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The reality is that most employers either explicitly or implicitly tell their employees not to share salary information with co-workers.
Correct. Oftentimes it's against company policy to disclose compensation to fellow employees. Noncompliance results in severe punishment and/or termination of employment.
Correct. Oftentimes it's against company policy to disclose compensation to fellow employees. Noncompliance results in severe punishment and/or termination of employment.
Yep. This is the case where I work. It's explicitly spelled out in our associate handbook.
I don't like disclosing my salary to anyone, not even my parents. The only exception would be a potential future SO.
I don't like disclosing my salary to anyone, not even my parents.
I don't mind disclosing mine to people I know very well, but I also respect peoples' privacy. The issue I have with it is the way companies specifically use this policy to manipulate their payrolls. Seems like a socially engineered ploy to get the most work out of their employees for the least amount of money.
But what do I know? I'm just an underpaid nobody....
Why can't we all just be upfront about this? When I got my current job (which was advertised with no pay and it never brought up during interviewing) I was a big stunned when offered the low salary and even more stunned when I found out it was their cap and non-negotiable. I took it but had I known, perhaps I wouldn't have even applied.
Just saying why does pay have to be such a secret?
I think companies that dont openly advertise their salary are ones that are almost certainly trying to low ball, and they figure if they get you in the door, maybe youll be desperate enough to overlook it.
Its exactly why I dont even bother with jobs that dont post a salary range, and I think its perfectly acceptable to ask what it is.
Correct. Oftentimes it's against company policy to disclose compensation to fellow employees. Noncompliance results in severe punishment and/or termination of employment.
There is a reason for this. If I work in the telecom industry (as I do) and I hire an engineer for $90k in 2012, but the market in 2013 dictates that an engineer needs to be paid $110k and I have a need for a 2nd engineer - I have to get him for $110k. If this was all open, then the other guy might want $110k too, now I've got to find another 20k for him on top of budget for the new guy. When a company is ramping a division or growing a sector, this isn't the easiest thing to do.
The risk here is that I get guy #2 for 110k, and guy #1 will need more pay or might leave. This is a risk the software industry/social media industry faces constantly.
I am a fair boss and if the cash is available in my budget, I would make it right for guy #1, but in the meantime, if they sit around and talk about this, I lose productivity and breed animosity.
These numbers are hypothetical and don't include all the other backend costs for hiring someone (taxes, benefits, overhead).
I don't mind disclosing mine to people I know very well, but I also respect peoples' privacy. The issue I have with it is the way companies specifically use this policy to manipulate their payrolls. Seems like a socially engineered ploy to get the most work out of their employees for the least amount of money.
But what do I know? I'm just an underpaid nobody....
Yes. There is a reason that discussing salary is heavily discouraged or strictly forbidden and you can bet it's not for the employee's own welfare.
There is a reason for this. If I work in the telecom industry (as I do) and I hire an engineer for $90k in 2012, but the market in 2013 dictates that an engineer needs to be paid $110k and I have a need for a 2nd engineer - I have to get him for $110k. If this was all open, then the other guy might want $110k too, now I've got to find another 20k for him on top of budget for the new guy. When a company is ramping a division or growing a sector, this isn't the easiest thing to do.
The risk here is that I get guy #2 for 110k, and guy #1 will need more pay or might leave. This is a risk the software industry/social media industry faces constantly.
I am a fair boss and if the cash is available in my budget, I would make it right for guy #1, but in the meantime, if they sit around and talk about this, I lose productivity and breed animosity.
These numbers are hypothetical and don't include all the other backend costs for hiring someone (taxes, benefits, overhead).
I realize that hiring is expensive, but exploitation as a form of risk mitigation seems like an ethical gray area to me. Hiding the market rate for services behind company policy punishable by termination doesn't seem right. I know it's standard and I know there are reasons behind it, but I definitely don't agree with it.
Interesting. All federal employees salaries are public information. Everyone knows what you make. Now....some people are able to negotiate higher salary when they start. I worked with a woman who took $20,000 less then me. And then she was mad I was making so much more. Duh. She was just too desperate. I could have cared less, and turned them down until it was enough to get my attention.
jdm2008: This is all well and good however secrecy about pay is not promoted by employers(for the most part) it is mostly that information that is guarded closely by individuals.
Nonsense, if employers wanted employees to know each other's incomes this would be the case. The reality is that most employers either explicitly or implicitly tell their employees not to share salary information with co-workers.
What's stopping you from going up and asking your coworkers their salary? In my case nothing, and in every place I've ever worked for there was no policy forbidding that action. It's not the employers job to share everyone's personal information, it's yours if you so choose.
In the UK a company when recruiting is required to give a minimum wage that you would earn if you met the minimum requirements for the job at the end of the first interview, in writing. If they have a set wage for the role then you be told this and if the wage is dependent on experience and/or qualifications you will be informed of the min. and max. wages and what qualifications will receive what pay.
It's not a law but one of those code of practice things and if you ask them they shouldn't refuse to give you the information before the first interview.
Here's a brief rundown of your rights with regards to wages after you get the job:
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