Should managers know salary of direct reports

[Butterfly8091]

I work for a small company, great place to work and happy with my job but not sure how to handle this. Today a direct report told me their salary as tax has changed recently and shared what they currently earn as a matter of fact. So far only the company owners know salaries, have not been disclosed to managers. They had indicated they would disclose salaries of junior staff to line managers but hasn't happened yet. I want to bring it up before any issues arrise but not sure what's the norm? Do you know your direct reports' salaries?

Yes, and I am involved in communicating pay rises, bonuses etc.

Yes I do as I make the offer at point of hire and communicate bonuses and pay rise percentages thereafter. In practice I couldn't tell you what any of my team earn right now as I've a terrible memory but I do have access to the information.

Yes of course, as a manager of a direct report I have influence over their pay rises and bonus and also it's my job to communicate it to them in their annual review. I can also advocate for them if I think they deserve more!

It varies from company to company. There's no law or fixed 'should' or 'should not'.

You seem concerned that the employee has shared info that you don't know officially. There's no issue around that, everyone can talk about their own salary to whoever they wish. It's actually against the law now to ban salary discussions. This is separate to general confidentiality in salaries as a whole.

My manager knows mine as they’re the one who tells me if I’m getting a pay rise etc, I know most of the teams salary I’m working on too, we’ve discussed it essentially to check no one was getting massively screwed over.
There’s nothing to handle really? He told you, you didn’t force it out of him

Anyone can share their salary - entirely their choice. There are some companies that try to strongly discourage ban people talking about their salaries completely, which I think is actually a red flag.

I think it is fairly usual to know the salaries of your direct reports.

In your specific situation there is nothing to bring up. They told you their salary - end of the matter.

Yes. I know all of my direct reports salaries. They all earn more than me. 🤷‍♀️

Yes, I do. We don't get bonuses but I negotiate the pay rises for my team so, by default, I know them. We have published salary bands too.