Why is it a secret how much people are paid?

Whoopsie daisy.

What’s your worst “Reply all” or “I attached the wrong attachment” mistake?

The r/Payroll subreddit is filled with panicked posts from people who accidentally shared confidential payroll reports. Probably, in many cases these Reddit posts are their last words before they’re snatched into an unmarked van and never heard from again.

In the US, we tend to think of compensation information as deeply private. But why? 

Who benefits from keeping it a secret?

Or, to think about it another way, why do you think unions emphasize pay transparency? 

Pay transparency:

→ Enables equal pay for equal work

→ Counteracts favoritism

→ Doesn’t penalize poor negotiation skills

→ Prevents exploitation

→ Allows predictability in career growth

→ Supports collective negotiation for mutual benefit

Sure. It feels bad to see that you earn less than your coworkers.

It feels icky to know that your colleagues know that you earn more than them.

But why should the earners feel exposed by income disparity? 

Shouldn’t the people who approved their pay be the ones who feel the heat?

When it’s your paycheck, you think about the lifestyle it supports and how hard you work for it. But those who have access to payroll develop a healthy detachment over time.

With more data, you see that how hard someone works or how good they are at their job rarely correlates to how they get paid. Instead, the difference is the economic value someone brings to the company and other, less quantifiable sacrifices. 

And yes, how good they are at brown nosing and promoting themselves. Also known as negotiation.

If more people could see the data, maybe they’d want to renegotiate. But they might also have a better understanding of how their value is measured, and therefore find ways to bring more value to the company.

I’m sure that other positions have this, too. 

Lawyers who know that righteousness rarely wins cases.

Customer service reps who know that outrage doesn't earn you the refund. 

Software engineers who know that AI is usually run by humans.

What information are you supposed to keep secret that might be better if shared?

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