5 ms·

There are two benefits to showing a higher income on paper: 1) Some situations like mortgage applications and child adoption will require some sort of income v

There are two benefits to showing a higher income on paper: 1) Some situations like mortgage applications and child adoption will require some sort of income verification. It's a lot harder when you aren't showing as much top-line income. 2) If the project goes south and the author has to find another job, showing a "market rate" salary is better than the true rate (sadly many people and companies still talk in terms of percentage increases)

short12 5y ago
How would a future employer know what his salary was?
- PaulDavisThe1st 5y ago
  He could show them W2's from the current employer.
  - johncessna 5y ago
    I think the poster was probably asking why anyone would tell a future employer this information. Employers should pay what they value the position at, not what someone else was paying for it.
    - s1artibartfast 5y ago
      Would you refuse an employer that wanted a past W2 as a non-negotiable?
      - loeg 5y ago
        Yes.
      - conductr 5y ago
        I feel like there’s a bit of trust involved in the whole hiring process. If they think I’m lying and can’t pay me what I want, then why do they believe anything I said during the interviews. I don’t want to work with people that think lying to them after a few conversations.
  - HeyLaughingBoy 5y ago
    Has anyone (OK, any SW dev in the US) ever done this? I've been in the industry for almost 30 years and no prospective employer has ever asked me what my salary was.
    - zenithd 5y ago
      Yes, I've done this once. I was moving from the SW industry to another industry that doesn't pay nearly as well. I was asking for less than 1/5th of my salary, and they thought the number was too high. I offered my current salary to prove "we're both experiencing quite a bit of pain here..."
    - wincy 5y ago
      I’ve had a few recruiters ask me. I don’t tell them anymore.
    - loeg 5y ago
      They've always asked me. But they've never asked for a W-2 to prove it.
    - LandR 5y ago
      Not in the US, but in the UK all my jobs have asked previous salary. What's more ridiculous was one position where the recruiter was trying to convince me to take a job with a company at a lower salary than I wanted. His argument was your last salary was X so the new company aren't going to pay you y, because y was too much higher than X...
  - short12 5y ago
    But why would he? It's none of their business
    - OJFord 5y ago
      I know nothing about it in the US, but in the UK it would be their business once he started and they set him up on payroll. You could still argue none of their business, 'can only harm you' in negotiating salary of course - and in a large enough org the same people would never know, but otherwise could be a short-lived deception and maybe you'd feel weird about that once colleagues.
      - short12 5y ago
        It is never an employers business to know previous salaries. It's wildly I appropriate they would have stones to actually inquire
      - johncessna 5y ago
        In the US, it's asked but I learned a while ago to dodge the question if they ask. If they're genuinely unsure, that tends to be a red flag. If they have a number in mind, we just negotiate and see if we can't come to a common understanding. I say that with the understanding that negotiating isn't something that comes easy for a lot of folks. I personally have found it an extremely useful skill over the years. Different markets will bear different negotiation tactics. California, for example, made it illegal for a potential employer to ask a candidate this information.
        OJFord 5y ago
        I meant that, negotiation aside, here it literally is their business (via form P45) in setting you up on payroll. (Unless you time it or take a break such that the new job is your only one since 6 April, i.e. in the current tax year.) Thinking about it - I do know/can infer a little about the US - everyone does (or has someone do) their own taxes there, so it's not needed. The purpose of this in the UK is that the second employer within a tax year can set up the new employee correctly so tax isn't underpaid as a result of ignoring the previous income. (PAYE - Pay As You Earn - income tax, national insurance contributions, and student loan repayments are handled by employer. People only 'do taxes' (self-assessment) here if self-employed, have capital gains over the allowance or sale price over the reportable amount, etc. extra curricular stuff like that that, especially because of allowances before the tax kicks in, most people don't need to. I would guess the most common reason is pension contributions made with post-tax money (employer's pension scheme is of course paid into primarily through payroll, not that) for those earning enough to have a higher marginal rate of income tax - you get the basic rate back on contributions automatically, since everyone pays it, but any extra requires self- assessment.)

short12 5y ago

How would a future employer know what his salary was?

PaulDavisThe1st 5y ago
He could show them W2's from the current employer.
- johncessna 5y ago
  I think the poster was probably asking why anyone would tell a future employer this information. Employers should pay what they value the position at, not what someone else was paying for it.
  - s1artibartfast 5y ago
    Would you refuse an employer that wanted a past W2 as a non-negotiable?
    - loeg 5y ago
      Yes.
    - conductr 5y ago
      I feel like there’s a bit of trust involved in the whole hiring process. If they think I’m lying and can’t pay me what I want, then why do they believe anything I said during the interviews. I don’t want to work with people that think lying to them after a few conversations.
- HeyLaughingBoy 5y ago
  Has anyone (OK, any SW dev in the US) ever done this? I've been in the industry for almost 30 years and no prospective employer has ever asked me what my salary was.
  - zenithd 5y ago
    Yes, I've done this once. I was moving from the SW industry to another industry that doesn't pay nearly as well. I was asking for less than 1/5th of my salary, and they thought the number was too high. I offered my current salary to prove "we're both experiencing quite a bit of pain here..."
  - wincy 5y ago
    I’ve had a few recruiters ask me. I don’t tell them anymore.
  - loeg 5y ago
    They've always asked me. But they've never asked for a W-2 to prove it.
  - LandR 5y ago
    Not in the US, but in the UK all my jobs have asked previous salary. What's more ridiculous was one position where the recruiter was trying to convince me to take a job with a company at a lower salary than I wanted. His argument was your last salary was X so the new company aren't going to pay you y, because y was too much higher than X...
- short12 5y ago
  But why would he? It's none of their business
  - OJFord 5y ago
    I know nothing about it in the US, but in the UK it would be their business once he started and they set him up on payroll. You could still argue none of their business, 'can only harm you' in negotiating salary of course - and in a large enough org the same people would never know, but otherwise could be a short-lived deception and maybe you'd feel weird about that once colleagues.
    - short12 5y ago
      It is never an employers business to know previous salaries. It's wildly I appropriate they would have stones to actually inquire
    - johncessna 5y ago
      In the US, it's asked but I learned a while ago to dodge the question if they ask. If they're genuinely unsure, that tends to be a red flag. If they have a number in mind, we just negotiate and see if we can't come to a common understanding. I say that with the understanding that negotiating isn't something that comes easy for a lot of folks. I personally have found it an extremely useful skill over the years. Different markets will bear different negotiation tactics. California, for example, made it illegal for a potential employer to ask a candidate this information.
      - OJFord 5y ago
        I meant that, negotiation aside, here it literally is their business (via form P45) in setting you up on payroll. (Unless you time it or take a break such that the new job is your only one since 6 April, i.e. in the current tax year.) Thinking about it - I do know/can infer a little about the US - everyone does (or has someone do) their own taxes there, so it's not needed. The purpose of this in the UK is that the second employer within a tax year can set up the new employee correctly so tax isn't underpaid as a result of ignoring the previous income. (PAYE - Pay As You Earn - income tax, national insurance contributions, and student loan repayments are handled by employer. People only 'do taxes' (self-assessment) here if self-employed, have capital gains over the allowance or sale price over the reportable amount, etc. extra curricular stuff like that that, especially because of allowances before the tax kicks in, most people don't need to. I would guess the most common reason is pension contributions made with post-tax money (employer's pension scheme is of course paid into primarily through payroll, not that) for those earning enough to have a higher marginal rate of income tax - you get the basic rate back on contributions automatically, since everyone pays it, but any extra requires self- assessment.)