Disclosing your salary in the workplace: Lior Samfiru with Chatelaine Magazine

Interview Summary

Employees in most provinces across Canada are permitted to discuss their salaries with their co-workers. Yet, despite this fact, there seems to be a continued secrecy in workplaces. Is this due to fear of being penalized by their employers or a lack of understanding about employment rights?

Lior Samfiru, an Ontario employment lawyer and Co-founding Partner at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP, spoke with Chatelaine Magazine about pay transparency among employees and employer obligations.

Interview Notes

• Employee’s legal rights: Lior noted that despite employees’ ability to speak freely about their salaries, many refuse to do so. “It’s fairly common for employers to believe that they still can order employees not to disclose their salaries and to punish those employees if they do disclose.”
• Disclosing salaries online: While employees may be able to share their pay among their peers in the workplace, posting online may cross lines. “An employer could have a policy that says you cannot disclose your salary to the world at large, and if you do disclose it, there are going to be penalties,” Samfiru explained.
• Advice on how to reveal your pay with a co-worker: Lior advised employees to be direct with their coworkers. “Tell your colleague, ‘I want to make sure that we’re all treated fairly, that we’re not being taken advantage of, and I think it’s important that we can discuss how much we’re earning,’” said Samfiru. “‘So here’s my salary, and I’d love for you to share that with me as well.’”
• Discovering pay imbalances among employees: Many employees who discover they have been underpaid do nothing, Samfiru explained. “There’s a fear of upsetting the employer. A fear of having an uncomfortable discussion. A fear of being penalized.” Despite this, Samfiru urged employees to voice their concerns in writing. “If you and your employer discuss it over a phone call, write back and say, ‘Confirming our discussion today at 5 p.m., where you told me the following…’ You want to create a written record so that later, if the employer tries to do something, you have it documented.”
• Retaliation from employers: Samfiru commented that despite legal protections, employers may still retaliate against their employees. “The most common way is by saying the punishment is unrelated to the disclosure,” says Samfiru. “But if you disclose your salary and are let go soon after—and no one else is—then the employer has some explaining to do.”

Related Resources

For further insights and discussions related to employee rights:

• Pay transparency in the workplace interview