This was one of the key questions explored by Laurence Grubb, Managing Director of Khokhela Remuneration Advisors, during his recent presentation at the HR Summit on Engineering Pay Equity for a Distributed Workforce in September 2026.
Hybrid, remote and cross-border work have transformed the market for talent — and created new challenges around pay equity.
Fair pay does not necessarily mean identical pay. Differences may be justified by factors such as experience, performance, scarce skills, responsibilities, market value or geography.
What matters is that those differences are intentional, evidence-based, consistently applied and defensible.
As pay transparency increases, organisations need greater clarity around how jobs are valued, which markets they benchmark against, and why legitimate differences in pay exist.
The key question is simple: Can you confidently explain and defend why two people doing comparable work are paid differently?
Read the full article for practical insight into building reward practices that are equitable, competitive and defensible.