{
  "registry_version": "1.0.0",
  "data": {
    "title": "Compensation Double Bind",
    "status": "active",
    "evidence_ids": [
      "evidence.salary_transparency_growth_slows_but_momentum_continues_indeed_hiring_lab"
    ],
    "content": "# Compensation Double Bind\n\nThe candidate has to name a compensation expectation first: a high number ends the process, and a low one lowers the level the candidate is assessed at.\n\n### Trigger Rule\nThe candidate is asked for a compensation number before the band for the role is stated, and the band is not stated in return.\n\n### What this Establishes\n- An information asymmetry works as an uncalibrated filter before technical merit is assessed.\n\n### What this Does NOT Establish\n- Does not establish that the employer has an unlimited budget, or that any of this is malicious.",
    "aliases": [
      "P-004"
    ],
    "id": "pat.compensation_double_bind",
    "type": "pattern",
    "summary": "The candidate has to name a compensation expectation first: a high number ends the process, and a low one lowers the level the candidate is assessed at.",
    "required_artifacts": [
      "obs.generic_closer_alignment_rejection_template",
      "obs.compensation_band_reduced_or_altered_mid_process"
    ],
    "compatible_mechanisms": [
      "mech.unstated_compensation_band_discrepancy",
      "mech.experience_age_grading_mismatch"
    ],
    "trigger_rule": "The candidate is asked for a compensation number before the band for the role is stated, and the band is not stated in return.",
    "establishes": [
      "An information asymmetry works as an uncalibrated filter before technical merit is assessed."
    ],
    "non_inferences": [
      "Does not establish that the employer has an unlimited budget, or that any of this is malicious."
    ],
    "interventions": [
      "int.upfront_compensation_band_disclosure"
    ],
    "evidence_level": "supported",
    "specimens": [
      {
        "kind": "chat",
        "label": "The asymmetry, in four messages",
        "lines": [
          {
            "speaker": "Recruiter",
            "at": "screen, minute 3",
            "text": "Before we go further — what are your compensation expectations?",
            "tell": false
          },
          {
            "speaker": "Candidate",
            "at": "screen, minute 3",
            "text": "Happy to discuss. What is the band for the role?",
            "tell": false
          },
          {
            "speaker": "Recruiter",
            "at": "screen, minute 4",
            "text": "We prefer to hear the candidate number first so we can match it to the right level.",
            "tell": true
          },
          {
            "speaker": "Candidate",
            "at": "screen, minute 5",
            "text": "Understood. My expectation is in the range of 85–95k.",
            "tell": false
          }
        ],
        "reading": "The number is required from one side and withheld by the other, and it is collected before the level is fixed. Both outcomes below follow from that ordering."
      },
      {
        "kind": "email",
        "label": "The two branches",
        "context": "the same question, two candidates, one week",
        "lines": [
          {
            "text": "Quoted 95k — We are not able to proceed; the expectation is outside the range we have for this role.",
            "tell": true
          },
          {
            "text": "Quoted 70k — Good news, we would like to move ahead. Based on the conversation we are looking at this as a mid-level hire rather than senior.",
            "tell": true
          }
        ],
        "reading": "A high number ends the process and a low one moves the level. There is no answer that leaves both the process and the grade untouched — which is what makes it a bind rather than a negotiation."
      }
    ],
    "perspectives": [
      {
        "actor": "actor.candidate",
        "sees": "A request for a compensation expectation at the screen, and a band that is not stated in return.",
        "reads": "The number is collected before the level is fixed, so it is an input to the level rather than an answer to it.",
        "does": "Names a range without the band, without the level, and without knowing how many others in the pipeline have already named one."
      },
      {
        "actor": "actor.recruiter",
        "sees": "A screening form with an expectations field that has to be filled before the candidate moves to the panel, and disclosure rules for the band that are set elsewhere.",
        "reads": "The number is the cheapest available check on whether the process is viable, before panel time is spent on it.",
        "does": "Asks for the number first and records it in the field, and says about the band exactly what is permitted at this stage."
      },
      {
        "actor": "actor.employer_policy",
        "sees": "A band per level and a rule about what may be said about it, both reviewed on a cycle measured in quarters.",
        "reads": "A stated expectation is the input that places a candidate on the grid; a band stated first becomes the floor of every negotiation that follows.",
        "does": "Publishes the band where a disclosure rule requires it and not elsewhere, and keeps levelling a decision separate from the number."
      },
      {
        "actor": "actor.public_policy_and_industry_standards",
        "sees": "Postings in covered jurisdictions, which either carry a band or do not.",
        "reads": "A published band is measurable and enforceable; the level a candidate will be assessed at is neither.",
        "does": "Requires the band in the posting, which closes one branch of the bind and leaves the levelling branch untouched."
      }
    ]
  }
}