Asking colleagues what their salary is

[maisymouser]

Title says it all. After working at my company for 1.5 years, I am expecting to be notified of a promotion in the next week or two which should be accompanied by a pay raise. Question is, I don't know how much that raise will be- but I'm starting to think that I should negotiate a larger one than what is offered to me. If I had to guess I'd say that I'll be offered a 10% raise, but I want something like 20%+ based on my upcoming duties and responsibilities (not to mention the field I am in and my experience).

I have 1-2 colleagues that have similar titles/experience who have been working at the company a bit longer than me, and it would be enlightening to find out what they make as I navigate the topic of my salary and have an idea of what my company *can* pay employees with my title. I'm on good terms with both coworkers, but it's still an awkward conversation to have. Any tips on how to make it less painful?

I was thinking of two options for bringing it up:

Option 1 - "I am really looking forward to finally being an {insert new title here}. I was looking at Glassdoor for what I ought to expect for my new salary, and I saw $X-$X/year as the range. Do you think that's reasonable?" <lead conversation to ask if they're comfortable sharing their salary>

Option 2 (more direct) - "I've really appreciated your input on X project lately, and it's been great to have coworkers here to get me acquainted with the company since I started. It seems like we've had similar career experiences/trajectories, and I was wondering if you'd be comfortable sharing what your journey has been at the company with regards to compensation?"

Either way I would state that I'd be happy to share what I make first.

Thoughts? Any advice for advocating a higher pay raise in conversations with my manager when the time comes? Am I being totally disgraceful and rude by bringing this up with coworkers to begin with? All opinions welcome. :)

Edited to add, I will obviously keep any of that information confidential and not use it to leverage a 'raised' pay raise.

[Jorey]

Title says it all. After working at my company for 1.5 years, I am expecting to be notified of a promotion in the next week or two which should be accompanied by a pay raise. Question is, I don't know how much that raise will be- but I'm starting to think that I should negotiate a larger one than what is offered to me. If I had to guess I'd say that I'll be offered a 10% raise, but I want something like 20%+ based on my upcoming duties and responsibilities (not to mention the field I am in and my experience).

I have 1-2 colleagues that have similar titles/experience who have been working at the company a bit longer than me, and it would be enlightening to find out what they make as I navigate the topic of my salary and have an idea of what my company *can* pay employees with my title. I'm on good terms with both coworkers, but it's still an awkward conversation to have. Any tips on how to make it less painful?

I was thinking of two options for bringing it up:

Option 1 - "I am really looking forward to finally being an {insert new title here}. I was looking at Glassdoor for what I ought to expect for my new salary, and I saw $X-$X/year as the range. Do you think that's reasonable?" <lead conversation to ask if they're comfortable sharing their salary>

Option 2 (more direct) - "I've really appreciated your input on X project lately, and it's been great to have coworkers here to get me acquainted with the company since I started. It seems like we've had similar career experiences/trajectories, and I was wondering if you'd be comfortable sharing what your journey has been at the company with regards to compensation?"

Either way I would state that I'd be happy to share what I make first.

Thoughts? Any advice for advocating a higher pay raise in conversations with my manager when the time comes? Am I being totally disgraceful and rude by bringing this up with coworkers to begin with? All opinions welcome. :)

Edited to add, I will obviously keep any of that information confidential and not use it to leverage a 'raised' pay raise.

I don't have any experience with the conversation you want to have with colleagues as I work freelance, where we freely share this information.

That said, on the question of the rudeness of the question, the secrecy about coworker compensation benefits only one person; your employer. Sharing the information amongst yourselves seems beneficial to all from my perspective.  Just my 2c.

Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk

[seemsright]

There is more to this than I make X...You make Y.

First...the company rules. Make sure that it is okay to even ask money questions. At DH's company it is a BIG BIG NO! Like if they find out they will fire you. And getting fired from this company is hard.

The company I worked at before I fired I made way more than everyone else. I had a degree. They did not. So find out if you have a degree or certifications that it equals a higher pay.

You know your worth...always ask for more.

[Metalcat]

There is more to this than I make X...You make Y.

First...the company rules. Make sure that it is okay to even ask money questions. At DH's company it is a BIG BIG NO! Like if they find out they will fire you. And getting fired from this company is hard.

The company I worked at before I fired I made way more than everyone else. I had a degree. They did not. So find out if you have a degree or certifications that it equals a higher pay.

You know your worth...always ask for more.

This.

Make sure you aren't violating anything in your contract by even asking.

That said, there would be nothing wrong with asking those collegues what factors they think influence pay rate for their role, and if they're willing to share anything that might help you better assess your value and negotiate. You could also ask them what they think the pay range is for the position, if you don't get the sense that they want to share their numbers specifically.

[Blackeagle]

First...the company rules. Make sure that it is okay to even ask money questions. At DH's company it is a BIG BIG NO! Like if they find out they will fire you. And getting fired from this company is hard.

