Make total rewards understandable. Connect salary, benefits and equity with pay bands, merit planning and approval workflows for the people making the decisions.
Naledi Mokoena · Example annual package
Illustrative annual package · Values are examples, not a quote
Who it’s for
Compensation decisions are made by a few people and felt by everyone. These are the moments that test them.
The board wants a pay-equity view before the annual review.
“Do we have a gender pay gap in comparable roles, and what would it cost to close?”
Pay equity analysis compares average pay by job title and seniority, or by pay grade. Groups with a gap over 5% and a meaningful sample are flagged, with an estimated cost to close.
Every year, a spreadsheet goes to each payroll owner and comes back different.
“I need to propose increases for my people without seeing the whole company’s salaries.”
Delegated access shows each leader only their departments, locations or reporting line. They can export a manager pay pack, then raise change requests that go through approval.
They see a take-home figure once a month.
“I didn’t know my employer pays most of my medical aid.”
A total rewards statement built from payroll shows basic pay, allowances, bonuses, employer contributions to provident fund, medical aid and group life, salary history and equity.
An ESOP, share options or an employee trust run from a lawyer’s spreadsheet.
“Nobody can tell me what has vested, and the cap table never matches.”
Equity plans hold grants, cliffs and vesting schedules with approval steps. Employees see their own grants in My Equity, and trust-backed plans don’t double count dilution.
Why pay feels opaque
TodayBenchmarks are a single number from somewhere, so nobody can tell whether the role really matches.
With OctoberEach benchmark shows percentiles from the 10th to the 90th, a role profile and its Paterson grade, so you can judge the match yourself.
TodayPay-equity questions trigger a week of exports and pivot tables.
With OctoberPay equity analysis groups comparable roles, flags meaningful gaps and estimates the cost to close them.
TodaySalary spreadsheets are emailed to every leader who needs to see a slice of them.
With OctoberDelegated access shows each leader only their own people, with exports and change requests inside that scope.
TodayPeople undervalue their package because they only see their net pay.
With OctoberA personal total rewards statement adds up pay, benefits, employer contributions and equity.
Inside compensation
Ground every pay decision in market data and your own structure. Then show people what they actually receive.
Benchmarks
Look up a role by country, or US state, and seniority. October shows base and total-package percentiles, where each of your incumbents falls and a profile of the role, including typical experience, qualification level and reporting line.
Pay bands
Define job families, pay grades and bands with a minimum, midpoint and maximum. Compa-ratio shows who is below band before it becomes a resignation, and change requests carry the fix through approval.
Keabetswe A. · R467k → R520k from 1 March. Raised by the regional finance director, awaiting HR approval.
Pay equity
Compare average pay for men and women in the same role and seniority, or the same pay grade. October flags groups where the gap is over 5%, shows the overall gap and estimates the cost to close it.
Groups are flagged when the gap is over 5% and the sample is large enough to mean something.
Total rewards
Each employee gets a statement built from payroll and their HR record: basic pay, allowances, bonuses, employer contributions and benefits, salary changes over time and equity. My Equity shows grants, vesting and current value.
1-year cliff, then quarterly vesting over 4 years · 750 vested
The annual pay review
An illustrative 900-person retailer with three regional leaders who each propose increases for their own people.
Refreshes benchmarks for the main store and head-office roles and checks the role profiles match their job descriptions.
Answers “who is below midpoint and overdue an increase?” with 23 names, 9 of them high performers, mostly Store Managers in one region.
Gives each regional leader delegated access to their stores only, excluding grades at executive level, and sends a manager pay pack.
Raise change requests: market adjustments for the below-band Store Managers and merit increases for the rest.
Review and approve. Applied changes update each employee’s record and their total rewards statement, with every step in the audit trail.
Who is below midpoint and hasn’t had an increase in over 18 months?
23 people. 9 of them are rated Exceeds Expectations or higher. The biggest cluster is Store Managers in KwaZulu-Natal, on average 11% below the benchmark midpoint.
Pay people fairly. Then help them see it.
How it works
Import current salaries and set up job families, pay grades and bands. Use Paterson grades if you already do.
Look up market percentiles for your key roles and see where each person sits.
Give leaders scoped access, run change requests and merit cycles, and switch on total rewards statements for employees.
Built for sensitive data
Salary values are encrypted in the database, not just hidden in the interface.
Delegated access is limited to chosen departments, locations, employees or reporting lines, with exclusions such as senior grades.
Company-wide analytics, exports and the compensation analyst stay with compensation admins.
Pay changes go through change requests and approvals, and every decision is in the audit trail.
Works with
Calibrated ratings inform merit and promotion increases.
ExploreBudget scenarios use live compensation data to cost each plan.
ExplorePay attaches to the person and position, not a spreadsheet row.
ExploreLeavers trigger an equity decision for the admins who manage the plan.
ExploreExplore the workflows, tools and practical details that support compensation throughout the working day.
Employees see their complete package in one personalised dashboard: salary, bonuses, benefits, pension, equity and ESOP. My Equity shows vesting schedules, grant history and current value. Full transparency, zero guesswork.
Benchmark salaries against market data, define job families, levels, grades and pay bands, and check pay equity across roles, levels and locations with comp analytics.
Plan, model and execute merit cycles with budget pools, manager recommendations and approval workflows. Comp analytics show compa-ratio and market position by department, seniority, location, grade and gender, so every decision is informed, consistent and auditable.
Employees submit expenses with receipt uploads and access payslips on demand. Managers approve in one click. Clean data flows straight to finance and payroll, no spreadsheets required.
Model merit budgets and compensation scenarios before committing.
Outliers across roles, levels and locations surfaced automatically.
Explore the detail behind compensation.
October manages compensation, benefits, expenses and payslips and integrates with payroll providers so approved changes flow through without re-keying.
Yes. My Equity shows grants, vesting schedules, current value and exercise options as part of the total-rewards view.
We’ll walk through the real product with your team and show how it connects to the rest of October People.