Should you show your colleagues your salary?

Discussing your salary with workmates can lead to serious work problems. It's not technically illegal to discuss but it can do damage to your work environment by bringing trouble to your employer.

There are some situations where you can talk about your salary, but you must be careful that this situation does not turn against you, writes Online Economy.

What does the law say?

In the United States, the right to discuss wages with your colleagues is protected by the federal government. “The National Act on Labour Relations” says employers cannot stop discussing wages and working conditions among employees. But this law does not guarantee access to employee salaries. Only your colleagues can show you their wages. You can't force the human resource department to provide this information.

Reasons not to discuss your salary

Discussing the salary with your colleagues can create problems if you find that they take more than you and you can start to feel jealous and affected. This discussion may also damage morals and group work in your workplace. You can also get into trouble with your employer, especially if he warned you not to tell him. Your employer cannot fire you because you have discussed your salary, but he may make your work unpleasant or may require other reasons for you to leave.

Reasons to Discuss Your Pay

Despite the risks, there are some situations where the salary discussion with your colleagues is valid. If there's any chance that you're considerably paid bad compared to your colleagues, that makes this conversation make sense. That way, you will have a salary in mind when negotiating a better salary with your employer.

It also makes sense to discuss your salary with colleagues if you think everyone is not well paid. If you are not paid, you can work together to come up with a convincing plan for your employer to raise wages.

How should you talk to your colleagues?

If you'll show your colleagues your salary, you have to be careful. Make sure that you speak only to trusted colleagues. Everyone involved should promise to keep information for themselves, no matter what they learn at this meeting. An even safer way to learn about colleagues' salaries is to talk to those who have left the company, or at least to those who have moved to another department.

Finally, never talk to your colleagues about your salary during work hours. You should have this discussion on leave or after work. Otherwise, you'll be wasting company time, except you'll get involved in a dangerous discussion.