Question Everything: Is it OK to ask how much money people make?
BOSTON -- There are rules in an office. You're not supposed to heat fish in the microwave or talk about how much you make -- but the latter may be going from taboo to the thing to do.
Asking people how much they make is a hit on TikTok. It appears to be no big deal for younger workers.
"I'm kind of a 'zillennial' but I think I'm technically Gen Z," Annie said. She is an Emerson College senior who wants to stop salary secrets.
"We have these things that we consider taboo in society for a long time but the things we don't talk about influence where our inequities come from," she added.
Annie is one of David Wade's TV reporting students at Emerson. After a tour of the WBZ station to watch a newscast, Annie asked Wade how much he made.
When that led to an uncomfortable laugh and no answer, Annie brought up salary transparency. Wade then posted the encounter on Twitter and things got a little crazy.
The story generated hundreds of responses, some said there is no way they would share how much they made, and others actually posted their salary. A majority said it's the only way to know if an employer is being fair to all workers.
One of those tweets was from Dr. Joanne Kamens. For 30 years, Kamens, as a scientist and consultant, has been helping women find the gender pay gap.
"We have been very bad about equity, super bad, like super terrible," she said.
To her point, according to the National Women's Law Center, women in Massachusetts make about 81 cents for every dollar a man makes. For Native American women, it's 59 cents; for Black women, it's 57 cents, and for Latina women it's 51 cents.
"There's going to be a swing and the swing right now is tell people what you make because it's the only way to stop these shenanigans," said Kamens.
And younger workers are leading the way. According to LinkedIn, 80% of Gen Z and 75% of Millenials think co-workers should be able to tell each other what they make. There is a big drop for Gen X, only 28% of Baby Boomers think it's a good idea.
"I think it's a great idea," one woman told WBZ-TV on the street. "It's frustrating when you are working and you don't know if the other person is paying the same money or not."
While some people were happy to tell WBZ-TV their salary, some had a fear that the information would be used against them.
State Rep. Brandy Fluker Oakley is the co-sponsor of a bill that would have Massachusetts join several other states in requiring employers to post a salary range for every job opening. No guessing. No having to ask the other guy what he makes.
"It's also a common-sense measure to ensure that employers and employees are speaking the same language when it comes to salary expectations. Sometimes you might think a job with a certain title pays this much and the employers says we've only budgeted that much -- simply putting it on the listing makes it way easier," said Fluker.
David Turetsky from Salary.com said companies openly talking about salary makes sense, but if you want to talk to coworkers "tread carefully. Remove emotion and make sure you are talking about facts. Don't make anything up. People find out and get upset. That's why the emotions can get out of control."
Annie said, "We are kind of going through this movement in society to try and normalize salary transparency because I think it helps to empower the employees instead of the employers."
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