Acorn of the Day 7/25/18 - Discussing Salary in the Workplace/Collusion

As a follow up to my previous post on discussing politics in the workplace , similarly I would like to pose the question on why we are not supposed to discuss salary in the workplace?

The reasons are more or less the same, that people cannot handle the fact that a co-worker may be making more money than them. That we as adults, again - are not mature enough to discuss something as important as salary among each other.

Now one potential counterpoint to this argument is that other's should not know the salary of co-workers as it is none of their business. Fair enough, an employee should not disclose their salary if they do not want to (which is what happens today anyway).

However, if we did share our salaries we would be:

• Much more informed on fair market value for our positions and performance

• Have a true sense of your performance and how it compares to other co-workers

• Be able to call out or question others' salaries if those employees are under performing or being given bias over others

And lastly, I feel that open salary discussion solves the perceived gender pay gap issue. (I only write 'perceived' here to drive home the point that salary is not openly discussed).

For example if we have 3 entry level consulting positions where one of which is filled by a woman, not only could those three collude against their employer by openly discussing salary in order to negotiate the best raises/bonuses but the woman would ensure she is compensated fairly compared to the other two men (and other more experienced co-workers over time).

Have you felt that you do not know what salary range to ask for in negotiations? Do you see value in open communication among each other about compensation?