5 ms·

lmao this sounds like some soviet union nightmare "the laws say this, but secretly these are the real laws"

mfoy_ 10y ago
It's actually more like "Legally I can't seek retribution... but you know that what you did pissed me off." I'd say that if you are relying on the law to protect you from your employer then you have a toxic working relationship. This is, of course, just categorically true of many minimum wage jobs where the employer views employees as disposable. So of course these laws are important and valuable and many people DO rely on them. However, in a "career" job, you generally want to create a rapport with management, not tension or conflict.
- RodericDay 10y ago
  > I'd say that if you are relying on the law to protect you from your employer then you have a toxic working relationship. All the kid did is publicize their salary. They're not even working yet, and people are suggesting that this perfectly legal and inoffensive action may be a career-ending move. And we're on the opposite context of minimum-wage workers- these are seemingly the most valuable interns in the country. It seems positively dystopian, like one of those states where you are always on the hook for an infraction, since it doesn't matter what's on the books because you have to consider "party mentality" always anyway.
  - mfoy_ 10y ago
    I was speaking generally. You're response to whether or not he was going to get in a little hot water over this blog post was to jump immediately to the "he's legally allowed to!" which is a tenuous argument at best when it comes to maintaining interpersonal relationships. In this specific case (salary info sharing) sure it is legal and protected, but he may or may not be doing his employer any favours. That's between him and his employer and honestly immaterial to the principles I'm trying to communicate here. It's not "dystopian" to realize that you probably don't want to be pissing off your boss, even if they cannot legally punish you for it. Whether or not a specific action would piss off your boss is obviously something to be considered on a case by case basis.
  - st3v3r 10y ago
    It's because companies hate it when people discuss salaries, because it erodes the advantage they have in negotiations. And it's because they have so much power, and so many are afraid to stand up to them.
  - umanwizard 10y ago
    > All the kid did is publicize their salary He didn't just publicize his salary, he organized the publication of a lot of people's salaries.
- akavi 10y ago
  Fortunately for these interns, if this does "piss off" their managers at Yelp, they'll have many opportunities available at companies that are a little less punitive.
Bartweiss 10y ago
Well, the penalty for unfair dismissal over wage discussion is "reinstatement or salary compensation", and the charge is ridiculously hard to prove. So it's a case of "what're they gonna do, make me un-fire him?"

mfoy_ 10y ago

It's actually more like "Legally I can't seek retribution... but you know that what you did pissed me off." I'd say that if you are relying on the law to protect you from your employer then you have a toxic working relationship. This is, of course, just categorically true of many minimum wage jobs where the employer views employees as disposable. So of course these laws are important and valuable and many people DO rely on them. However, in a "career" job, you generally want to create a rapport with management, not tension or conflict.

RodericDay 10y ago
> I'd say that if you are relying on the law to protect you from your employer then you have a toxic working relationship. All the kid did is publicize their salary. They're not even working yet, and people are suggesting that this perfectly legal and inoffensive action may be a career-ending move. And we're on the opposite context of minimum-wage workers- these are seemingly the most valuable interns in the country. It seems positively dystopian, like one of those states where you are always on the hook for an infraction, since it doesn't matter what's on the books because you have to consider "party mentality" always anyway.
- mfoy_ 10y ago
  I was speaking generally. You're response to whether or not he was going to get in a little hot water over this blog post was to jump immediately to the "he's legally allowed to!" which is a tenuous argument at best when it comes to maintaining interpersonal relationships. In this specific case (salary info sharing) sure it is legal and protected, but he may or may not be doing his employer any favours. That's between him and his employer and honestly immaterial to the principles I'm trying to communicate here. It's not "dystopian" to realize that you probably don't want to be pissing off your boss, even if they cannot legally punish you for it. Whether or not a specific action would piss off your boss is obviously something to be considered on a case by case basis.
- st3v3r 10y ago
  It's because companies hate it when people discuss salaries, because it erodes the advantage they have in negotiations. And it's because they have so much power, and so many are afraid to stand up to them.
- umanwizard 10y ago
  > All the kid did is publicize their salary He didn't just publicize his salary, he organized the publication of a lot of people's salaries.
akavi 10y ago
Fortunately for these interns, if this does "piss off" their managers at Yelp, they'll have many opportunities available at companies that are a little less punitive.

Bartweiss 10y ago

Well, the penalty for unfair dismissal over wage discussion is "reinstatement or salary compensation", and the charge is ridiculously hard to prove. So it's a case of "what're they gonna do, make me un-fire him?"