Is it possible to discuss salary with colleagues?

The employer has no right to oblige an employee to hide the amount of his own salary. But talking about colleagues’ salaries can lead to negative consequences, said Oksana Semenova, a career consultant at the recruiting company Cornerstone.

Information about an employee’s salary is his personal data. True, the issue of including salary information in the NDA (non-disclosure agreement) is debatable, the expert believes.

On the one hand, information about the amount of salary cannot be a secret, since it does not relate to information about the results of intellectual activity and about the methods of carrying out professional activities. On the other hand, such information contains personal data.

“By telling how much a colleague is paid, you can violate the law on personal data and incur disciplinary liability,” warns Oksana Semenova.

At the same time, if salaries are discussed openly in a team, they are usually perceived as fair, and this, according to the expert, increases staff involvement.

However, talking about salary can also cause negative reactions among employees. It is possible that, having learned the amount of compensation of colleagues, employees can begin to monitor the situation on the labor market and find better offers than at their current place of work, the expert says.

Conversations about salaries certainly cannot be eradicated. Almost every employee with ambitions wants to know what to do to earn more - and this is normal, Semenova stated.

“This information is for informational purposes only and does not constitute an individual investment recommendation.”