Disclosure of pay?

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Decal

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#230440 23-Feb-2018 19:31

Hey Guys,

I am currently going through the recruitment process for a new job and before they will give me offer they are asking for verification of what I currently earn. Do we in New Zealand have to provide this or are we covered by some sort of privacy law?

Thanks in advance.

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#1963170 23-Feb-2018 19:38

Wow.... so I actually have no idea of what the law states here. I'd be surprised if it does not protect you though. Pretty sure you cannot be made to disclose what you are currently earning.

To be honest I've never been asked this and I'm now of the age where if I were asked this I'd reply with: I'll provide you a copy of my last pay slip if you provide me copies of yours and the people I will be working with.

marpada

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#1963175 23-Feb-2018 19:50

Never heard of such thing and I wouldn't provide it. Recruiters usually ask your current salary when starting the conversation, but you're not obliged to disclose it and can you can be cheeky and mention the ballpark figure you're expecting. I guess it depends on your leverage. Discussing the expected salary upfront just saves a lot of time to everybody involved in the recruiting process.

Handle9

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#1963177 23-Feb-2018 19:53

You don't have to disclose what you currently earn. Its a very common question (I always ask when I interview someone so I know whether I am wasting my time with a candidate) but there is no relevant reason that they would need evidence of this. You will either accept the package being offered or it won't be sufficient for you. The role is worth what an employer is willing to offer you for it.

dejadeadnz

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#1963178 23-Feb-2018 19:54

To the OP: regardless of what the law says, there is no reason why you should even consider working for such a company further. Any decent company has a general philosophy/worldview towards pay -- the terribly run companies (often small businesses with narrow-minded owners but hardly exclusively) aim for the low end of the market, most firms aim for the middle to upper-middle, whilst companies that are high performing, recovering from shocks/issues that make recruitment difficult, or needing to attract the right candidate will sometimes pay top-end rates. The point is that a company should make an earnest, fair and objective assessment of how much a candidate is worth in the market and to them for themselves. They should not be taking a position that essentially screams out loud that "If he is currently getting shafted, we'll have the opportunity to shaft him as well, since [current pay] + X is immediately a gain for him!".

Invite this company to stick their job offer up their back end and move on.

scuwp

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#1963182 23-Feb-2018 20:10

Decline! In return ask them the pay range for the position, that way you will know if you are wasting your time or not.

Lazy is such an ugly word, I prefer to call it selective participation

Linux

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#1963185 23-Feb-2018 20:18

@Decal I would tell them it's none of their business

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tdgeek

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#1963187 23-Feb-2018 20:27

dejadeadnz:

To the OP: regardless of what the law says, there is no reason why you should even consider working for such a company further. Any decent company has a general philosophy/worldview towards pay -- the terribly run companies (often small businesses with narrow-minded owners but hardly exclusively) aim for the low end of the market, most firms aim for the middle to upper-middle, whilst companies that are high performing, recovering from shocks/issues that make recruitment difficult, or needing to attract the right candidate will sometimes pay top-end rates. The point is that a company should make an earnest, fair and objective assessment of how much a candidate is worth in the market and to them for themselves. They should not be taking a position that essentially screams out loud that "If he is currently getting shafted, we'll have the opportunity to shaft him as well, since [current pay] + X is immediately a gain for him!".

Invite this company to stick their job offer up their back end and move on.

Well said. This company is looking to pay the least they can, they are not interested in worth. Should you take the job, annual review time will be a raft of excuses, that let you know that we love you, but we can't pay more. (Truth be known they are tight and want 10/10 but pay 6/10)

Seek an employer that wants 10/10 and pays 10/10 once you prove yourself.

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Decal

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#1963198 23-Feb-2018 21:17

Thanks for all the interesting replies guys.

This is coming from the overseas recruiter at a large international IT company.. I made the rookie mistake of giving a ball park figure of my salary and now they want the payslip to verify this.

Cheers

timmmay

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#1963201 23-Feb-2018 21:39

I would probably tell them I wasn't interested in working for a company that tried to force you to reveal private information.

networkn

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#1963231 23-Feb-2018 23:47

I always ask a prospective employee what their expectation of salary is. We give a range when we advertise, that way I know whether this person is going to fit without our budget. I am not sure I've ever asked someone directly what they were paid, I don't think so.

People do tell a LOT of lies in job interviews, including elevating their existing or previous salaries, if the salary seemed very high for this person's qualifications, or wildly outside the employers expectations the potential employer may have asked for verification to prove his honesty one way or another, or as justification to increase the budget for the role based on the "market".

vulcannz

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#1963565 24-Feb-2018 16:41

Decal:

Thanks for all the interesting replies guys.

This is coming from the overseas recruiter at a large international IT company.. I made the rookie mistake of giving a ball park figure of my salary and now they want the payslip to verify this.

Cheers

Sounds a bit odd, I've never had that and worked for internationals. That said many of the Asian based companies pay far lower rates in their region, ANZ is relatively expensive for IT staff. So if they are a new entrant from Asia to ANZ they may not be familiar with the local payrates.

JimmyH

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#1963623 24-Feb-2018 20:49

It's common to ask what salary expectations are (by the company), and to ask what the pay range for the role is (by the applicant), that way you can swiftly stop wasting each other's time if there is no realistic prospect of a match.

I have disclosed my current salary before, but only to close a negotiation. They said we are looking to pay $X to $Y for the role depending on qualifications, I came back and showed that I was earning $Z which they had to at least match as - while I wanted the job, I wasn't looking for a substantial pay cut. It worked and they came back with $Z + a margin. But they choice to disclose was mine, they didn't ask.

(I wasn't asked to produce a pay slip. Although I could/would have produced proof if necessary, as I wasn't lying).

3g

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#1963625 24-Feb-2018 21:01

I was also asked a similar question by a large NZ company when applying for a job recently.

I had always discussed what salary range I was expecting (and that my current salary wasn't relevant - although to a certain degree it was part of the reason I was seeking a new opportunity). I gave them the information about my current salary - and they then used it to try and negotiate me down.

They did a big turnaround on it all in the end - but it was too late. I had lost faith+trust in the company, so turned the position down.
These "tactics" helped explain to me why they had been having trouble filling the position!

So to answer the OP's question:

- You're not obliged to reveal the information.
- You can give them the answer in good faith (but not normally until there's an offer on the table)
- If they use it against you, turn the job down 8-).

freitasm

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#1963651 24-Feb-2018 22:15

Decal:

Hey Guys,

I am currently going through the recruitment process for a new job and before they will give me offer they are asking for verification of what I currently earn. Do we in New Zealand have to provide this or are we covered by some sort of privacy law?

I am not aware there's any law that requires you to disclose your current pay. It's actually against your interests in negotiations to tell a possible employer what's your pay now.

Better yet, there's no reason to work for such a company. They are already showing how low they treat employees.

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#1964146 25-Feb-2018 23:07

If asked for currently salary, I tend to offer something like "Happy to discuss remuneration as part of an offer if I am successful - at this stage, I don't want to risk either pricing myself out of a role I would really like or potentially low-balling myself during any subsequent negotiation"

You are not obliged to disclose anything, but as others have said, it can be useful to a potential employer and some - depending on the role and the level - may well completely discount any applicants who either don't provide a salary expectation or who do so and fall outside a hard range set in the recruitment process.

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