question: why do companies not put starting pay/pay rate on most job positions, what’s the point?
comment: The company's reasons are most likely vastly different. The general idea would be either it is pretty well known (e.g., minimum wage if it's a starting position at a fast food restaurant), or they want to retain the ability to negotiate the salary as part of the hiring package. Some companies are willing to give other benefits in lieu of salary figures as compensation.
passages: There are two ways an employees pay band can be changed. If the job description correlates with the national profile for said job then their transition will go relatively smoothly. However, for more complex or newer jobs that do not have a national profile, their process becomes increasingly difficult. In some cases employees are required to fill out large amounts of paperwork and go to a formal job evaluation panel to discuss their positions responsibilities. This also means that once an employee goes through the process and gets placed in a new pay band, others in similar positions will likely be grouped together in the same pay band.
   Although the Pay-for-Performance System is "widely used" for its "positive effects" on employee production, findings of negative side effects like "dysfunctional competition" have left employers wondering if this plan should be adopted. Their reasoning in keeping this system in place is related to the need for "fair managerial control", a battle many managers are striving to win.
  
  Section::::History.:Other Types of Pay Structures.:Broadbanding Structure.
   In addition to motivating the rewarded behavior, standards-based payment methods can provide a level of standardization in employee evaluations, which can reduce fears of favoritism and make the employer's expectations clear. For example, an employer might set a minimum standard of 12,000 keystrokes per hour in a simple data-entry job and reassign or replace employees who cannot perform at that level.
   In Botswana, salaries are almost entirely paid on a monthly basis with pay dates falling on different dates of the second half of the month. Pay day usually ranges from the 15th of the month to the last day. The date of disbursement of the salary is usually determined by the company and in some cases in conjunction with the recognized Workers Union.
   Brian Cheffins of Cambridge University and Randall Thomas of Vanderbilt University predicted that a 'say on pay' could hold back sudden jumps, but it would not stop the general upward drift in pay rates. Ryan Krause and colleagues argued that 'say on pay' offered little information to the board of directors beyond disapproval of CEO compensation not being in line with firm performance.
  
  Section::::See also.
  
  BULLET::::- Board of directors
  
  BULLET::::- Corporate governance
  
  BULLET::::- Executive compensation
  
  BULLET::::- Form 10-K
  
  Section::::Further reading.
   Successful managers and organizations know that in order to maximize profits, it's absolutely imperative to hire and keep the best employees possible. If a business always tries to maximize profit, it will actively try to reduce expenses whenever possible—including employees’ wages. In fact, most companies pay employees as little as they can get away with paying. This however results in employees who will, in turn, provide as little effort as they can get away with. Many companies nevertheless still stick to the archaic, counterproductive goal of trying to minimize compensation. Though it may seem to be cost effective to apply this profit-first mentality of low-as-possible wages, it ultimately cripples employee performance and engagement, and damages the bottom line.
   Organizing pay structures in a pay band manner allows for overall control at the management level of an organization, while still giving some discretion for supervisors to reward good performance, and keeping within a reasonable compensation budget structure.
  
  Section::::History.
   In other cases, opposition is motivated by a dislike of the consequences. For example, a company may have had a compensation system which paid employees strictly according to their seniority. They may change to a system that pays sales staff according to how much they sell. Low-performing senior employees would object to having their income cut to match their performance level, while a high-performing new employee might prefer the new arrangement. 
   Performance-based systems have met some opposition as they are being adopted by corporations and governments. In some cases, opposition is motivated by specific ill-conceived standards, such as one which makes employees work at unsafe speeds, or a system which does not take all factors properly into account.
   Section::::History.:Other Types of Pay Structures.
  
  Section::::History.:Other Types of Pay Structures.:Traditional structure.
  
  Organizations are looking for a pay system for rewarding with compensation and also working well within that organization. In the traditional structure there is a difference between employee and manager with an example of pay according to their position. To get a high pay, there needs to be movement up the hierarchical ladder. Moving up the ladder to a manager position will change the pay range is a traditional pay structure but, "this system fosters competition rather than collaboration."
  
  Section::::History.:Other Types of Pay Structures.:Pay for Performance.
   Section::::Occupations Using Pay Ranges.:Bankers.
  
  The Chairman of the Treasury Select Committee wants the Financial Services Authority to reveal the salary of bankers in Britain. This move is designed to break the deadlock on city remuneration. Andrew Tyrie is the chairman of the Parliamentary Committee, demands Sir David Walker's idea of bankers who receive over 1 million euro annually should have their wages reveal to the public. Bankers fear this will affect competitiveness within their industry. Andrew Tyrie assures that his plan can answer any question about competitiveness.
  
  Examples of employers using the pay band method of compensation include:
   BULLET::::- Hewlett Packard failed a "say on pay" vote in 2011 in light of new CEO Léo Apotheker's employment agreement and the company's stock performance.
  
  BULLET::::- Citigroup failed "say on pay" with 55% opposition in 2012 after giving CEO Vikram Pandit three retention grants valued at $27.9 million.
  
  Section::::Academic skepticism.
   Further research focused on the long-term perspective of pay what you want. A study conducted by researchers of the Ruhr-University of Bochum examines repeated transactions in a pay what you want environment. By using latent growth modeling they find that the average prices paid decrease significantly; yet the decrease of prices paid declines with every transactions. They further show, that customers' preference for fairness and price conscientiousness influence the steepness of the individual price curves .
   In the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act §951, a new say on pay provision was introduced. 
  
