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Original poster

Do you talk openly about your salary with others?

108 replies

toodlethenoodle · 13/12/2019 19:48

I was offered my dream role within my current company after I gave in my notice after working in a different part of the business. The CEO then got hold of my CV and I negotiated hard and secured myself a 59% pay rise.
In my new office there is a lot of open chat about salaries, bonus' and benefits. A lot of my co workers are unhappy with their salary. I was approached during the week by my co workers and asked outright what my salary was as many people in the office have suspicions that they're being paid half as much as me especially since I was asked personally by the CEO to stay.

I have explained that I have never and will never speak about my salary with anyone as its information that is personal to me. I seem to be a 1 person department so I don't know enough about anyone elses roles and responsibilities to know whether they could negotiate for more.

Is this way of thinking strange? Am I being unreasonable not giving this information to give others the chance to renegotiate?

OP posts:
Ginfordinner · 13/12/2019 19:50

No. I never discuss my salary with anyone at work.

dodgeballchamp · 13/12/2019 19:50

I do and my colleagues do. It helps nobody to keep it a secret, especially as people from minority backgrounds are likely to be paid lower anyway. Knowing the going rate helps people ask for what they’re worth. My current job is public sector and everyone’s salary range is available on our intranet anyway

Eventrider1 · 13/12/2019 19:51

I speak openly about it to my friends and family but I wouldn't with my colleagues for the very reason that we could all be on different pay and it would cause such hassle and bitching about why someone gets paid more than someone else.

Pfefferkuchen · 13/12/2019 19:54

Knowing the going rate helps people ask for what they’re worth.

no, it only make them ask for what they think they are worth.
Salaries should remain confidential, it's nobody's business. Ask and get what you think you are worth.

Isnappedandsharted · 13/12/2019 19:54

I do. We should all get paid the same for doing the same job...

Justasconfusedwithnumber2 · 13/12/2019 19:54

Nope, neither. Its a private thing to me and can't really bring any good.

Pfefferkuchen · 13/12/2019 19:55

We should all get paid the same for doing the same job...

but it's really rare that everybody does the same job, same hours, same workload, same results. Having the same job title on paper doesn't mean you do the same in practice.

FlashingFedora · 13/12/2019 19:55

No never. Highly unlikely any of us are on the same salary as some are more experienced than others and it's the type of job where experience counts for a lot.

Stephminx · 13/12/2019 19:57

Very often there can be a provision in your contract preventing you from discussing it with colleagues.

I’d never disclose mine.

Radicalradiator · 13/12/2019 20:00

Yes I do. Companies encourage us not to because it benefits them and them only. There are more women than men in my company and the same amount of senior women. Yet there is still a 14% gender pay gap. More progressive countries publish all salaries. If companies are paying fairly and have nothing to hide there should be no issue should there? Knowledge is power.

ChristmasSpirtsOnTheRocksPleas · 13/12/2019 20:02

Everyone earns the same within their band more or less (a small amount of wiggle room and optional bonuses). No one ever discusses it. We all know roughly how much everyone is being paid.

WWlOOlWW · 13/12/2019 20:09

I work for the local authority so we are in bands. Everyone doing the same job get the same pay.

I'd be really fucked off if someone was getting more than me for the same role.

MulberryPeony · 13/12/2019 20:10

Not openly no but I (female) do have two peers (male) In a male dominated industry who have shared and it’s useful to me to make sure I’m not dropping behind as it would be harder to ‘catch up’ if the gap gets too big. I 100% wouldn’t have asked for my current rate so confidently without knowing what those peers are getting paid. Men will generally ask (and get) more than a woman would even ask for.

PomBearWithAnOFRS · 13/12/2019 20:13

I do, but I am on nmw and everybody knows it, so there's no point being "secretive" about it. All my colleagues get the same.

Inferiorbeing · 13/12/2019 20:15

Me and DP do, we both work in areas where our salaries are both public and widely discussed (teaching and NHS) so why hide it!

dun1urkin · 13/12/2019 20:18

I’m NHS and what pay band people are on is usually very widely known, especially in clinical services, so we pretty much all know the range of each other’s pay. It’s normal to me to know how much other people get paid, and know that they know how much I get paid.

AutumnGlitterBall · 13/12/2019 20:18

I’m on a national pay scale as an emergency services worker so we all get paid the same and overtime is the same rate across the country. People regularly ask folk with more service how much they get paid so they can see what their next increment will bring or what they might get if they drop hours.

Chloemol · 13/12/2019 20:19

No

AppleKatie · 13/12/2019 20:23

At work everyone knows at least roughly because our pay is transparent and based on experience.

At home I don’t tell my family. They assume it is less than it actually is I think. That’s fine by me.

AppleKatie · 13/12/2019 20:24
Lipperfromchipper · 13/12/2019 20:25

Well I’m a teacher and we work on pay scales that go up automatically every year, so if you know how long someone is working then you can calculate their scale and know what they are on...but yes if you ask anyone I work with they will tell you.

SomewhereInbetween1 · 13/12/2019 20:28

I do with my friends. I'm paid significantly less than them but my job is wonderful and I get a ridiculous amount of holiday and flexibility that they don't. So horses for courses really.

MyNewBearTotoro · 13/12/2019 20:29

I’m open with friends and family but it’s not generally something I would discuss with colleagues. I think I am on the lower end of the scale for my role (teacher) in my school but most people in the schools (TAs) will he paid significantly less than me so I wouldn’t feel comfortable discussing it, although if a close colleague asked I probably would answer.

Alte · 13/12/2019 20:33

I do, but I earn exactly the same as my colleagues on the same level as me. DH and DC obviously know what I earn, and so do my parents and brothers. I don't talk about it with friends outside of work, though, because I know they earn less.

SpotlessMind · 13/12/2019 20:36

I’m also public sector so my wage can be worked out by anyone easily and I have a fair idea what other colleagues get. My job also is informed by experience and we having bandings within each pay grade to accommodate that. The senior management have their income detailed in the annual report. I’m cool with people knowing given that we’re funded via the public purse. I don’t get why transparency is a problem or what you gain by not sharing.