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0 pointsjimbobimbo8y ago0 comments

No, there're other arguments as well. One of which is privacy, for example. Many people value their privacy more than some elusive goal of full transparency.

0 comments

lmm8y ago

Privacy is "some elusive goal" too. The salary taboo exists because it benefits the rich and powerful.

freshhawk8y ago

You know everyone in HR and many of the employees who are friends with people in HR know your salary right?

vilmosi8y ago

If you consider that private information. Plenty of people, inside the company and outside, know that information. It's not that personal in my opinion.

You can even reasonably guess someones salary based on their job and location, especially a coworker's.

waegawegawe8y ago

The same could be said of much private medical information. Guessability, or someone else knowing the information, are not the controlling factors in what is considered private information.

richardknop8y ago

That doesn't mean it's not private. Lots of private information is known by lots of people. Your health record is known by your doctors and the government presumably. Government knows everything about my taxes, my date of birth, national ID (or SSN in US) etc. That doesn't mean it's not a private information. I don't want to share my salary details with other people unless I choose so.

jimbobimboOP8y ago

There're plenty of ways to learn of one's SSN or birthday date too - this is still private information, which doesn't concern other people, unless the person explicitly wants to share it.

ycombobreaker8y ago

It's not private from payroll, but everybody knows that, and payroll is expected to exercise discretion.

Precisely the people with hard-to-guess salaries may value that privacy.

dawnbreez8y ago

Most privacy concerns have to do with information that could be harmful in the wrong hands. My web history is useful to me, but if my roommate gets ahold of it, I will be embarrassed to no end. My SSN ensures I can identify myself within America's bureaucracy, but if someone else has it they can open credit cards in my name. My salary lets me make a budget but if someone else knows what my salary is...then what? How does that information harm me when a third party gets it?

AstralStorm8y ago

The third party may be:

- an insurance company demanding a premium because you're well paid

- competitor bidding for your labour anchoring their offer to your current salary

Those are just two cases were it could be harmful. The idea is to make the information available and transparent while still not making it public and still protecting it.

dawnbreez8y ago

Fair enough. The Glassdoor system may be best here, as mentioned in several other comments.

jimbobimboOP8y ago

The answer is: I don't know.

I'm not a bad actor, who spends all their time figuring out how to make profit off of someone else's private info. I'm pretty sure there're very creative ways private information (salary and not) can be misused, but I don't want to find out by volunteering this information.

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0 comments

lmm8y ago

Privacy is "some elusive goal" too. The salary taboo exists because it benefits the rich and powerful.

freshhawk8y ago

You know everyone in HR and many of the employees who are friends with people in HR know your salary right?

vilmosi8y ago

If you consider that private information. Plenty of people, inside the company and outside, know that information. It's not that personal in my opinion.

You can even reasonably guess someones salary based on their job and location, especially a coworker's.

waegawegawe8y ago

The same could be said of much private medical information. Guessability, or someone else knowing the information, are not the controlling factors in what is considered private information.

richardknop8y ago

jimbobimboOP8y ago

There're plenty of ways to learn of one's SSN or birthday date too - this is still private information, which doesn't concern other people, unless the person explicitly wants to share it.

ycombobreaker8y ago

It's not private from payroll, but everybody knows that, and payroll is expected to exercise discretion.

Precisely the people with hard-to-guess salaries may value that privacy.

dawnbreez8y ago

AstralStorm8y ago

The third party may be:

- an insurance company demanding a premium because you're well paid

- competitor bidding for your labour anchoring their offer to your current salary

Those are just two cases were it could be harmful. The idea is to make the information available and transparent while still not making it public and still protecting it.

dawnbreez8y ago

Fair enough. The Glassdoor system may be best here, as mentioned in several other comments.

jimbobimboOP8y ago

The answer is: I don't know.

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