You should never tell a co-worker your salary.

I thought this was a no-brainer, but apparently lots of people talk to their co-workers about salary. My friend was a few weeks into a job when someone came up and asked his salary. And I was a few weeks into this job when someone I didn't know emailed to ask my salary. (That person had a reason - they were hiring for a similar position in their province.)


Talking about salary can only make things worse. Let's say you and a co-worker tell each other your salaries. You make more. Now your co-worker is angry and bitter and might go to the boss to ask for a raise. The boss gets mad at you for revealing salary.


What if your coworker makes more. Now you're jealous and angry and you say dumb things like, "I'm gonna look for a new job where they appreciate me!"


Same with bonuses. A lot of companies think they're doing their employees a favour by having bonuses. But at bonus time, people get angry. They were expecting more. The other department didn't deserve that much, etc.


This is especially true when bonuses are tacked on to your salary. Like if they hire you and your salary is $40,000 with a 3% bonus. That's bad news. Because what will invariably happen is that the company won't do well and your bonus will be cut. Or you won't do well and your bonus will be cut. And you will be livid! By then, you've thought of your bonus as a salary - because they told you right out that it was 3%.


They shouldn't tell you what your bonus is. They shouldn't even approximate. They shouldn't even say there is a bonus. They should just randomly give you a cheque and say, "Here's a one-time bonus. Good job." People would love it.


In my last job, while I was negotiating for a higher salary. They reminded me that I got a bonus. I said, "But that's not guaranteed. It's a bonus." The HR person said, "Yes, but we've never not given anyone a bonus. " Basically she implied it was guaranteed.


My first quarter at work a woman in my department didn't get her bonus.