{
  "registry_version": "1.0.0",
  "data": {
    "title": "Compensation band reduced or altered mid-process",
    "status": "active",
    "evidence_ids": [
      "evidence.salary_transparency_growth_slows_but_momentum_continues_indeed_hiring_lab",
      "evidence.publishing_the_band_before_the_interview_becomes_a_duty_in_the_eu_directive_2023_970_art_5"
    ],
    "content": "# Compensation band reduced or altered mid-process\n\nThe compensation band offered or discussed is revised downward from the range previously agreed or advertised.\n\n### Diagnostic Non-Inferences\n- Does not prove an intentional bait-and-switch unless evidence of company policy establishes one.",
    "aliases": [
      "A-005"
    ],
    "id": "obs.compensation_band_reduced_or_altered_mid_process",
    "type": "observation",
    "summary": "The compensation band offered or discussed is revised downward from the range previously agreed or advertised.",
    "stages": [
      "recruiter",
      "compensation",
      "offer"
    ],
    "evidence_level": "supported",
    "probes": [
      {
        "id": "PROBE-A-005-1",
        "action": "Ask whether the revised band follows from a lower levelling grade or from a company-wide budget adjustment.",
        "expected_signal": "Separates the outcome of the levelling assessment from the company's financial constraints.",
        "cost": "medium",
        "outcomes": [
          {
            "id": "grade-wide-revision",
            "label": "The recruiter attributes the change to a revision of the band for the grade, names the date it was revised, and says the figure stated at the screen was the requisition's approved band until that date.",
            "excludes": [],
            "because": ""
          },
          {
            "id": "levelled-lower",
            "label": "The recruiter says the change is to your assessed level: the panel placed you a grade below the one the role was posted at, and the lower band belongs to that grade.",
            "excludes": [],
            "because": ""
          },
          {
            "id": "figure-restated",
            "label": "A reply comes back that restates the new figure without saying whether it follows from the grade or from your assessment, and does not address the earlier band.",
            "excludes": [],
            "because": ""
          },
          {
            "id": "no-answer",
            "label": "The question is not answered before the offer decision is due; the figure named on the call is the last statement of the band you have.",
            "excludes": [],
            "because": ""
          }
        ]
      }
    ],
    "specimens": [
      {
        "kind": "chat",
        "label": "Recruiter message before the offer call",
        "lines": [
          {
            "speaker": "Recruiter",
            "at": "week 5",
            "text": "Quick heads-up before we talk numbers tomorrow — where did we land on expectations?",
            "tell": false
          },
          {
            "speaker": "Candidate",
            "at": "week 5",
            "text": "Same as the range in the posting and what we agreed at the screen: 85–95k.",
            "tell": false
          },
          {
            "speaker": "Recruiter",
            "at": "week 5",
            "text": "Right. So finance has revised the band for this level since we opened the role. We are working with 72–78k now.",
            "tell": true
          }
        ],
        "reading": "The number moved after the process had already taken five weeks of the candidate's time. Note the date the original band was stated and by whom."
      },
      {
        "kind": "transcript",
        "label": "Offer call, transcript fragment",
        "context": "minute 6 of 20",
        "lines": [
          {
            "speaker": "Candidate",
            "at": "06:12",
            "text": "Was the change specific to me, or to the level?",
            "tell": false
          },
          {
            "speaker": "Recruiter",
            "at": "06:19",
            "text": "To the level. Everyone coming in at this grade this quarter is on the new band.",
            "tell": true
          },
          {
            "speaker": "Candidate",
            "at": "06:31",
            "text": "And the posting still shows the old range?",
            "tell": false
          },
          {
            "speaker": "Recruiter",
            "at": "06:35",
            "text": "It does. I will get that updated.",
            "tell": false
          }
        ],
        "reading": "An answer that generalises to the whole grade describes a policy. An answer that is specific to you would describe an assessment. They are different mechanisms."
      }
    ],
    "perspectives": [
      {
        "actor": "actor.candidate",
        "sees": "A band stated in the posting and again at the screen, a lower band stated in week five, and the posting still showing the first figure.",
        "reads": "An answer that applies to everyone at the grade describes a policy; an answer specific to this candidate would describe an assessment. The reply given was the first.",
        "does": "Records the original band, the date it was stated and who stated it, and asks whether the revision is to the level or to this offer."
      },
      {
        "actor": "actor.recruiter",
        "sees": "A revised grid for the level, arriving after the role opened, and a candidate holding the figure stated at the screen.",
        "reads": "The number changed above the recruiter's position; the earlier figure is the one the candidate is holding going into the offer call.",
        "does": "States the current band and where it came from, and files the posting correction as a request, because the band itself is set a level above this function."
      },
      {
        "actor": "actor.employer_policy",
        "sees": "A levelling grid and a band per grade, revised on the cycle at which compensation is reviewed.",
        "reads": "A band set at the grade applies to everyone entering at that grade, which is what makes the hires consistent with one another.",
        "does": "Revises the grid and applies it from the date of the revision. Processes already running against the previous figure are not rows in that decision."
      },
      {
        "actor": "actor.public_policy_and_industry_standards",
        "sees": "Postings covered by a disclosure rule carry a range. A revision made mid-process reaches this layer only if the posting is checked against the offer.",
        "reads": "The published range is a measurable object. The grade a candidate is assessed at, and the date a band was revised, are not covered by the same rule.",
        "does": "Writes to what is enforceable: the presence of a range in the posting, and not the levelling decision that determines which range applies."
      }
    ],
    "non_inferences": [
      "Does not prove an intentional bait-and-switch unless evidence of company policy establishes one."
    ]
  }
}