Worker Shocked When Their Bosses Warn That It's 'Standard Policy' To Be Fired For Discussing Pay — 'Is This Even Legal?'
It may be "standard policy" but it's also extremely illegal under federal law.
Roman Samborskyi | Shutterstock No one in their right mind expects managers, bosses, HR leaders, and the like to be on the side of the lowly working man or woman. It's literally their job to make money off of us and to preserve that ability at all costs!
But as workers become more and more aware of their rights nowadays, it becomes increasingly clear that an absolute ton of employers think they are basically able to do whatever they want to workers with total impunity. It's honestly… kind of hilarious?
A worker on Reddit is a perfect example. Their bosses gave them a talking-to that was so legally jeopardizing that labor lawyers everywhere heard a special signal, like a dog hearing a whistle.
The worker was told that being fired for discussing pay is a 'standard policy' in corporate America.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, y'all are so getting sued.
It all began when the worker and their colleagues were given a new employee handbook, a first for the company. "While reading I noticed a line basically saying you could be terminated for discussing wages with coworkers," the employee wrote in their Reddit post.
That's… quite a bold statement. It's one thing to tell people not to talk about their wages, but telling them they'll be fired if they do is really cutting to the chase!
"Simply looking out for the company, I sent an email to the owner and COO of my company asking if this line should be removed," the worker wrote. But you can probably guess how that went over.
When the worker asked about the policy regarding employees discussing pay, written in the revised company handbook, the owner and COO doubled down.
Their emails to their bosses had little effect. The owner responded by saying that compensation "is only the business of that employee and company leadership, and should never be discussed with another employee" and that it's "explicitly a matter of confidentiality."
Reddit
The owner added, "This is pretty standard policy amongst most companies, so this shouldn't seem out of place." They even became a bit terse about it, adding, "The Confidentiality Policy is pretty self-explanatory. Is there something in this policy that is unclear or that I need to explain?" Your tone seems a bit testy, Mr. or Ms. Business Owner! Make sure to keep that energy in the courtroom you end up in!
Speaking of which, just to make absolutely sure this worker will have no trouble at all suing the pants off their employer, the Head Doofus In Charge added, "To clarify your last statement, yes, you can ultimately be fired for discussing."
That sound you hear is every labor lawyer on Earth baying at the moon like a coyote after reading a business owner confessing to crimes.
Accordingly, the Chief Operating Officer, who clearly knows better, then chimed in to try to soften the idiotic nonsense the owner had just emailed. "There are few situations that should arise" that necessitate discussing pay, the COO wrote, adding that "it's unlikely that initial offenses would result in termination" and that "it's our hope that this statement will cause employees to understand the sensitive matter of compensation."
Reddit
Translation: OH MY GOD OWNER SHUT UP WHAT ARE YOU DOING OH MY GOD. You kind of get the sense that this COO at one point was like "Bro, you CANNOT say stuff like that in an employee handbook; it's literally illegal" and then the owner was like, "Can too," and did it anyway. Can't wait to see how that works out for them!
Under the National Labor Relations Act, a federal labor law, it is illegal to prevent employees from discussing pay with each other.
America is notorious worldwide for its farcically paltry worker protections. But while certain politicians are doing all they can to return us to the bad old days of the 1800s when employers were allowed to hire kindergarteners to go lose their limbs in a coal mine (literally—eliminating child labor laws is a cornerstone of their proposals), we do still have SOME workers' rights in this country.
This is one area in which labor laws are crystal clear: The federal National Labor Relations Act explicitly states that it is a worker's right to discuss their pay "with their co-workers… as well as with labor organizations, worker centers, the media, and the public." So anyone and everyone alive, basically.
As for what this worker's bosses did — adding a clause saying it's forbidden in their handbooks or contracts — it's the oldest trick in the book that labor lawyers say happens all the time. But since the NLRA is a federal law, it supersedes whatever Joe Bossman decides to write down in order to swing his proverbial you-know-what around.
But what takes this to a truly hilarious level is that not only have these goons put this in writing in a handbook, they've then DOUBLED DOWN ON RECORD IN A SERIES OF EMAILS. It's like an episode of that old show "World's Dumbest Criminals." Or, as one Redditor put it, "looks like a confession in writing to me."
So what should the worker do? File a National Labor Relations Board complaint, or "charge" in NLRB parlance, and call a labor lawyer, most of whom will work on such cases on contingency — getting paid from your settlement rather than charging you by the hour.
Others recommended the worker also download all the emails and tuck them away for later when some other violation inevitably occurs. And given what boneheads they work for, it surely won't be long before that happens.
John Sundholm is a writer, editor, and video personality with 20 years of experience in media and entertainment. He covers culture, mental health, and human interest topics.