Pay Fairness Perception Tied to Employee Trust Decline, Salary.com…

Event summary

Salary.com's 2026 Trust and Pay Report found employees who feel unfairly paid are 5x more likely to report declining trust in their employer (36.4% vs. 6.6%).
44.6% of HR professionals cannot assess whether their organization strengthened trust with employees over the past year.
Only 51.6% of organizations train managers on compensation conversations, compared to 69.2% on performance evaluations.
The report surveyed 1,051 employers and 975 employees in June 2026 via Dynata.

The big picture

The report highlights a critical link between perceived pay fairness and employee trust during a period of historically low labor market turnover. As organizations navigate this quiet market phase, those that proactively address compensation transparency and manager training may gain a competitive advantage when hiring picks up. The findings suggest that trust-building efforts now could determine which companies retain talent when the labor market becomes more active.

What we're watching

Trust Erosion Risk: How the gap between employer and employee perceptions of pay fairness will evolve as labor markets tighten.
Manager Training Impact: Whether increased manager training on compensation conversations can improve fairness perceptions without payroll increases.
Transparency Effectiveness: The pace at which organizations adopt role-specific pay range transparency and its correlation with trust metrics.