We Should Talk About the “Act Your Wage” Trend

Numerous workplace trends have emerged in the past few years, many of which employers are not fond of. “Quiet quitting” is an example of such a trend, where workers will do the bare minimum—nothing more—to retain their employment. More recently, the trend has been to “act your wage.”

Let’s look at what this means and how to handle it if you ever encounter it in your business.

Act Your Wage: What It Is, and Where It Comes From

Fundamentally, the “Act Your Wage” movement is based on recognizing one’s value and the worth of one’s time. It encourages employees not to accept additional tasks or responsibilities without their efforts being recognized and preferably compensated.

In other words, Act Your Wage follows the philosophy that an employee’s pay should be proportional to the effort they contribute.

It’s all an extension of the quiet quitting trend that rose in popularity a few years ago, with a similar goal: promoting a healthier work/life balance through professional boundaries. The economic realities that many face today haven’t helped, either… inflation outpaced wage growth considerably from April 2021 to January 2023, despite many of those months also seeing high wage growth. 

Plus, the federal minimum wage has stagnated since 2009, meaning that minimum wage workers have effectively made less and less money each year since. One analysis suggested that if wages and productivity had remained aligned, the federal minimum wage in 2021 should have been $22.88 per hour… more than three times what it is now, in 2024. On top of that, groceries, gas, housing, and essentials are all more expensive, too.

With this information, it’s little wonder that an employee wouldn’t want to do more work without compensation. On a societal level, people already aren’t being compensated enough for their work. Hence, act your wage—do the work your job description explicitly requires, nothing more, unless you are commensurately paid for it.

What are the Goals of Act Your Wage?

When an employee adopts this practice, there are three primary reasons they may be doing so:

1. They want to reduce/prevent burnout. Employees can better balance their work and home lives and moderate their stress levels if they have clear boundaries between what is and isn’t their responsibility (as well as understanding the expectations they are beholden to).
2. They want to avoid being exploited. While I’m sure this wouldn’t apply to you, some employers don’t hesitate to overload their team members with work outside their job description without recompense. If you were experiencing this, wouldn’t you want it to stop?
3. They want to accomplish better outcomes. The more attention they can pay to their actual work duties, the better your team’s performance will be. Act Your Wage is effectively an employee taking it upon themselves to do just that.

Naturally, you don’t want to encourage this behavior in your business. You’ll want your team to accomplish as much as possible at all times… and this is where the tension comes from.

What Can Be Done About “Act Your Wage?”

First and foremost, you need to communicate with your team members so they know they can come to you with any concerns. That’s always the first step in any mediation or resolution process.

In terms of other changes, a few can keep your employees more satisfied with their work and role. For instance:

• Enabling Growth - Rather than having your team members perform the same duties day in and day out, remaining at their level in the organization, provide them with plenty of advancement opportunities in terms of training and professional development.
• Define Responsibilities - There should be no confusion about what any particular role in your business involves or the expectations of the individual who fills that role. Make sure that everyone understands how they are contributing to the success of the business.
• Promote Personal Time - There’s a reason there’s been so much attention on work/life balance lately. It makes a real difference in the quality of your team’s work and helps them stay more productive when engaged in professional matters (while also keeping them happier while they work).
• Rewarding Accomplishments - It can be disheartening to see one’s effort taken for granted or go unnoticed. Acknowledging your employees for their roles in successful projects helps keep morale up.
• Offer Competitive Pay - Simply put, you need to pay your employees competitively and commensurate with the work they will be doing, adjusting it as their roles grow. The less outside stress they need to deal with (such as financial issues), the more they can focus and accomplish during the workday. Plus, if they’re paid more, acting their wage means they’ll do more.

The motivation to “act your wage” ultimately comes from an imbalance between expectations of a role and its realities. By correcting the balance, you and your team can accomplish more.

Horne & Benik is here to help. We can equip your business with the technology that will enable you to accomplish the productivity your business strives for, so you can A: focus on keeping your team happy, and B: make enough money to pay them well. Give us a call at (603) 499-4400 to learn more.