In the U.S., at least, that’s probably illegal.  The National Labor Relations Act prohibits employers that it covers from preventing employees from discussing salary.

[Duke03]

It highly depends on your industry and culture.  My current industry everyone is highly paid and will openly talk about how much they make...  Funny thing is when I used to work for about half of my current pay in a different industry everyone acted like it was top secret and no one should know what someone else makes.  Personally I prefer the way it is at my current job where every thing is out in the open. 

[chicagomeg]

First...the company rules. Make sure that it is okay to even ask money questions. At DH's company it is a BIG BIG NO! Like if they find out they will fire you. And getting fired from this company is hard.

Not a lawyer, but my understanding is that this is illegal by federal law in the US for most employees.

I've had these conversations w/coworkers but only ones who are good friends. Not sure I would ask someone who is just a coworker, no matter how much it could be valuable information.

[norajean]

It can be a gamble to ask these questions. Don’t be surprised if you don’t get what you seek in terms of either information or a bigger raise. Be prepared to look for work elsewhere if they stonewall, otherwise you look weak.

[reeshau]

If I had to guess I'd say that I'll be offered a 10% raise, but I want something like 20%+ based on my upcoming duties and responsibilities (not to mention the field I am in and my experience).

You say a promotion...in a large corporation, it would be reasonable for 20% pay raise for the next level up in an org--So, what your supervisor makes.   If you are going from "junior x" to "senior x" that would be a stretch; maybe if you knew you were low relative to the company's benchmark / coworkers / external checks.  But at my prior megacorp, while granting that much in level would be an HR exception, and have to be run up the ladder.

[use2betrix]

I’ve negotiated countless salaries and several raises over the year.

Sometimes it’s obvious what others get for vacation and I’ve used that info to negotiate more vacation (not directly, but understand what others get helps.)

That being said, I would never ask what another is paid, nor would I mention my pay. You may think you and your coworkers are close, but what if you find out that you make more than one already and they get upset and take it straight to their manager?

Discussing pay specifics are not a good plan. Asking others what they might expect as a percentage increase would be incredibly reasonable.

I always negotiate pay and raised based on what I want and feel I deserve. What others make is no difference to me. I generally assume I’m a more valuable employee and hope my employers see that as well.

[alcon835]

I think it's right to have the conversation, "I am thinking about asking for something in this range, do you agree that is an appropriate range for the role?" If you have a good relationship with the person, there's nothing wrong with that.

As for being fired for asking about / talking about salary - talking about your own salary and benefits is Federally protected in the US. You'd make significantly more money if they fired you for it than you will from any raise.

[Rdy2Fire]

As others have pointed out this is probably not a good idea and could get you in some hot water or fired. If you're very close to these people you could try and lead that conversation to get them to give you clues but

I WOULD NOT nor NEVER ask someone's salary. I have seen this cause a lot of problems.

You SHOULD negotiate for what you want based on your perceived worth. Go into that negotiation with your ducks in a row, some facts to back up why you think you deserve the $. I'd focus those facts on accomplishments and projects you have done, things that added to your value in the company but also have handy, things like glassdoor info, industry salary info and anything that can help.

Also keep in mind, sometimes value can me achieved in other ways, stock options/profit sharing, car allowance, more vacation etc

[maisymouser]

Thanks all for the feedback. Based on the relationship I have with one of my colleagues I wanted to ask, and after reviewing and confirming there is no policy in my HR handbook regarding sharing salary information (not to mention that it is perfectly legal to tell coworkers what you're making), I decided to take the plunge and have that discussion. It went very well and I am glad I stepped out of my comfort zone to do this.

I asked over the phone whether they would provide feedback regarding what to expect during promotion, and we simply swapped personal emails to have the discussion offline. We shared not only current information but our journey/trajectory.

On the positive side of things, I am not being vastly underpaid (a fear of mine) and my suspicions about promotion %'s were spot on. On the negative side, they told me our HR does not entertain counteroffers when it comes to raises/promotions unless you are one foot out the door.

They also provided me with some great internal and external resources (not to mention some comments they have heard offhand about salary midpoints and bonuses at certain levels) that I wouldn't have found otherwise to gain confidence in what to expect salary-wise in my field over time.

I also feel like I got to connect with said colleague on a more personal level than I would have otherwise- I think this person is definitely on the MMM spectrum and has similar values as me. It also gave us a good reason to check in and see how personal (non-work) projects were going. So that was good too!

I'm considering asking one other colleague about this stuff but I probably won't, since I got the information I was looking for already.

What I learned from this experience: Check the HR manual and make sure you have an already-decent relationship with the coworker you want to ask. Frame the discussion around 'what to expect' and 'looking for your perspective on career trajectory', not 'what do you make'. Worked out well, 5/5 would recommend.