Labor laws help regulate the functional relationships between professionals and the companies that employ them. They specifically protect the right to engage in collective bargaining and to ensure worker safety on the job.
Occasionally, professionals may assert that their employers have violated labor laws through questionable policies or inappropriate conduct. Violations of labor laws may deny workers their basic rights or result in unfair punishment for engaging in protected activities.
For example, employers might have policies forbidding workers from discussing their wages with one another in training manuals or employee handbooks. Can employers enforce wage secrecy rules by terminating or otherwise punishing workers who discuss their pay?
The law protects wage discussions
If employers could prohibit workers from discussing their wages, they could engage in blatant discrimination, with workers having few options for legal recourse. Organizing to protect individual employee rights generally requires that workers are aware of not only their own circumstances on the job but also how the company treats their coworkers.
As such, federal rules allow workers to discuss their pay and other important details about their employment. Company policies do not take precedence over federal laws extending the right to discuss wages with other employees. Workers terminated or otherwise penalized for asking coworkers about their wages or sharing information about their compensation may have experienced illegal retaliation.
Recognizing what types of behavior could constitute violations of key labor laws can help workers assert themselves and hold their employers accountable for improper practices. The right to discuss wages is not subject to limitations based on an employer’s training materials or contract inclusions.