I’m Brian Gordon, tech reporter for The News & Observer, and this is Open Source, a weekly newsletter on business, labor and technology in North Carolina.
Whether employees choose to tell colleagues how much they earn is one thing, but the right to share salary information is — in the vast majority of industries — unquestionably clear. The National Labor Relations Act of 1935 enshrines it. The National Labor Relations Board enforces it.
It’s viewed as an integral step to organizing. If workers don’t know how much others make, they lack essential knowledge to advocate for better pay. Yet, it’s a labor right that’s routinely misunderstood by both sides of the work dynamic.
“Employers often don’t know about labor law either,” said UNC law professor Jeff Hirsch. “They might not always have the best motives for doing it, but most of them aren’t aware that it’s actually illegal.”
It doesn’t have to be a strict “don’t talk wages” rule; even a light suggestion from a supervisor violates the rules.