"ask them how much raise they got" What? No!!!!

What makes this question so unbelievable or astonishing ?

@MelBurslan at least in the USA, sharing salary information with your coworkers is taboo; many workplaces even have it listed as employee misconduct as a strongly enforced policy.

Regardless of the employee's financial position, if "there are not many places who can pay you as much as they do" is true, then it seems that the company is already paying at (or above) market rate and there's little incentive (besides retention) to offer any raise at all, and it seems that the employer is already paying a fair salary.

@AWinkle speaking strictly to the misconduct aspect: the NLRA prevents employers from stopping (most) employees from discussing salaries. The NLRB has enforced this in the past. "The National Labor Relations Act protects the rights of workers to discuss their terms and conditions of employment, including wages." The illegality of it likely won't stop a company from acting, but it provides people with a road for reinstatement and back pay.

Not discussing compensation with colleagues is a fad in my pinion. Every workplace I have been to, there always is one or two blabbermouths, who divulge their financial details, without even noticing, and some use it as a bragging matter. So, asking someone how much they are making is not that much of an off-the-wall question in my opinion for USA. Go to a lesser developed country, it is almost the culture to discuss salary with your peers. I am not sure what the OPs situation exactly is but when I worked on those parts of the planet, I knew almost every coworker's salary. Hence my comment.

@spender : I never share what my salary is, not even with close friends, so I cannot ask others to share this with me. Even when they do tell me, I can never be sure it's the real figure. Some people like to brag, so they will tell you more than they actually make; others will do the opposite, in order not to draw attention.

@spender: What a load of nonsense. Comparing salaries with your co-workers is the quickest way to foster the most negative, unhappy and unproductive work environment imaginable (and that has nothing to do with any "policies" on the subject, of which my nation has none). I can't believe people are recommending this and defending their decision to do so.

@LightnessRacesinOrbit Upvoting spender's comment. I completely disagree with your position. If you are jealous over your co-workers, then that is your problem. Please don't suggest that your problems should be my problems by taking away my ability to have a position with which I can better negotiate with my employer. My preference is to get into the best position for myself. I frankly don't care how much others make. Gov't (US) jobs now post salary info, so it is public knowledge. So the position you are proposing is infeasible in some environments.

There are always two viewpoints on these matters - some want to "know", even if there is a chance they won't like it, others would rather not know because there is a chance they won't like it. Whether it is salary, a cheating spouse, what people say about you behind your back... Personally, I strongly believe it's better to know (and to learn to deal with it) than to not know. Wanting to not know is IMHO hiding from the truth. You don't want to know the government illegally imprisoned the presidents opponent? You don't want to know you're working for promises the other party can't fulfill?

Additionally, the answer only suggests asking co-workers about raises; they could potentially reveal whether they got raises this year, or what the percent or value of the raise was, without discussing overall salary.

@MelBurslan, "...but in eastern Europe, it usually goes without saying, laws are pretty much a joke if you know the right people." Uhh, what?

It's to the employers advantage to treat everyone as individuals because it creates a one-way dependency where the employee feels that they are dependent on the employer. Really, employers are dependent on their workforce, so they create a dictatorial environment such that this collective bargaining power is never realised. Rules or conventions that allow companies to negotiate pay in secret with individuals don't favour the workforce. They favour the individuals who are strong negotiators while holding back those who have skills in other areas. Why pay someone more if you can beat them down?

There are plenty of places in the world where discussing salary is considerably less taboo than in many Western cultures. It's easy to project your "Western experiences" onto the rest of the world, which is perhaps one reason this comment thread seems to have such polarized opinions. Heck I'm an American and talk about my salary with my close friends.

@LightnessRacesinOrbit It is possible to have a mature conversation in private with a fellow employee in order to improve both your bargaining positions. Obviously you don't wear a T-Shirt that reads "I EARN $X per year."

@deworde: I'll give you that.

@thegrinner The NLRA also says that it must be on the employee's own time, which could include regular "watercooler" talk. The important part is to not do it on company time.

To add to the salary disclosure discussion: In Finland, Sweden, and Norway, you can just walk in to any tax office branch, use one of the available machines, and just type in the name of any person in the country to get their tax info, including paid taxes from which you can deduce salary.

+1 for 'Laws are pretty much a joke'