Being asked your salary

dont like talking about it, if i earn more than the person asking i feel a bit bad for them , if i earn less then i feel jealous :)
 
I think it's incredibly rude to ask - why do they want to know anyway?

The people who tend to ask (I find) are those who a) have big wages themselves b) know I work in the public sector, so it's just an exercise in willy waving.
 
i'm aware there's a taboo about discussing it with fellow employees unless you're all on a flat rate. and most of the part time work i do we're not supposed to tell anyone who asks, even if they're curious because they'd like a job, because a) it can cause unneeded conflict if they think it's too much (especially in things the council pay for) b) it could be a rival company looking for what figure to pitch for the next tender
 
Qdos said:
I think it's incredibly rude to ask - why do they want to know anyway?

The people who tend to ask (I find) are those who a) have big wages themselves b) know I work in the public sector, so it's just an exercise in willy waving.
Click to expand...

Or perhaps it's interesting. I'm always asking people at work. So I can find out where I want my career to progress.
 
Depends on the circumstances - if someone is asking what they can earn doing what I do I will give them a range of day rate figures that I have earned.

I will rarely give exact details as it can and does cause problems.
 
I think the well established social rule that it is not something you ask or tell is there very good reasons.

When you are young and starting out in work most people earn about the same. i.e. not very much. At this stage there is not much harm in knowing what people in your circle earn. As peoples' careers start to get going earnings spread with people working for different sectors / industries and with different levels of responsibility. Discussing salaries or earnings then can make for a lot of discomfort. I've seen it with a few friends of mine who have always been open about this stuff with each other and there is some awkwardness with it.

There is no useful reason for telling friends IRL or on the internet what you earn. Save it for financial advisors and wives.

& as for the people in the other thread who dropped in figures when they are earning good money, that really does come accross as showing off.
 
Last edited:
I have no problems telling people, except I can't remember how much I earn other than it's not enough. :D
 
My best mate used to very secretive about how much he earns. He threw a fit when I picked up one of his wage slips when I was at his house, didn't see how much he'd got though. Dunno if it was because he didn't earn particularly much or whatever, he's not so bothered now, apparantly he earns 'around £15k'.
 
I dont really mind, not that i would be able to give a very accurate figure anyway. I dont really understand why people care though.
 
I've got no problems with people asking. If they're asking then I don't mind embarrassing them if it's several times what they're earning. Makes for good conversation anyway.

If I was embarrassed myself then I'd simply say that it was "enough" and I don't think anyone I know would be rude enough to push the point after that.
 
The question itself is no big deal; I really don't care who knows my salary (currently unemployed; formerly working for the local MBC on £22k).

What I might take issue with is the reason for asking.
 
I don't discuss money with my family, it causes me enough problems as it is. My wife and I have done ok for ourselves by being born at the right age to get on the property ladder at the right time.

We sacraficed a lot of our 20's saving and renovating a house. We had few luxaries but it paid off.

Now all we get from our families is "it's ok for you two your loaded" Little sniping remarks whether it be from fuel going up 2p or holidays.

Naturally forgetting all we gave up to get there.

If we have the family round for xmas we get comments on how we can afford to do such things. Rubbishing the suggestion that we might actually put some by each week to pay to have a nice family dinner.

I never tell friends the truth, infact I out right lie to wind them up. If they say something like "get the round in your turn and your on 60k a year anyway". I always pull a shocked face and come out with not unless I've had a 20k per year paycut. You can see the mind racing.

My workmates it doesnt matter because we are all on the same give or take a few hundred.

The best I've seen for keeping wages a secret is one of the guys I work with. We get 20-25% of our wages paid as a bonus on the 1st june. His wife doesn't even know he gets it. She thinks the money he's earning is his basic, the bonus he puts aside for himself should he need it :D

I wish I'd thought of that!
 
[TW]Fox;11806202 said:
Unless you are ashamed of what you earn, perhaps you feel you've not met your aspirations or something, I really don't see the problem unless you are in a situation whereby you are paid more than others for the same work and it could cause problems.
Click to expand...
I agree with Fox on this one.

I'll talk to my mates about what I / they earn, however I wouldn't instigate a salary based conversation at work. Sometimes however if people (particularly those I don't really know) asked I'd give an approximate figure.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom