Pay Two Engineers at the Same Level for the Same Reasons
In growing software companies, pay is often settled one negotiation at a time and adjusted when someone threatens to leave. We help you link bands to levels, write the increment, variable pay and counter-offer rules, set the monthly input calendar and shape the settlement route for people leaving after a long notice. You decide every figure; we build the structure and the process around it.
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Share your requirementsThe starting point
Can You Explain Why Two People at the Same Level Are Paid Differently?
When pay follows negotiation, the spread at one level can be wide and the only honest reason is who asked harder. Counter-offers move one person's pay and quietly set a new standard. Month-end then adds inputs from several places.
We help you replace negotiated exceptions with a structure you can explain to the person across the table.
You may be experiencing:
- A wide spread of pay among engineers at one level, with no written reason.
- Levels defined for engineering but not for QA, support, product or design.
- Bands, where they exist, not linked to levels.
- Counter-offers made without a rule or a recorded approver.
- One annual increment round only loosely tied to ratings.
- Variable pay, on-call and shift allowances, or share-scheme entries reaching payroll after cut-off.
- Reimbursements for internet, equipment and travel handled by exception.
- Settlements for people leaving after a long notice calculated late and disputed.
What we can help with
Our Compensation, Payroll and Benefits Services for Software Companies
Level-to-band Mapping
Review how levels are defined across engineering, QA, DevOps, data, product, design, support and delivery, and link each level to a band with a minimum, middle and maximum. We also show where current pay falls inside each band.
Position-in-range Rules
Set how a new hire or promoted person is placed within the band, and the reasons for sitting high or low in it, so the placement can be explained later.
Increment and Promotion Cycle
Design the review calendar, the link between rating and increment, the promotion increment and who approves, and how budget is held across teams.
Variable Pay and Allowances
Write the rules for variable pay, on-call and shift allowances and any referral or retention payments: eligibility, trigger, calculation and who certifies it.
Counter-offer and Exception Policy
Decide when a counter-offer is made, who may approve it, how it sits against the band and how it is recorded, so one exception does not quietly reset a level.
Payroll Input Calendar
Set cut-offs and name who sends what: joiners and leavers from HR, attendance and shift data from team leads, variable pay from finance, reimbursements from approvers.
Reimbursements and Benefits
Define how claims for equipment, internet, travel, learning and any benefits are requested, approved and evidenced, and who reconciles them.
Share Scheme Administration Support
Where you grant employee share schemes, we help you keep the records, communication and entry into payroll inputs organised. The scheme's design and legal effect remain with your advisers.
The deliverables
What You Receive
Depending on the agreed scope, you can expect:
- A pay structure linking levels, bands and grades across role families.
- A pay-position view showing where people sit within each band.
- Written increment, promotion and variable pay rules.
- A counter-offer and exception policy with an approval route.
- A monthly payroll input calendar with named senders.
- Reimbursement and benefit routes with evidence rules.
- A reconciliation checklist before each payroll release.
- Configuration of inputs, approvals and reports on your payroll system or on GullyHR.
Step by step
How We Work
Look at Current Pay
We study pay by level and role family, recent offers, counter-offers and the last increment round, and note where reasons are missing.
Define Levels and Bands
With your leaders we agree the levels per family and set band ranges, using your own pay data and any market information you hold.
Write the Rules
We draft position-in-range, increment, variable pay, counter-offer and exception rules for you to decide on.
Set the Calendar and Workflow
We prepare the payroll input calendar, forms and sign-off route, and trial one monthly cycle beside your usual process.
Review Against the Baseline
Before work starts we record where you stand. After the first cycles we review pay spread, input timing and corrections with you.
The difference
Make Pay Decisions Easier to Explain
A defined structure and calendar help your company:
We do not promise outcomes. We record a baseline before work starts, covering the spread of pay within each level, the inputs arriving after cut-off and the corrections following each payroll run, and report against it, so you can see what changed and what did not.
- Place offers and increments against a band.
- See the spread of pay within each level.
- Handle counter-offers by a rule, not a reaction.
- Link increments to ratings through a written route.
- Receive payroll inputs by one date.
- Settle leavers' accounts on a defined sequence.
Find your fit
Who This Service Is For
Growing Product Companies
Replace negotiated pay with bands before the spread becomes hard to correct.
IT Services and Consulting Firms
Align pay with levels across delivery, pre-sales and support.
Startups with Share Schemes
Keep scheme records and payroll entries organised as headcount grows.
Companies with Shift-based Support Teams
Settle shift and night allowances with a clear input route.
Finance and HR Teams Running Payroll
Receive clean, approved inputs on a known date.
