Do you know what your colleagues earn?
Discussion
IanA2 said:
I find it quite difficult to understand the English obsession with secrecy regarding pay. In Italy when you meet someone the first three questions you are usually asked are, are you married, do you have children, and how much do you earn?
Maybe I'm missing something.
Conversely, I can never understand the obsession with what someone else is paid.Maybe I'm missing something.
Why would anyone care?
Never been asked about it by an Italian either.
zeduffman said:
I work in the NHS where everyone is on pay bands. If you know what band someone is (which is fairly easy to guess if you know their job title) and how many years experience they have, you know exactly how much they are paid before overtime.
No one seems to mind. I guess as it's equally open for everyone, there's nothing much to hide.
Same here.No one seems to mind. I guess as it's equally open for everyone, there's nothing much to hide.
whoami said:
IanA2 said:
I find it quite difficult to understand the English obsession with secrecy regarding pay. In Italy when you meet someone the first three questions you are usually asked are, are you married, do you have children, and how much do you earn?
Maybe I'm missing something.
Conversely, I can never understand the obsession with what someone else is paid.Maybe I'm missing something.
Why would anyone care?
Never been asked about it by an Italian either.
Because I have recruited people throughout my career I have got used to asking people what they earn, and although my family never discussed sex when I was a child, they did talk freely about money. I always knew what my Dad earned, a concept that boggled my friends. But I have learned the hard way that my openness about money is not shared by many of my friends or colleagues.
Sid's Dad said:
It's not obsession - it's just being interested in the world around you. But it is almost the last taboo - I've found you can ask your pals all sorts of filthy, intrusive questions about sex, crime, drugs, whatever. But you can't ask about money.
Because I have recruited people throughout my career I have got used to asking people what they earn, and although my family never discussed sex when I was a child, they did talk freely about money. I always knew what my Dad earned, a concept that boggled my friends. But I have learned the hard way that my openness about money is not shared by many of my friends or colleagues.
I'm very interested in the world around me but it's got nothing to do with me what you (or anyone) else earns.Because I have recruited people throughout my career I have got used to asking people what they earn, and although my family never discussed sex when I was a child, they did talk freely about money. I always knew what my Dad earned, a concept that boggled my friends. But I have learned the hard way that my openness about money is not shared by many of my friends or colleagues.
Whenever I've been in a company where salary is discussed openly(ish), it invariably degenerated into division and resentment.
When I was on a grad scheme we all got the same (1st year was £x, 2nd year was £y etc.) so obviously everyone knew what others were on. Similarly it was pretty common knowledge what the basic salary for the first couple of post-graduate scheme grades were.
For the senior people we knew a range, but it was a pretty wide one!
For the senior people we knew a range, but it was a pretty wide one!
IanA2 said:
I find it quite difficult to understand the English obsession with secrecy regarding pay. In Italy when you meet someone the first three questions you are usually asked are, are you married, do you have children, and how much do you earn?
Maybe I'm missing something.
That would be consider crass and vulgar in our polite society. If someone asked me that as an ice breaker I would immediately think they were a bit of a tw@t.Maybe I'm missing something.
I work for my fathers company,he only employs me and another family member full time and we bring sub-contractors in if we need a help out so yes I know what my colleagues earn, not particularly interested if they weren't family anyway.
Although most of the people in my trade tend to tell each other so that they can complain and get a wage rise.if they don't tell you their wages are generally better and IMO are pressured into revealing.
Although most of the people in my trade tend to tell each other so that they can complain and get a wage rise.if they don't tell you their wages are generally better and IMO are pressured into revealing.
Everyone in my team is within a couple of grand of each other, purely due to the fact that some are longer serving and have had more annual increases than others. A wage restructure was done a while back to get everyone in a band. Due to this I only earn a little more than my direct reports. As I've come in later and got promoted quicker!
In my office its in our contracts to not disclose earnings or bonuses to each other, but I've since found out that three people who did the same job as me were earning a fair bit more than me. They've since left, with the information coming up in subsequent pub moans about the company, and frankly I'm pissed off at the realisation.
Of the three, two of them were terrible at the job, yet the thought of them getting more than me hurts, I feel like I've been mugged off. (And I probably have) Year on year I've asked for a pay rise, and year on year I'm told I'm doing very well at my job, but I've yet to see a rise. (Apparently no one has company-wide due to financial constraints)
I also don't really understand why people in general get cagey when talking about earnings. I'll quite happily tell how much I earn during a conversation, but some clam up a bit and don't want to answer. I'm not sure why.
Of the three, two of them were terrible at the job, yet the thought of them getting more than me hurts, I feel like I've been mugged off. (And I probably have) Year on year I've asked for a pay rise, and year on year I'm told I'm doing very well at my job, but I've yet to see a rise. (Apparently no one has company-wide due to financial constraints)
I also don't really understand why people in general get cagey when talking about earnings. I'll quite happily tell how much I earn during a conversation, but some clam up a bit and don't want to answer. I'm not sure why.
No secrets, everyone's on pay bands which is a reference point +/-5%.
Pay bands are easy to see.
Not sure on senior managment though.
I get asked quite a bit, and more than happy to share info, if someone's asking me they're usuallly gauging whether or not they want to apply for a job in our company.
Pay bands are easy to see.
Not sure on senior managment though.
I get asked quite a bit, and more than happy to share info, if someone's asking me they're usuallly gauging whether or not they want to apply for a job in our company.
It's the strangest thing in prop trading. Clearly money is the order of the day in that business, and in my last place there were at least two risk monitors (daily individual P&L) available for anyone to see. We also regularly used to nurse each other's positions in case we needed to pop out for something, and being a tightly knit group money was pretty freely discussed - but always at your own initiative. To actually ask someone what they earned was a BIG no-no and would almost certainly be met with some umming and ahing and lots of squirming.
As a consequence I could a.) know exactly what someone was on down to the penny, b.) roughly estimate what the first number was and how many zeroes came behind it or c.) not have a damn clue.
As a consequence I could a.) know exactly what someone was on down to the penny, b.) roughly estimate what the first number was and how many zeroes came behind it or c.) not have a damn clue.
DuraAce said:
No secrets where I work. Everybody's salary is published online.
It's an interesting approach...http://open.bufferapp.com/introducing-open-salarie...
We have a pretty good idea who earns what at our place and i prefer it that way. There's no need for secrecy.
The people that do an identical job to me receive £500 per year more than i do, but that will hopefully change in August.
The office staff generally earn less, but do fewer hours.
The managers get a few thousand more than us, but have to deal with a tsunami of s
t on a daily basis. 
I was surprised to learn that some of the supervisors receive the same level of sickness pay as us, which is zero.
The people that do an identical job to me receive £500 per year more than i do, but that will hopefully change in August.
The office staff generally earn less, but do fewer hours.
The managers get a few thousand more than us, but have to deal with a tsunami of s
t on a daily basis. I was surprised to learn that some of the supervisors receive the same level of sickness pay as us, which is zero.
IanA2 said:
I find it quite difficult to understand the English obsession with secrecy regarding pay. In Italy when you meet someone the first three questions you are usually asked are, are you married, do you have children, and how much do you earn?
Sounds perfectly acceptable to me. 
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