Can I ask my staff what they're paid?

September 25, 2023 8:12 AM

A guy who reports to a guy who reports to me wants a raise. I want to make sure that he is not already getting paid more than two women who report to me. They are all at the same pay grade. Only upper management and HR have access to salaries. Can I just ask everybody what they're paid? Or is that not okay?

(I'm guessing that's probably not okay, but all my experience is in pirate ship-type organizations, not proper offices.)

(It's a very bureaucratic company based in China. The staff work remotely from California and New Jersey. The office is in Canada.)

posted by musofire to Work & Money (14 answers total)

This is a confusing post. Do you not have access to the compensation info within your organization (i.e. everyone under you, regardless of whether they report to you directly or to one of your managers)? HR should be able to give you that with no fuss.

In general, you should be able to work with HR to determine what an appropriate raise for this person would be. Do they not have compensation specialists?
posted by sid at 8:18 AM on September 25, 2023 [15 favorites]

Agree with Sid, HR should be your source here and it should be a very easy ask. If HR can’t give you the info or is otherwise unhelpful that would be very unusual and concerning.

You should not ask your direct reports for their salary info.

Good luck, and really good on you for taking the initiative to check on salary equity.
posted by ohio at 8:24 AM on September 25, 2023 [37 favorites]

+1 to the idea that the salary info should come from HR or from someone higher in the organization who has visibility into all pay, not from people who are subordinate to you.
posted by Mid at 8:36 AM on September 25, 2023 [2 favorites]

I am in HR and my team would absolutely love to provide information and counsel to someone who wants to understand and fairly manage their team's compensation and career path.
posted by phunniemee at 8:41 AM on September 25, 2023 [18 favorites]

The way this *should* work is that you should have access to these things + be planning ahead for their growth, promotions, and raises. Doesn't sound like it works that way, and you may have trouble nudging it in that direction.

I'd have a conversation with either HR and/or your direct manager about this. It sounds like you believe you have the ability to make a raise happen, if only you felt like you should advocate for it. You need to know what your reports are making and if they are in line with industry norms and each other.

That info should not come from your reports, though - that needs to come from the business. Reading between the lines I wonder if that's going to be challenging to get.
posted by jzb at 8:51 AM on September 25, 2023

Actually don't think it's weird, depending on certain industry/company/seniority, a manager doesn't always have explicit compensation information across their reports. I don't agree with this, but it happens.

Having said that, I think it's fair to ask HR for this, or barring that, ask that they make a recommendation of raise that considers the equity and bands, and what variation in % maybe, if they're not going to share explicit detail.
posted by artificialard at 8:55 AM on September 25, 2023 [2 favorites]

Thank you for checking this.
posted by theora55 at 9:07 AM on September 25, 2023 [7 favorites]

If my boss, or my boss's boss, asked me what I was paid, I would be very confused — because I would expect them to already have access to that info without going through me. (And if they didn't have access to the info they needed to make compensation decisions, that's an organizational problem which I'm not responsible for solving.)

It would reflect badly on either him as a manager, or on the organization as a whole.
posted by mekily at 9:09 AM on September 25, 2023 [12 favorites]

Try HR first. You might frame it specifically in the context of an equity review. Whether or not you get this information, if you put in for the raise, absolutely frame *that* in the context of an equity review. Someone needs to be looking at this with the bigger picture besides just the salaries of the specific people involved. It's entirely possible that if this guy's raise would put him above the two women, the correct response is *raises for everyone*. I had this happen a year or so, where one person's raise request revealed that a whole department was in need of an equity adjustment, and you really need HR involved in those conversations. HR will also know more about discrepancies in experience, initial salary negotiations, etc. that underlie the actual salary numbers.

Details aside, thanks for having an eye on this and I hope you're able to ensure that everyone is paid equitably.
posted by Stacey at 9:17 AM on September 25, 2023 [4 favorites]

Best answer: Chiming in with three things:

1) Despite a few comments above, it is not unusual, at least in the US, for a manager to have no knowledge or direct control of subordinates' salaries.

2) Yes, go through human resources. No, do not ask staff directly. This is not just a matter of etiquette or company culture. Different countries--and different states within the US--have varying laws about pay transparency.

3) Thank you for trying to be accountable when it comes to pay equity.
posted by ImproviseOrDie at 9:33 AM on September 25, 2023 [16 favorites]

Improvise or die is right. I have managed people in the past at legitimate corporations without access to their pay information. That said, once you are in the role of discussing pay with them, you should have access to pay information. So, go to HR. Determine if YOU should be speaking with the employee about the potential for a raise, and if so, ask for the information you need. If you’re not the right person to make the decision, ask who the employee should speak with (and talk with that person about your equity concerns).
posted by samthemander at 9:45 AM on September 25, 2023 [4 favorites]

Can I just ask everybody what they're paid?

Sure, you can ask. That said, I would ask why. Assuming you told the truth, then I would be annoyed if the other person was denied a raise and I ever found out. In that situation, I am not any better off in that scenario and the other person isn't any better off. I think you should only ask the question if you're going to attempt to raise everyone's salary, and not just deny one person a raise. "Pay equity" as a justification for paying people less rings hollow in my ears.
posted by saeculorum at 5:29 PM on September 25, 2023 [1 favorite]

> different states within the US have varying laws about pay transparency

Policies that specifically prohibit the discussion of wages are unlawful.

Everyone has the right to discuss pay: https://www.nlrb.gov/about-nlrb/rights-we-protect/your-rights/your-rights-to-discuss-wages

The National Labor Relations Board is an independent federal agency.
posted by goblinbox at 5:45 PM on September 26, 2023

Policies that specifically prohibit the discussion of wages are unlawful.

Everyone has the right to discuss pay: https://www.nlrb.gov/about-nlrb/rights-we-protect/your-rights/your-rights-to-discuss-wages

I know, and thanks for adding this, because it's important context. However, the OP is a supervisor, and would be asking subordinates what they make so that they can address pay equity by giving some people (and presumably not others) a raise. I'm just saying tread carefully as a supervisor and check that you're not violating employment law wherever you are. HR is there to protect the company (at least in the US)--and that includes keeping managers/supervisors from running afoul of employment law.
posted by ImproviseOrDie at 5:37 AM on September 27, 2023