While pay may have been an off-limits subject just a decade ago, over half of American workers now feel that people should be more open about what they make, according to a recent LendingTree survey.
But just 13% say they'd be willing to share their pay with co-workers, even if their co-workers would be the ones to benefit the most from salary transparency.
Pay transparency has been gaining traction since 2020, and eight states and several cities now have laws that require employers to disclose salary ranges. Roughly 26.6% of the U.S. labor force lives in a state that requires employers to practice salary transparency, according to the National Women's Law Center.
"As recently as 20 years ago, virtually zero employers were providing pay [transparency], and it was really hard to figure out what fair pay looked like in a specific job," says Scott Dobroski, a career trends expert at Indeed. "It sounds prehistoric almost, because pay really influences how we live our lives."
While proponents of salary transparency say the practice can lead to more equitable and productive workplaces, talking about money with your co-workers is still no small feat.
"It's a scary way to be vulnerable, because how much money you make is a very personal thing," says Matt Schulz, LendingTree's chief credit analyst. "It's easy to see why people would be a little reluctant to share that, because they might think that it could lead to people making certain judgments or assumptions about them."
But discussing pay with co-workers can provide crucial information that employees can then use to negotiate salaries, especially when transparency is widespread throughout a company. "The old saying of knowledge is power is absolutely true when it comes to negotiating salary," says Schulz.
How to bring up pay with your co-workers
If you're interested in learning more about what pay looks like within your team or office, here are three tips to keep in mind before starting salary conversations with co-workers.
1. Do your own research and know what your goals are
Dobroski recommends approaching conversations about salary after conducting your own research. Job sites like Indeed and Glassdoor, which allow people to search what average pay looks like for their job title, location and company, are useful in this regard.
Next, determine what you'd like to get out of a conversation with a co-worker about salary transparency. For example, if you have a promotion coming up, it could be useful to approach a colleague that has been at your company for a long time and whose career trajectory you want to follow, to ask if they are comfortable sharing their position's pay range.
"You want to approach pay conversations with research and in a data-driven, helpful and transparent way that could help you and whoever else you're talking with," says Dobroski. "People will often be willing to share if you approach it in a way that shows you're doing it to understand what fair pay looks like."
2. Choose co-workers wisely
Salary can still be a sensitive subject, so you should start conversations about pay transparency with people you already have a strong and open relationship with, says Schulz.
"Asking somebody you barely know in the breakroom how much money they make may not go very well," he says. "That person would probably look at you and be like, 'That's none of your business.'"
3. Be respectful of boundaries
When it comes to talking candidly about pay, be respectful of people's boundaries, adds Schulz. Some co-workers might not want to talk about how much they bring home every year, and that's OK.
"Salary is a big deal, even if we are talking about it more," he says.
It's also important to be respectful of co-workers' time when sparking these conversations — asking someone how much money they make right before they clock out on a Friday might not produce the best results.
How salary transparency helps everyone
Having conversations about salary within your workplace "gives everybody the right guardrails and guideposts" when discussing pay with the employer, says compensation expert David Buckmaster.
If you discover that you're being paid below the salary range for your job in this process, "you've got a pretty obvious case to bring to your company," he adds.
Pay transparency also stands to benefit employers, who are able to save time by setting clear salary expectations from the get-go when including pay in job openings. Being upfront about salary range also helps eliminate pay gaps and bias in setting pay after someone is hired, says Dobroski.
"When expectations are clear and aligned between the candidate and the employer, we know it can correlate to better job satisfaction and potentially more productivity for the employee," he says.
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