Can an employer require you to keep your salary confidential?

In fact, employees’ right to discuss their salary is protected by law. While employers may restrict workers from discussing their salary in front of customers or during work, they cannot prohibit employees from talking about pay on their own time.

Can my employer stop me from discussing pay?

For the most part: no, employers may not prohibit employees from discussing compensation according to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and an April 2014 Executive Order from former President Obama. And many states have passed pay transparency laws for employees.

Can salary information be confidential?

Employees are prohibited from discussing their salary or wage levels and company benefits with other employees. Such information is confidential and may not be discussed in the workplace.

Are pay secrecy policies illegal?

Under the NLRA, even an employee who signs a non-disclosure agreement still has the legal right to discuss pay with coworkers and others. Employers legally may not discipline or terminate employees for discussing their pay at work.

Why salary is confidential?

But why make salaries confidential? That’s because people would never be satisfied with what they’re receiving no matter how the organization tries to maintain an objective salary scale galvanized by an annual industry survey.

What is the pay Transparency Act?

In an effort to address the gender pay gap, effective in 2021, California’s new pay data reporting law requires employers with 100 or more employees, with at least one employee in California, to submit pay and hours-worked data by establishment, job category, race, ethnicity, and sex (also known as “pay data”) to the …

Can managers discuss pay?

Yet many managers likely don’t understand that under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), employers can’t forbid nonmanagement employees from discussing their terms and conditions of employment, such as compensation.

Is it illegal to ask someone how much they make?

California’s ban prohibits private and public employers from seeking a candidate’s pay history. Even if an employer already has that information or an applicant volunteers it, it still can’t be used in determining a new hire’s pay.

Can my employer share my salary information?

Can I share my salary information? You cannot forbid employees – either verbally or in written policy – from discussing salaries or other job conditions among themselves. Discussing salary at work is protected regardless of whether employees are talking to each other in person or through social media.

Is your salary personal information?

Information about a house is often linked to an owner or resident and consequently the data about the house will be personal data about that individual. However, data about a house will not, by itself, be personal data. Data about the salary for a particular job may not, by itself, be personal data.

What states have pay secrecy laws?

Currently, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Vermont, and Virginia all have pay transparency laws.

Do companies have to disclose salaries?

While employees express a sense of caution in disclosing their salaries to potential employers, employers need to know if what they are looking to pay is fair and realistic. This is where many job interviews can hit a stumbling block, as neither party wants to give themselves a ‘weak’ negotiating position.

Is the National Labor Relations Act applicable to all employers?

And not all employers are subject to the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Here’s what the labor board’s website says on the issue: “The NLRA applies to most private sector employers, including manufacturers, retailers, private universities and health care facilities.

When does a pay secrecy policy violate the law?

The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) routinely has held that written pay secrecy policies violate federal law. But what about implied ones? When an employer is found to have violated the law by having a pay secrecy policy—written or implied—the employer must offer remedies.

Can a supervisor be considered an employee under the NLRA?

Yes. For one, the law has a limited definition of “employee.” For example, supervisors do not qualify as employees, nor do people who work as independent contractors or agricultural laborers. And not all employers are subject to the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA).

What does it mean to have pay secrecy at work?

What Is ‘Pay Secrecy’? Pay secrecy is a workplace policy that prohibits employees from discussing how much money they make. These policies are sometimes written down in employee handbooks. In some cases, those policies are implied, and managers simply urge employees not to talk about their salaries.