How Pay Transparency and Living Wage Demands Impacts on Employee Work Ethics Under Inflation Pressures

Abstract

This research aims to assess the moderating effect of perceived inflation on the relationship between pay transparency and living wages demands and employees’ work ethics. Participants were selected from 512 employees currently working in private organizations in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan through consecutive sampling. A set of questions with items constructed on 7-point Likert scale closed-ended questions with relevant data was adopted to collect data. The research sought to establish the effect of transparent pay practices and the call for a living wage in promoting ethical employee behavior during inflation. In this research study, Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to evaluate data and Smart PLS software was used. Specially, pay transparency, living wages, and work ethic were examined with the key findings as Living wages and pay transparency both had an effect on work ethics. Furthermore, perceived inflation was also found to moderate the relationship between these independent variables and employee work ethics. The findings of this study offered useful information for organizational policymakers and HR managers for promoting ethical standards at work by implementing clear pay systems and establishing proper wages standards more particularly in the inflationary contexts.

Keywords: Pay Transparency, Living Wage Demand, Employee Work Ethics, Perceived Inflation, Private Organizations, Karachi, Structural Equation Modeling, Smart PLS