Should salary be a secret?

Um, yeah, it does. Discrimination on any basis is illegal. If they pay a single person more because they assume that person won't be distracted by family responsibilities, that's illegal. Works both ways.

I'm a big fan of a set wage based on job description. If you are qualified for the job (employers set the qualifications) you get X wage, regardless of who you are. The state of Minnesota was doing something like this, if I recall.

 

This is a tricky question, and I think the right answer is to tell someone -- discreetly -- if they ask. In the rare cases anymore where you have bargaining power, knowing what fellow employees make is important information.

Management, of course, knows very well that paying people different amounts, then watching them turn against each other over this discrepancy, is a great way to keep salaries and benefits as low as possible.

When I first started at a chain of weeklies, I was very up front about telling everyone exactly what I made, and telling everyone else they should state it, too, so we workers could be better informed. (Granted, this was the mid-1990s, when I was much more into leftist politics and union activism ...)

While some appreciated this approach, many did not, and I've learned over the years that many people would rather not know.

But if you'd like to know what I make ... just PM me. I'll still tell anyone who asks.

 

At one of my previous stops, the SE made a big point about telling me not to tell anybody else what I was making. He said that guys on the staff with more experience than me were making less and it would get ugly if my salary got out.

I really wasn't worried about things getting ugly, but if the boss tells me I have to keep it to myself, that's good enough for me. I kept expecting somebody to ask what I made, but it never happened.

 

I think it's because, culturally speaking, talking about money is considered taboo. There are many people who consider it to be a personal, private matter. My parents still won't discuss their finances with me.

Sure, we speak in general terms, such as "I'm broke" or "We're upper middle class," but without specifics, what do those things even mean?

And there are many ways to flaunt money or give the perception of wealth, but rarely are numbers involved.

The problem is this secrecy relies on the fairness of employers. People trust they're getting a fair wage. It's a misplaced trust.

 

Don't trust the boss.

 

Illegal or not, it happens.

And think of it this way. You're en editor making a hire. Economically, it only makes sense to pay what you think the minimum is to satisfy your favorite candidate's needs. If that's a kid right out of college, then maybe he's happy with and qualified for $25,000 a year. If you want the guy who happens to have a wife and two kids, then it's going to take more to lure him to the job.

And I'm definitely not a fan of having set wages based on job descriptions because I'm going to work a little bit harder than the guy next to me with the same title because I want to make more.

 

That's naive. If that's how it worked in the real world, the best and hardest-working people would always be at the top (in responsibility and salary.)

If you work harder (or do a better job), you should be promoted and get a higher wage for THAT title. Much fairer for all involved.

 

But if you're working with someone less motivated, you have to make as much as they do, and that brings you down to working at their level. What if your dream job is to cover preps and you're the best in the country at it? You want to be making as much as the lazy idiot covering preps with you? You want to maximize your benefits at every single level you're at.

At the risk of sounding like a Tea Partier, this is basic free-market stuff.

 

Let's keep this simple: De-friend your colleagues on Facebook, don't "tweet" proprietary or personal information, and keep your salary to yourself.

That is because any salary info you acquire is OUT OF CONTEXT. You don't know your colleagues' value, their performance. You only know what YOU see (with limited info and perspective) and what THEY tell you (of course, with a positive spin that reflects their talent and value).

Until you reach a point in your career where you have all of the info -- gathering 360-degree feedback on performance -- and really know how someone challenges themselves to grow and develop, and how that person responds to coaching and feedback, and are in the best position to assess all of that against colleagues in the same or similar roles, you DON'T KNOW ANYTHING.

There also are dozens of other factors that play into it. What is the state of the company's financial health at the moment? It can change within months, depending on corporate mandates and other business issues. How about the local, US and world economy? Does the person have any differentiating skills? Were they hired during a competitive-offer situation, or did they come on board as an entry-level employee when times were tight?

So many factors. So many people on here with a very limited perspective, and so much to learn.

 

I'm with the "don't disclose" side, and I'm with Roving_Gambler on the lack of context.

I learned this at my second job in 1978 (Jesus!). I went to a party with all my new colleagues, and I was the "oh, what does it matter" crowd and was liquored up and told somebody what I had been paid. And basically, even at $335 a week or whatever it was, it was more than pretty much anybody at the party.

I was the new NFL/Bucs writer, and I certainly think I was worth it, but they had people who had been there for 10 years and had started as kids and were making a lot less, and were a lot older. That was their circumstance, and mine was mine.

Bottom line: I really put the editor and managing editor on the spot, after they had done all they could for me to get me. And they were good guys, and it was really unfair that I put them in that position.

There's the abstract "management," and then there are human beings who are managers, and not all of them are bad people, and some are trying to do the best they can for the entire staff with the budget they have. So while as a concept, everybody knowing what everybody else makes might seem fine, as a practical matter it's not. So I've never told anybody except family or whatever what I'm making, for 33 years now.

 

Get all the information you can, then get as much money as you can. If telling someone your salary benefits you, do so (though not at a party). Remember that managers are there to hold salaries down. It's your job to push it up. Good luck to all.

 

Oh, it's obvious but worth adding: When you tell just one person who promises to keep it a secret, then ... well, you know.