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Talking about salary: is that allowed?
Are you allowed to talk to colleagues about your salary? Why clauses in employment contracts are often ineffective and what the law says about it.
Most employees have probably already thought about how much their colleague in the next office earns. But most people don't dare talk about it.
And people are also reluctant to talk about salaries with friends and family. The well-known motto “You don’t talk about money” is still deeply anchored in many people’s minds. There are also clauses in many employment contracts that prohibit you from discussing your own salary with colleagues.
But are these clauses really legal and can the employer really prohibit me from doing this? We clarify.
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Employers cannot prohibit you from talking about salary
What will probably surprise many people:No, the employee cannot prohibit me from discussing my own salary with colleagues.According to a ruling by the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania State Labor Court, a ban on discussing salary is not legal.
That's why a ban on talking about salary with colleagues is not legal
The reason: Employees have no other way to find out whether they are being paid fairly. This happened in 2017Pay Transparency Actcame into force, which now even obliges employers to inform employees about the salary and wage structures in the company.
The law is also intended to promote equality between men and women. According to the “Federal Statistical Office“Women earned an average of 18% less per hour than their male colleagues. Transparency in salaries can also contribute to equality.
This should give employees a transparent overview of how salaries are made up in the company. And how much men and women earn with a comparable job. However, that does not mean that I can inquire about the salary of a specific colleague.
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In these cases, talking about salary is prohibited
But there are exceptions in which an employer can require employees not to discuss their salaries. This is the case when the company's competitiveness could be jeopardized if employees talk about their salary, as the "Spiegel“ reported.
But there are also professional groups that are not allowed to discuss the salaries of colleagues. These include, for example, HR professionals. Because of data protection, they must maintain confidentiality about salaries in the company. Otherwise they will face consequences.