How it usually shows up in information technology and software
Compensation in growing software companies tends to be negotiated at the time of hiring and adjusted when someone threatens to leave. The outcome is a spread of pay among people at the same level that nobody can explain except by who asked harder. Level definitions may exist for engineering but not for QA, support or product, and bands, where present, are not linked to levels. Increments are given in one round a year with little connection to ratings. Variable pay, share schemes, on-call allowances and shift allowances for support teams add inputs that must reach payroll on time. Reimbursements for internet, equipment or travel are handled by exception. Full-and-final settlements for people serving long notice periods are calculated late, with disputes about leave encashment and recoveries.
Common challenges
Where it goes wrong in information technology and software
Pay follows negotiation
Two people at the same level are paid differently for no reason the company can state.
Bands are not linked to levels
Increment and offer decisions have no range to refer to.
Counter-offers set the pay
Retention increases for those who threaten to leave leave others behind.
Payroll inputs arrive late
Allowances, variable pay and recoveries are sent after the cut-off.
A better process
What a working version looks like
- 01
Map levels to bands
Each level has a band with a minimum, midpoint and maximum, and each person's position in the band is visible to HR. The compensation strategy shows the structure.
- 02
Link increments to performance
Increments follow ratings and position in band, with a written view of promotions and corrections.
- 03
Write a counter-offer policy
State when a counter-offer is made, who approves it and how the effect on peers is checked.
- 04
Set the input calendar
Cut-off dates for attendance, allowances, variable pay and recoveries, with named owners. See payroll input management.
- 05
Fix the settlement steps
A checklist for full-and-final, started when the resignation is accepted, so that it closes soon after the last day.
What to check this week
- List pay for all engineers at one level and look at the spread.
- Check whether each level has a band written down.
- Find the last counter-offers made and see who approved them.
- Ask payroll which inputs arrived after the cut-off last month.
- Confirm with a qualified professional that statutory components are handled correctly.
Confirm with a qualified professional. What applies depends on your establishment, your state and your sector, and it changes. This page describes a practice; it does not state a legal position.
What this looks like in information technology and software
The parts of compensation, payroll and benefits that are specific to this sector, rather than general.
Compensation and Bands
Two people at the same level, paid for the same reasons.
What this coversHide
Compensation and Bands
Two people at the same level, paid for the same reasons.
What this coversHideSalary structures in growing software companies are built one negotiation at a time, until two engineers at the same level are paid very differently and the only honest explanation is who asked harder.
- Level-to-band mapping
- Band ranges
- Position in range
- Increment cycle
- Performance-linked increments
- Promotion increments
- Counter-offer policy
- Variable pay
- Employee share-scheme administration support
- Compensation review cycle
Questions on this, in information technology and software
We build the structure and show where current pay sits inside it. The band values, budget and any adjustments are your decisions. We can use your own pay data and any market information you hold to inform them.
By a rule that you set: when one is considered, who approves, how it sits against the band and what is recorded. We help you write it. Whether to match a competing offer remains a business decision.
Our work is the structure, rules, inputs, approvals and set-up. Payroll can run in your own system or on the GullyHR platform. Statutory calculations, deductions and filings stay with your accountant or payroll provider.
We do not give legal or tax advice. Please confirm the components, deductions, contributions and filings that apply to your company with a qualified professional, and we will design inputs and sign-off around what they confirm.
We help organise records, communication and payroll inputs for a scheme you have already designed. The terms, tax treatment and legal effect are matters for your legal and tax advisers, and GullyHR does not give that advice.
Where self-service is configured on your system or on GullyHR, yes. We decide with you what employees can view and what they can submit, such as reimbursement claims.
First map levels to bands and look at where each person sits. Then correct the largest gaps over one or two cycles, with a clear reason given to those affected.
Have a policy before the situation arises. Many companies find that counter-offers delay rather than prevent exits, and that they unsettle colleagues.
Through a stated calendar, an approver and a single input format. Late changes after the cut-off cause errors and corrections.
Dues, leave position, recoveries, asset return and approvals, each with an owner. Confirm statutory elements with a qualified professional.
Bring Order to Pay, Bands and Month-end
If pay depends on who negotiated and payroll depends on chasing inputs, start with the bands and the calendar before any new software.
Prefer to talk first? Call +91 80958 58589 or write to hello@gullyhr.com.
Book a Compensation Consultation
Tell us about your levels, your pay elements and how payroll runs today.
The general method — what compensation, payroll and benefits covers, the questions it answers and what an engagement produces — is the same whatever the sector, and is set out on the compensation and rewards strategy page. What is above is the part that differs for information technology and software.
To run this in a system rather than on paper, see payroll input management.
Other HR topics for information technology and software
Where to start
Most engagements begin with a review of how this runs in your business today, then a written process and the sequence to implement it.
See all HR topics for information technology and software, or another industry.