  There had been several recent efforts to require Say on Pay resolutions in the United States. In 2007, the Chairman of the Financial Services Committee Rep. Barney Frank sponsored legislation that was passed by the House of Representatives, giving shareholders a non-binding vote on executive compensation.  Then Senator Barack Obama authored a "Say on Pay" proposal, but his legislation stalled in the Senate.  
   With PRP, employees can expect their performance to be evaluated objectively according to the standard of their work instead of the whims of a supervisor or against some ever-climbing average of their group. It is quite normal to put new starters towards the bottom of the pay band and, subject to normal performance, move them up to the midpoint (market target) within 3 to 5 years. To promote themselves, some unethical managers will suppress salaries by offering cost of living rises instead of true progression through the pay scale. This gives short term savings but, in the longer term leads to low morale, low performance, poor engagement, and even employee resignations after they have been trained. All of these consequences are very costly to the business. But used properly, PRP is a very effective way to get the best from your employees. There is however a well known reverse phenomenon where employees produce "pay-related performance" if a given salary remains below 80% of the pay band for any length of time.
   The following items have a bearing on the determination of charge rates:
  
  BULLET::::- Personal protective equipment (PPE) supplied
  
  BULLET::::- Payment terms
  
  BULLET::::- Superannuation
  
  BULLET::::- Payroll tax
  
  BULLET::::- Casual loading
  
  BULLET::::- Gross margin
  
  BULLET::::- Preferred supplier agreements
  
  BULLET::::- Competition
  
  The gross margin is generally calculated as a percentage value of the pay rate. In certain circumstances, it may be calculated as a specific dollar markup.
  
  A schedule of rates is typically quoted to the client which includes
  
  BULLET::::- Charge rate for each hour of ordinary time
   As a simple measure, this gives no regard to the quality of help given, for instance whether the issue was resolved, or whether the customer emerged satisfied. Performance-related pay may also cause a hostile work attitude, as in times of low customer volume when multiple employees may compete for the attentions of a single customer. Where a customer has been helped by more than one employee, further resentment may be caused if the commission is taken by whoever happens to make the final sale. Macroscopic factors such as an economic downturn may also make employees appear to be performing to a lower standard independent of actual performance.
   The economic crisis has affected corporate governance in the United States of America. The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (EESA), which established the Troubled Asset Relief Program, required say on pay resolutions at companies with outstanding funds from the TARP. In the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, Senator Chris Dodd amended Section 111 of the EESA, and updated policy on Executive Compensation in Section 7. The amended legislation continued the "Say on Pay" policy established originally in the EESA.
   Part of this variation in incentive structures and supervisory mechanisms may be attributable to variation in the level of intrinsic psychological satisfaction to be had from different types of work. Sociologists and psychologists frequently argue that individuals take a certain degree of pride in their work, and that introducing performance-related pay can destroy this "psycho-social compensation", because the exchange relation between employer and employee becomes much more narrowly economic, destroying most or all of the potential for social exchange. Evidence for this is inconclusive—Deci (1971), and Lepper, Greene and Nisbett (1973) find support for this argument; Staw (1989) suggests other interpretations of the findings.
   According to the Aberdeen Group, despite the availability of technology which can dramatically reduce the mountains of paperwork and inefficiencies plaguing accounts payable, few companies have addressed AP transformation like other processes essential to the business.
  
  Section::::Risks.
  
  As with any system that touches a significant number of users, implementing a procure-to-pay system requires significant knowledge of the as-is business processes as well as the to-be. Change management is a key component in implementing a procure-to-pay solution. According to Deloitte, a few procure-to-pay challenges which ultimately impair the ability to manage and execute key activities effectively are:
   BULLET::::- In 2013, Headsets.com offered their customers the PWYW option. CEO Mike Faith noted almost all the company's customers paid full price, with only 10% opting to pay less, saying "Just as money-back guarantees were considered over-generous and dangerous when they were first introduced, they are almost a standard nowadays. There is no reason that trust-based pricing shouldn’t become a norm over the next decade."
  
  BULLET::::- In 2013, Panel Syndicate released the webcomic The Private Eye that was launched as PWYW.
   When a new type of nurse was introduced in 2005 called a "Matron" nurse, the Royal College of Nurses, Community Practitioners and Health Visitors' Association (CPHVA) both agreed on what their pay band should be. However, current nurses who were still stuck on an older pay band felt that this was neglecting their right to a raise and left them on the back burner. Despite district nurses concerns, the CPHVA continued with their plans on placing matron nurses on a higher pay band due to their large range of skills and complex responsibilities.
   "For the first time, employers will be able to use nondiscretionary bonuses and incentive payments (including commissions) to satisfy up to 10 percent of the standard salary level. Such pa upyments may include, for example, nondiscretionary incentive bonuses tied to productivity and profitability."
  
  A general rule for comparing periodic salaries to hourly wages is based on a standard 40-hour work week with 50 weeks per year (minus two weeks for vacation). (Example: $40,000/year periodic salary divided by 50 weeks equals $800/week. Divide $800/week by 40 standard hours equals $20/hour).
  
  Section::::By country.:Zimbabwe.
   In the first year of mandatory shareholder advisory "say on pay" voting in the US, 37 Russell 3000 companies failed to receive majority support from shareholders. In the second year of voting, 44 Russell 3000 companies have failed as of June 12, 2012. Companies include:
  
  BULLET::::- Nabors Industries shareholders voted against "say on pay" in both 2011 and 2012 (75% opposition in 2012) given concerns over the company's high CEO pay and severance payments. Shareholders also voted against the company's new incentive bonus plan and long-term incentive plan in 2012.
   Corporation like Northern Telecom, General Electric, and Data General have adopted pay bands to promote teaming and lateral development to take away from hierarchical movement within the workplace. The issues employees have with pay bands is that it restricts promotions in the organizations leading them to look at opportunities out of their organization to move up to another pay range. Also, since pay bands motivates employees to move laterally, some question the purpose of another position that is still going to be with the same pay band.
  