Most employees are fine with their pay. So why are they still thinking of leaving? Nick Martin from Remote says Australian small business owners are asking the wrong question.
What’s happening: Since 2022, Australian workers have had a legal right to discuss their pay openly. Pay secrecy clauses are banned. And new research from Remote suggests that around 70 per cent of employees would consider leaving a job where pay concerns went unanswered, even if they were otherwise satisfied with their salary.
For a long time, the unwritten rule in most Australian workplaces was pretty simple. Don’t ask. Don’t tell. Salaries were private, often contractually locked away, and talking about them could get you in trouble.
That changed a few years ago. And the ripple effects are still playing out.
In December 2022, the Fair Work Legislation Amendment (Secure Jobs, Better Pay) Act made pay secrecy clauses unlawful. Employers can no longer include contract terms stopping employees from discussing what they earn. Penalties for breaching these rules can reach $93,900 per breach.
Critically, these rules apply to every Australian employer regardless of size. There’s no small business exemption. If you’ve got staff, this applies to you.
But the legal piece is almost beside the point now. What’s changed more broadly is what employees expect, and what happens when those expectations aren’t met.
Nick Martin, APAC GTM Lead at Remote, puts it this way: the real tension isn’t about whether employees are happy with their pay. Most of them are. The tension is about whether they understand it, and whether they feel like they can talk about it.
Remote’s Global Payroll Report found that while most employees report being broadly satisfied with their salary, around 70 per cent said they would consider leaving if they couldn’t have open conversations about pay. That gap, between satisfaction and loyalty, is where businesses are quietly losing people.
What employees are actually asking
It’s worth being clear about what “pay transparency” actually means in practice, because it’s not the same thing as everyone knowing everyone else’s salary.
What workers want to know, according to Remote’s research, is more straightforward than that. How was my salary set? What do I need to do to earn more? Am I being paid consistently with others doing similar work?
When those questions go unanswered, even competitive salaries start to feel arbitrary. And when things feel arbitrary, trust erodes.
Separate research from Korn Ferry found that 83 per cent of Australian employees cited poor pay and compensation as the main reason they would leave their company. That figure is striking, but it’s also consistent with what Martin is describing. It’s not always that the pay is bad. It’s that the lack of transparency around it makes people feel like they’re being kept in the dark, and over time, that’s just as corrosive.
As Barbara Matthews, Chief People Officer at Remote, put it: “Pay conversations in the workplace are often seen as uncomfortable or even inappropriate. But silence only breeds inequality. When organisations encourage open, honest discussions about compensation, they set the foundation for a truly transparent pay culture.”
The number isn’t the whole story
Remote’s data shows this isn’t just a younger worker issue, though that cohort has helped push it forward. Their research found 88 per cent of employees aged 16 to 24 are satisfied with their salary, compared to 68 per cent of those aged 45 to 54. Yet across both groups, the willingness to consider leaving over unanswered pay concerns stays consistent.
What that tells you is that it’s not really about dissatisfaction with pay itself. It’s about wanting to be part of the conversation, rather than just handed a number and told to get on with it.
There’s a hiring angle here too. Job postings that include salary information receive an average of 50 per cent more applications and are three times more likely to attract qualified candidates, according to ZipRecruiter research. For a small business competing against larger employers for the same talent, that’s a significant advantage to leave sitting on the table.
Employees have also consistently identified job security and fair pay as the top two reasons they stay with a current employer. As pay transparency has become a more public conversation, workers are paying closer attention to whether the pay structures at their workplace actually reflect fairness, and they’re less willing to take it on faith.
Three things SMEs can start doing now
Martin’s practical advice for business owners doesn’t require an HR department or a new platform. It starts with defining pay bands. Establishing clear salary ranges for roles gives staff a reference point and makes conversations about progression far less fraught.
The second piece is running regular pay audits, even simple ones. Benchmarking what you’re paying against the market on a consistent basis helps catch gaps before they become reasons for people to look elsewhere.
The third is using whatever data you already have to stay across patterns in your workforce. Inconsistencies don’t always announce themselves. Often they build quietly until someone brings it up in a resignation conversation.
There’s also a harder legal edge to this now. From 1 January 2025, intentional underpayment of wages became a criminal offence under Australian law. Getting payroll right, and being able to show staff clearly how their pay was determined, carries more weight than it ever did.
The bottom line for small business owners is less complicated than it might seem. Paying people fairly still matters. But being willing to explain how those decisions are made, and creating space for people to ask questions, is what turns a fair salary into a reason to stay.
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