Can Your Employer Ban Talking About Pay? Your Federal Right to Discuss Wages
Can your employer ban talking about pay?
Knowing what coworkers earn is one of the strongest tools you have before asking for a raise. Many workers assume salary talk is against the rules. For most private-sector employees, it’s the opposite: federal labor law protects it.
- The National Labor Relations Act protects covered employees’ right to discuss wages with coworkers, whether or not there’s a union.
- Policies that ban or require permission for pay discussions are unlawful, and so is punishing, threatening or questioning you about them.
- You can file a charge with the NLRB (844-762-6572) if your rights are violated.
What the law protects
According to NLRB: Your Right to Discuss Wages, under the National Labor Relations Act “employees have the right to communicate with their coworkers about their wages, as well as with labor organizations, worker centers, the media, and the public.” You can do it face to face, by phone or in writing. These rights apply “whether or not you are represented by a union.”
The NLRB says you may discuss wages when you’re not at work, on breaks, “and even during work if employees are permitted to have other non-work conversations.” Protected activity includes comparing what you, coworkers and managers make, making joint requests about pay, and filing a wage claim with the Department of Labor or a state agency.
What your employer can’t do
- Have “a work rule, policy, or hiring agreement that prohibits employees from discussing their wages with each other,” or that requires the employer’s permission first.
- Punish or retaliate against you for a pay conversation.
- Interrogate you about it, threaten you, or put you under surveillance for it.
You also have the right not to share your pay. One caution from the NLRB: employers may have rules on using company equipment, such as work email or chat, for non-work purposes, though such rules can themselves be unlawful.
Who is covered
The NLRA covers most private-sector employees. It generally doesn’t cover supervisors and managers, independent contractors, government employees, agricultural workers or domestic workers, and railroad and airline workers fall under a different law. Many states have their own pay-discussion protections too (see pay transparency laws and salary ranges).
How to use pay information to get a raise
- Compare like with like: same role, level, location and experience.
- Ask for ranges, not just numbers. Coworkers are often more comfortable sharing a range.
- Bring market data too: posted salary ranges and BLS wage data back up what coworkers tell you.
- Make the ask about your value, not about a coworker (see our raise request email template).
- If the gap may be about sex, race or another protected trait, see paid less than a coworker? the Equal Pay Act.
If you believe your rights were violated, the NLRB says you can call your regional office at 844-762-6572 for help filing an unfair labor practice charge, or file online.
General information, not legal advice. State laws vary; check your state labor department or an employment attorney for your situation.
Header image: Photo: “A Sunday afternoon meeting of the rubber workers union8d18608v” by Marjory Collins, PUBLIC DOMAIN (cropped).