary bands should be. There are industry benchmarks available, which are usually accessed through your respective trade bodies.

Or you could use the PR salary guide from the fab folk at LATTE Recruitment, which gives a good overview of salaries in the PR and comms sector.

 

Step 4: Time to #SayThePay

As soon as the salary bands were finalised it was time to share them with the team so, in January 2022, we made it official: our salary bands were now accessible to everyone. And we’ve never looked back.

 

Step 5: Open communication and regular check ins 

Once you’re officially open about salaries, keep the conversations going to make sure you stay that way. We have PDR check-ins twice a year, and salaries are reviewed as par for the course then. When people know there are fixed points to talk about money, it paves the way for an open discussion. We’ve also added a section to our annual staff survey to give everyone the chance to anonymously share their views.

You might want to adjust your salary bands at a later point, to reflect changing industry standards or if you hire someone whose salary expectations are outside of your bands. To make sure everyone is fairly compensated you can adjust the band (and with it, anyone’s pay that’s then out of kilter).

 

Ready to #SayThePay? Useful resources to help you:

Our friends at We Show the Salary have some brilliant resources and toolkits to help you on your salary transparency journey – from how to set up an inclusive job ad, to conducting pay gap auditing and defining salary bands. And if you’re committed to becoming salary transparent, you can take their pledge too.

If you have any questions or comments, ping us an email: hello@jackandgrace.co.uk

 

*research conducted by Censuswide on behalf of Jack & Grace, March 2025