Revisiting multi-tier wage structures: Equity, employment mobility, and tier effects

This study considers the competing conclusions reached by Martin and Peters on (1987) and Cappelli and Sherer (1990) regarding two-tier wage systems an d examines how worker perceptions of their own employment mobility affect a ttitudes about two-tier systems. Findings from a hybrid multi-tier wage sys tem in the retail food industry containing both permanent and merging or te mporary tiers indicates that workers on the permanently lower B tier posses sed more negative attitudes than their A-tier counterparts, with some evide nce that the effects of permanent and temporary plans differ Employment mob ility moderates these attitudes, for low mobility workers report more posit ive attitudes than do high mobility workers.