TheBestMePlausible t1_izm4yyc wrote on December 10, 2022 at 2:52 AM

Reply to comment by QuartzPigeon in TIFU I shared my bonus details with a coworker who's getting significantly less by Known_Figure_5198

I was, in fact, a boss for about 14 years. Ran my own business, started with six employees, had 30 at the height of things, and ended with 10, most of them the same ones I started with. And yes, I went through a bunch of drama with this “people know each other’s salaries“ thing. There was nothing wrong with anybody’s salary, everyone was very well paid, well above average. The problem was that everybody’s salary wasn’t literally exactly the same. People got bent out of shape about it, even though everybody was getting a perfectly good salary, and the reasons for the differences in salary were totally fair and reasonable, basically being based around who had been working with me the longest, building things up from the beginning, and who were the new guys walking into a steady job with a steady salary.

It caused a lot of drama, and this post kind of reminded me of it. You can dismiss what I’m saying, but read the post.

QuartzPigeon t1_izm5uwl wrote on December 10, 2022 at 3:00 AM

I mean I don't know how bad this drama got but I still think it would be wrong to forbid employees from sharing that knowledge, and that it would be very strange to not share what I make if someone asked me as an employee, since I'm not the one that decided that salary or the salary of the person asking. People getting bent out of shape is their prerogative.

TheBestMePlausible t1_izm6pmf wrote on December 10, 2022 at 3:07 AM

I didn’t tell anyone they couldn’t share salaries, and at the time I would’ve felt exactly the same as you. I still do I guess, I certainly wouldn’t forbid someone from doing it.

But the drama involved one person quitting, trying to steal my business plan and customers, and failing after discovering all the things I brought to the equation that he simply didn’t have and couldn’t come up with. God that guy was a bitter, self centered asshole. They took another employee with them, who definitely didn’t get paid that good salary I offered for the next 10 years, unlike the four who stayed. But on top of those real world consequences, there was just a lot of venom and drama and bad vibes about it all between the various employees, when there was absolutely no call for it. Lasted like a year and a half, and the job went from super pleasant and fun to being kind of a pain in the ass for everyone that whole time.

Like, for an example- imagine if the colleague in OPs story above took it extra personal, and started sabotaging OP every chance she could. Now multiply that by everybody in the company knowing everybody else’s salary.

Again, I personally would never try to force someone who worked for me to not share this information. But doing so has consequences, and not just to the boss, but also to the people who share. I think it’s just a human nature thing to be honest, and that’s why it’s a bit of a tradition to keep your mouth shut about this stuff.

QuartzPigeon t1_izmhulp wrote on December 10, 2022 at 4:49 AM

That's fair, and you've made me think deeper about it. I would personally still choose to share, and I would hope my fellow employee would be smart enough to not take it out on me for no reason if they felt they were receiving a less than desirable amount.

RandoCalrissian11 t1_iznct2x wrote on December 10, 2022 at 11:36 AM

Here’s the real problem with sharing salary info. Employees act like toddlers most of the time. It causes unnecessary drama and bitterness. If one person thinks they do more work, but are paid less, they will usually start doing less, or not caring. The only way to remedy that is to fire and start over, another pain.

TheBestMePlausible t1_izmjixn wrote on December 10, 2022 at 5:06 AM

Oh great, I’m glad if I can contribute something helpful to the conversation! I think like a lot of things this topic is kind of gray area. In my experience, where it’s been OK, was when it was kind of a personal decision between two individuals who had a reason to want to share it, and hopefully know each other well enough to think they can probably handle the answer.

But you never really know, it might turn out to be a bad decision. I’ve certainly shared this info with close colleagues before, and sometimes it was useful. Sometimes it was asked and answered in light of upcoming salary negotiations, between two work buddies. But I’ve also seen that very same thing lead to really bad work conditions, with, like, constant bad vibes and sniping and factions and shit.

So, it’s not very common, you know? People just kind of shy away from it. And I don’t think that’s all because of some propaganda campaign by the bosses.