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EU to mandate public salary information for all job postings [pdf]

europarl.europa.eu

211–220 of 388 posts

Re: EU to mandate public salary information for all job postings [pdf]

#212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Employers would be prohibited from asking about an applicant's pay history Aw, that was one of the fun moments when getting my current job. I moved from private sector to public sector and they're like "You understand that the previous pay you listed is more than our boss's boss, the director of our entire org unit gets paid right?". Yes, yes I do. Which is why when you asked at interview "Why do you want this role…

The problem at least in France is that prospective employers will demand your pay slips from your previous job. If you are early in your career, they will use this to depress your wages as much as possible, making arguments like "well, we can't just give you a 40% uplift". So if your first employer screws you, the ones that follow can as well. Personally, I would just forge one with a much higher pay level - but most…

Well, I entered the workforce in 1996 and I have never seen or heard of that practice here in France.

Re: EU to mandate public salary information for all job postings [pdf]

#213
post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a bs argument. If there is actually a "rockstar" and a "meh", they should be at different levels with clear payscale.

Rockstar/meh is perhaps rather untactful or even false way to describe situation. But level thing is not gonna solve the issue because company can't keep too much of difference in level if they both have same "X" years of experience. It will again lead to visible dissatisfaction or even lawsuits.

That's BS. I can't sue my company because I'm a midlevel dev with 10 years experience and an MS, just because a coworker of mine who started at the same time is 3 levels above me in a manager role probably making 2x what I do.

My dissatisfaction has nothing to do with that person's performance. In fact, I was glad they gave him a distinguished rating when we worked together - he deserved it. What I do have a problem with is that the department breaks enterprise policy by mandating a manager pick someone for a bad rating to balance out the high rating. They picked me. My dissatisfaction is solely with the broken policies and not with someone being justly rewarded.

Re: EU to mandate public salary information for all job postings [pdf]

#214
post #2

The meat is page 5 under "The changes the proposal would bring". Highlights: * Job-seekers would have a right to information about the pay range of posts they apply for * Employers would be prohibited from asking about an applicant's pay history * Employees would have a right to ask their employer for sex-disaggregated information on the average pay of other workers doing the same work or work of equal value. * Emplo…

What I could not find in the document is how it defines 'equal work' and 'equal value'?

Pretty sure the wording is intentially fuzzy, so the special interest groups can add the meaning after it becomes law.

I would expect them to push for a Marxist view on "value" of work, basically each hour is of equal value, but where you adjust for number of years of formal education, again where the type of eduction is not important. A developer with a MSc from a top college may be compared to someone with an MSc/MA in Sociology, working in the HR department, for instance.

The key alternative is to gauge value based on market demand, but where I live (Northern Europe), those who advocate "equal pay for work of equal value" don't seem to go for that. Instead, they claim that nurses and engineers should have the same salary, as the length of their education is different, at least for people employed by the public.

Re: EU to mandate public salary information for all job postings [pdf]

#215
post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well I looked my Governor up and he makes $175k. California’s Governor makes the most at $201k. I toyed at the idea of some Federal government IT jobs. An agency was trying their best to pay well and the level was similar to a civilian who has a PhD or MD doing federal work but still only a little more than the median software dev salary.

Usually government contractors can do well since they don't fall in the government pay grades. I interviewed at one paying something like $110-150k, which would be a substantial increase for me. Most government jobs aren't attractive anymore. I think the COLA was like net -2% last year. Pensions are mostly gone. Politics are raging lately.

I sometimes regret not pursuing the FBI out of graduate school - it was a strong offer. Would have been a very different career path with its own rewards. Now even if I wanted to go that direction I've aged out of joining that agency and State-level agencies would be a crazy substantial pay cut. Though nationwide LEOSA priv is worth something.

Re: EU to mandate public salary information for all job postings [pdf]

#216
post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used to think this (as a euro), then I met an American and he explained that he ended up better off in Europe on a "lower" salary because he hadn't considered the hidden costs of living in the USA. He claimed (though I'm certainly no expert) that you have to do your own taxes and set aside money for that; he also claimed that "sales tax" had local, state and federal taxes applied, so while it varies from state to s…

Yeah, none of that is true. There is no federal sales tax, and sales tax in most places didn't ever come close to 10%, let alone 20%. In many states it's 0. Filing your taxes is free. Maybe you can spend $30 if you want to use turbo tax to do it for you. Any job with these salary differences provides great health care and benefits. Cars exist in Europe, I know many software developers there that have them. Why people…

Yeah, none of this is true. There is federal and state income taxes with 7(?) states not having income taxes. 3(?) states do not have sales taxes. My states sales tax is 2%, but the locality has a 6% tax, so total sales tax is 8% and is higher on thinks like alcohol.

Filing your taxes is free, but depending on the financial moves you make (selling stocks, rolling over a 401k, etc) you may need to set aside money throughout the year to pay the bill.

In most non-tech jobs you will pay hundreds per month for health/dental/vision/life/etc insurance. Among of required insurances, home/renters/car/etc can be a couple hundred per month.

Agreed on cars - in major cities you may not need them, but they are required everywhere else.

I don’t know anything about net differences so you are probably correctly that earning more in the US is still worth it, but I don’t think your characterization is accurate.

Re: EU to mandate public salary information for all job postings [pdf]

#217
post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you ever filed your taxes by hand? The system is set up to basically force you to use a tool, and many tools aren’t free, especially if your income is above a certain amount. While not every point in the parent is fully accurate, dismissing all of them does a disservice to the point that the hidden costs do add up and generally you aren’t as well off in USA as you would think based on salary alone.

My American boss says he does taxes for himself and parent and it's no biggie.

For most people it will take ~4 hours to do on their own with free software.

Re: EU to mandate public salary information for all job postings [pdf]

#218
post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a bs argument. If there is actually a "rockstar" and a "meh", they should be at different levels with clear payscale.

Rockstar/meh is perhaps rather untactful or even false way to describe situation. But level thing is not gonna solve the issue because company can't keep too much of difference in level if they both have same "X" years of experience. It will again lead to visible dissatisfaction or even lawsuits.

> can't keep too much of difference in level if they both have same "X" years of experience.

This is not true in general.

Re: EU to mandate public salary information for all job postings [pdf]

#219
post #20

Is there anything in this text that would prevent a company from posting offers with very large ranges? "this position salary can be from €35k to 75k€ depending on multiple factors" Such ranges would render it pointless

I don't get why pay range guidance isn't just completely standard. I have pretty much always had them and it's really helpful to weed out bad fits. As a job searcher, it also helps me to understand what opportunities to look for, and save everyone time. I don't think this needs to be regulated, but I feel it's a good practice period. The best reason I can think of for not displaying it is because of some other regulatory concerns. Removing regulatory barriers could maybe help here.

Re: EU to mandate public salary information for all job postings [pdf]

#220
post #96

My admittedly limited understanding of the gender pay gap is that it is based on gender differences in interests (eg. career-wise), differences in willingness to work long hours (especially with age), and differences in temperament, ie. women on the whole having lower assertiveness and thus being less likely to ask for higher salaries and raises. The "equal work" part takes care of the first two points, ie. the type…

I agree the gender wage gap is generally an issue at the aggregate level due to individual choices.

I disagree with the language you use later in the comment (fought, won, given). Negotiation skills shouldn't drive compensation. Value to the company should. If someone is doing the same work and making the same value, then they are earning their salary. Differences in pay can be explained by documenting the difference in value that is produced - something they should already be doing in performance reviews.

These steps could help anyone negotiate. I'm not a woman and I was lowballed out of college due to a market downturn at the time and my salary has suffered ever since.

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