Many workers do not like to talk about their salary.
(Photo: picture alliance / Westend61)
Dusseldorf “May I ask you something indiscreet?” The video call comes from a team colleague. You know and like each other. But the following request is surprising: “Will you tell me how much you earn?” She asks and explains: She is about to negotiate the salary and would like to know a comparative value so that she does not get fobbed off by her superiors.
Your question sounds legitimate – and yet there is this hesitation. Talking about salary is still a taboo, especially in German-speaking countries.
It is not just personal sensitivities that keep us silent about our remuneration. Often there is mainly doubt: Am I allowed to tell others how high my salary is? Many employment contracts contain blanket clauses that are intended to oblige employees to treat their salaries confidentially.
Most employees can safely ignore them. Christoph Abeln, specialist lawyer for labor law, explains that such bans are generally ineffective. “Employees who talk about the salary, although the employment contract provides something else, are therefore not liable to prosecution,” the lawyer continues. “Even threatened employment contract sanctions such as warnings or dismissal are not to be feared.”
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Discretion often harms women
But even if there is no valid ban, discretion when it comes to money is often firmly anchored in company culture. The principle “you don’t talk about money” is then primarily at the expense of women, who often appear less self-confident in negotiations and consequently take a back seat, observes career coach and negotiation trainer Claudia Kimich. According to the Federal Statistical Office, the wage gap between men and women adjusted for structural factors was six percent in 2020.
The Remuneration Transparency Act, which came into force in 2017, is only of limited use for gaining a better overview of the salary structures. First, the law only applies to companies with 200 or more employees and thus excludes small companies. Second, it does not give employees the right to obtain information on the specific salary of a colleague in the same position. It simply means that if you wish, you will receive information on how high the earnings of the comparison group are and what criteria are used to measure them.
Career coach Kimich therefore believes it makes sense to openly discuss salaries with selected colleagues. “The best thing to do is to moderate it as a kind of barter,” advises the expert. A question like “Do we want to tell each other what we deserve?” Is better than squeezing the other person out.
If employees learn that colleagues earn more with the same qualifications, they can then take advantage of this in the upcoming salary interview.
Kimich advises that this knowledge should only be disclosed in the second step: If the argument about one’s own performance is unsuccessful, for example because the supervisor refers to a lack of financial leeway, the negotiator can pull the joker without being specific: “We both know that other colleagues in comparable positions receive significantly more salaries here. “
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