Comp and Coffee

The gender pay gap has widened. New data from the 2026 Gender Pay Gap Report shows the uncontrolled gender pay gap increased from $0.83 to $0.82, meaning women earn 18% less than men on average. That difference translates to $14,300 per year in lost earnings, and over $1 million across a career. At ...

When budgets shrink, performance pay is put to the test. The 2026 Compensation Best Practices Report tells a clear story: budgets are tighter, bonuses are shrinking, and organizations are reaching for simpler pay strategies to get through the year. Today we're exploring what happens when compensatio...

In this episode of Comp and Coffee, Ruth Thomas sits down with Stacey Harris, Chief Research Officer at Sapient Insights Group, and Amy Stewart, Payscale’s Manager of Content & Research, to unpack how HR and compensation leaders can turn data into strategic, defensible decisions. We explore the late...

Pay decisions do not live in isolation. They shape hiring speed, retention, employee trust, and ultimately business performance. According to Payscale’s 2026 Compensation Best Practices Report, 63% of organizations believe their compensation policies drive positive business outcomes. That confidence...

HR and compensation leaders are facing a new set of challenges and opportunities in 2026. From new pay transparency laws to AI-driven decision-making, the landscape is shifting fast. This episode unpacks what is in and what is out for the year ahead and explores the trends that will define the futur...

Everyone agrees that pay matters. What they do not agree on is what it means. HR talks about fairness and equity.Finance talks about cost and ROI.Legal talks about compliance and defensibility.Leaders talk about performance and business outcomes. These perspectives are all correct, yet they often co...

Another conversation about pay transparency? We know what you are thinking, haven’t we already covered this? But the truth is, 2025 changed everything. From a wave of new state laws in the U.S. to Canada and the EU rewriting the playbook, pay transparency has moved from policy talk to daily reality....

At HR Tech 2025, AI stole the spotlight, but not everyone was convinced. Amid the hype and bold claims, HR and compensation professionals were asking tougher questions: What’s actually working? What’s just marketing? And how can AI really make their jobs easier? In this episode of Comp and Coffee, h...

In a year of tight budgets and increasing expectations of pay transparency, pay conversations are more critical than ever. Skipping, delaying, or diluting these conversations can erode trust and leave employees disengaged. In this episode of Comp and Coffee, host Ruth Thomas is joined by Payscale le...

Pay transparency laws are forcing the conversation—but alignment is what makes it stick. When it comes to pay transparency, HR, Legal, and leadership often speak in different “dialects.” HR frames it around equity and structure, Legal around compliance and risk, and leadership around outcomes and co...