Policy Regarding Employee Pay Information

mransom

Invariably our staff "spills" to each other their pay rates. Feelings get hurt, people are angry, etc. Does anyone have a written policy about this? Or other guidance about dealing with this?

System

You, unforntunately, must be very careful about prohibiting discussions about pay. In a strange irony, it is actually something that is prohibitied under the National Labor Relations Act. Even though you are not a unionized workplace, the Act allows employees, union or non-union, to engage in discussions with each other regarding "wages, hours, terms and conditions of employment" Therefore, if employees wish to discuss their levels of pay with each other, this is considererd protected concerted activitiy, and any discipline handed out because of such discussions can be deemed a violation of thier rights. You can, however, control the dislosure of others pay levels, such as the unauthorized disclosure of compensation information that the employee is not authorized to posess, but even then, there is danger if not done properly. My recommendation is NOT to prohibit the behavior, seek some legal advice regarding what you are allowed to prohibit. A potential lawsuit is just around the corner if you are not careful.

mwild31

VPHR is absolutely right in this case - you can't stop it from happening through policy/discipline. Best way to deal with salary issues is to make sure they are as fair as possible to begin with. You say "staff" are finding out about others pay - well, you may want to create a skill matrix identifying the skills and aptitude your company finds valuable. Once it's created, meet with all people & let them know where the stand & what they need to do to make more money. This won't stop all the talk, but it puts the onus back on the employee...

System

mwild31,
>"...in this case"<
I take it you found this to be a first!?!

mwild31

x:-)

No, VPHR, I enjoy all of your responses. When I said, "...in this case" I meant in regards to the posters issue.