Employees discussing their salary

GLC

Is it wise to discourage employees from discussing their salaries with other co-workers?
In the past, we have discouraged this type of thing because employees may not start at the exact same salary because we base starting salaries on experience. We are a non-profit agency.

rad

Yes, it is wise to discourage it but almost impossible to police. As long as they are not discussing someone else's salary there's nothing you can do.

ritaanz

The only employees that I sit down with and instruct about confidential information are the ones that are exposed to salaries i.e payroll proceesors, HR, some accounting personnel.

You can discourage all you want, there always will be people that show and tell.

Don D

It is always unwise to violate the law. Attempting to prohibit employees from discussing their wages is unlawful. Whether union or not, The National Labor Relations Act prohibits the restricting of such conversations. The Act give employees the right to collectively discuss their conditions and terms of employment. The only one you could discipline for this would be the one who has certain payroll information. You can prohibit them from releasing confidential payroll data.

ray a

[font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 05-19-04 AT 09:28AM (CST)[/font][br][br]Under the NLRB, ee's have a right to discuss pay. It is protected under the right to organize. But, I always point out the problems, hard feelings, discontent it can cause. There are other ways around the issue. But, as others have said, it is near impossible. Like transporting water in a sieve.

Edit:
I see Don beat me to the punch.

Carey

Some states also have laws making it illegal for employers to prohibit employees from discussing their own salaries.

System

The right to discuss pay is a protected concerted activity whether your shop is union or not. This is one of those laws that are extended to non-union employees. So the answer is 'No' it is not wise to restrict them from discussing their pay.

Rockie

You can't prohibit employees from discussing their salaries with others, i.e.,violation of the NLRA. We do prohibit, however, employees charged with confidential information from discussing others' salaries such as payroll or HR employees.