Talk with Coworkers About Your Salaries

Discussing salary at work has long been a taboo subject. In fact, many employers will lead you to believe that they can forbid you from discussing it. However, under the law (in most cases), you have a legal right to discuss your salary with your coworkers without being fired or punished for it. Nonetheless, you should still approach the conversation with some discretion.

Steps

Approaching the Conversation

1. Be aware of the exceptions. Before you ever start discussing salary, you should realize there are some exceptions to the law about discussing salaries. Government workers, independent contractors, and supervisors are all not covered by this law, meaning they aren't protected from being fired if they discuss salaries.
   • You do have the right to discuss salary at work, as well, but only if your workplace allows other non-work related discussion. They can only forbid salary discussion at work if they forbid all non-work related conversation.
2. Be discreet. While you can be as overt discussing salaries as you want, many companies frown upon the activity. Therefore, it may be to your benefit to make inquiries as quietly as you can.
   • One way to make it easier is to discuss it when you're not at work. You could have lunch with a coworker, for instance, and bring up the topic of salary, or you could have a drink after work sometime.
3. Approach those who won't mind being asked. Some people are extra touchy about money, and it's probably not a good idea to approach them at all. Generally, it's the same people who don't overshare in general. Plus, you should know the person well enough to be able to decide if they will be touchy on the subject before you ask them.
4. Ask people who are leaving the company. Once someone is leaving, they are less likely to be secretive about their salary. Therefore, it's a good time to ask them what they make, as they'll be more willing to share.

Opening the Discussion

1. Ask if they mind discussing salary. The first step is just to broach the topic with the person. Obviously, you don't want to just demand to know their salary. Broach the topic more gently.
   • You could say, "I'm trying to informally gather some information on salaries in the company, and I was wondering if you'd be willing to share yours."
2. Tell them why you want to know. You may be able to convince people if you have an explicit reason for asking about salary. For instance, maybe you suspect you aren't making enough, or you maybe you think the company is discriminating against women and/or people of color.
   • You could tell them, "I think I'm being underpaid for my work, and I'm wondering if it's systematic. I'd like to see how women are being paid in comparison to men in the company."
   • You could also offer to tell them your salary: "As a gesture of goodwill, I don't mind telling you my salary if you want to know."
3. Pass around a spreadsheet to disclose salaries. Another option is to do the work semi-anonymously. For instance, you could make a spreadsheet that you pass around to coworkers with different people adding their information. With this method, disclosing salaries could be done somewhat anonymously, as employees would not need to give their names.
   • However, in a small company, it would be difficult to keep people anonymous. Nonetheless, a spreadsheet you pass around is a good way to collect the information for everyone.
4. Don't push. If someone doesn't want to share their information, you should let it go. Pushing someone to share will only cause more tension, and they are more likely to report you to management.

Being Aware of the Consequences

1. Be ready for jealousy. Sometimes, sharing salary information can lead to jealousy in the workplace. A coworker might get jealous of what you make, leading to tension. On the other hand, knowing salaries provides a reference for asking for a raise, so it can go either way.
   • For instance, you can say you've gathered information on salary in your company, and you know you're being underpaid. Even if you don't tell your boss that, you at least know you're being underpaid and have cause to ask for a raise.
2. Understand it may not remain a secret. If you tell someone your salary, that information is out there. That means it can be told to everyone in the office. If you're not ready for the whole office to know, then you shouldn't tell your salary.
3. Expect some retribution. While it's technically illegal for management to take any action against you (including firing you), that doesn't mean they can't make life difficult for you in subtle ways. If management doesn't like what you're doing, they may snub you in ways that you can't prove are connected to the salary discussions.
   • If you can prove that you are being discriminated against, you do have protection under the law. The key is to document everything you can, and take it to a lawyer.

Sources and Citations

See also

• Build Bridges With a Co Worker You Don't Like
• Survive Sharing an Office Space
• Deal With Difficult People in the Workplace
• Deal with Mean Female Coworkers
• Be Friends with Your Coworkers
• Ask Better Questions
• Suspend an Employee
• Tell Coworkers You're Pregnant
• Convince Anyone of Anything
• Look People in the Eye

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