---
id: A-005
type: artifact
title: "Compensation band reduced or altered mid-process"
lang: en
registry: 2026.08.2
canonical: https://hoba.work/artifacts/A-005
json: https://hoba.work/api/v1/artifacts/A-005.json
---

# Compensation band reduced or altered mid-process

Offered or discussed compensation band is revised downward from previously agreed or advertised range.

## At a glance

- Stage: Recruiter, Compensation, Offer
- Evidence: supported

## What it looks like

Composite excerpts, written to be typical rather than copied. No particular message, company or person is quoted here.

**Recruiter message before the offer call** — *reconstruction*

```
  week 5 Recruiter  Quick heads-up before we talk numbers tomorrow — where did we land on expectations?
  week 5 Candidate  Same as the range in the posting and what we agreed at the screen: 85–95k.
> week 5 Recruiter  Right. So finance has revised the band for this level since we opened the role. We are working with 72–78k now.
```

*What to notice* The number moved after the candidate had already spent the process. Note the date the original band was stated and by whom.

**Offer call, transcript fragment** · minute 6 of 20 — *reconstruction*

```
  06:12 Candidate  Was the change specific to me, or to the level?
> 06:19 Recruiter  To the level. Everyone coming in at this grade this quarter is on the new band.
  06:31 Candidate  And the posting still shows the old range?
  06:35 Recruiter  It does. I will get that updated.
```

*What to notice* 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.

## From each side

The same entry from inside each position that meets it: what reaches them, what it means from there, and what happens next given what they control.

### Candidate

- **What reaches them:** 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.
- **What it means from there:** 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.
- **What happens next:** 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.

### Recruiter

- **What reaches them:** A revised grid for the level, arriving after the role opened, and a candidate holding the figure stated at the screen.
- **What it means from there:** The number changed above the recruiter's position; the earlier figure is the one the candidate is holding going into the offer call.
- **What happens next:** States the current band and where it came from, and puts the posting correction in as a request, because the band itself is set a level above this function.

### Employer policy

- **What reaches them:** A levelling grid and a band per grade, revised on the cycle at which compensation is reviewed.
- **What it means from there:** A band set at the grade applies to everyone entering at that grade, which is what makes the hires consistent with one another.
- **What happens next:** 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.

### Public policy and industry standards

- **What reaches them:** 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.
- **What it means from there:** 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.
- **What happens next:** Writes to what is enforceable: the presence of a range in the posting, and not the levelling decision that determines which range applies.

## What this observation does NOT establish

- Does not prove intentional bait-and-switch malice unless verified by company policy evidence.

## Diagnostic probes

- **PROBE-A-005-1** (medium) — Request clarification on whether the revised band reflects a lower leveling grade or a company-wide budget adjustment. → Separates leveling evaluation outcome from company financial constraints.

---

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