There is something important for everyone who wants to live and work in Germany: the topic of wages. She is often shrouded in silence. Some employment contracts even state that this information should not be disclosed, he explains Deutsche Welle. Why is that?
Why don’t Germans like to talk to strangers? Traditionally – for one’s personal life, for religion, for political views. And to ask about the salary – this should not be done even with close friends. “Only fish are more silent”, “The Last Secret”, “Taboo subject” – under such headlines the media publish articles dedicated to the silent topic of income. But the younger generation looks at the issue differently.
Today’s young Germans prefer to dictate their employer’s terms themselves, consider the boss more of a mentor, strive for a good work-life balance, but are not afraid of workload and responsibilities at work. And, of course, feel at home on social media and on the Internet.
About the “Generation U” or “millennials” Hans-Carl von Hulsen from the consulting firm “Kinbaum” says: “They treat their personal data differently, and discuss even the most intimate issues on social networks. So why don’t they talk about salaries? “
To have justice
However, they do so not out of sheer curiosity, but because they strive for transparency and justice remuneration of labor. When you have information, you can make comparisons very well and you will hardly accept to work for less money than usual.
This information is increasingly sought after – as evidenced by the popularity of sites such as Gehaltsreporter.de, Gehaltsvergleich.com or Lohnspiegel.de. On these sites you can not only find lists of the best paid specialties, but also compare your salary with the salaries of people from other companies who do the same job.
The older ones are already being followed by the older ones. An international survey conducted by the digital labor exchange Monster.de shows that, contrary to expectations, Germans talk about their salaries much more willingly than Americans, for example. 64% of Germans and only 25% of Americans carelessly dedicate their interlocutor to the “great secret” of how much they earn.
People in Germany are already talking much more openly about their wages, but many still find it quite difficult to negotiate money with the employer, the study’s authors write.
An employer in Germany cannot forbid its employees to discuss the issue of wages with each other – not that to this day a number of employment contracts contain a non-disclosure clause.
Moreover, in 2017, Germany adopted a law on wage transparency, which aims to eliminate gender inequality between women and men. According to this law, in companies with more than 200 employees, everyone has the right to ask their boss how much one or another colleague receives in the same or comparable position.
Reason for envy and hostility?
Still, be careful in your quest for transparency. Discussing salaries within the team can spoil the work atmosphere, cause envy, dissatisfaction or hostility among colleagues. It is relatively harmless to compare salaries at the beginning of a career, because at the start they are usually similar for similar positions.
“It simply came to our notice then depend on the industry and position, from age and life situation, “explains Hans-Karl von Hülsen. So the experts from the Karriere.de portal recommend that you give information about your salary only to people you really trust.
And if you decide to ask your colleagues about their salaries, you must clearly explain to them the reasons for your curiosity. When you want to use the information obtained in negotiations with the employer, at all costs ask the source of the information to give you his explicit consent.
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