TELLING WHAT YOU EARN

GOOD OR BAD IDEA

“I would like to earn what May-Brit earns,” a colleague once said to our boss. I had never told her what was on my pay slip each month, but apparently she suspected it was more than hers and dared to take the gamble.

Although I found it a somewhat uncomfortable situation (she also expressed it to me), I grew to understand it more and more. I was taught that it is not polite to talk about your salary. My mother then even pulls a biblical story from the shelf where the workers who worked half a day in the orchard (I believe it was an orchard) earned double what the poor men who picked all day in the blazing sun earned. When they started complaining, they were answered: “But you agreed to our arrangement, didn’t you? So don’t whine.”

Anyway, I never thought I would bring up the Bible on Amayzine but that aside, talking about your salary can sometimes indicate what the stretch is within the company. If you know that your colleague earns a thousand euros more for the same work, that offers perspective. Okay, he may be older and more experienced, but you can certainly ask for a raise of 300 euros at your next evaluation. Here by the way, here are some tips to earn more.

But you agreed to our arrangement, didn’t you? So don’t whine!

Moreover, men still earn more than women Yes, shout it out loud; shame. Because we are of course at least as good and our Jimmy Choos are just a bit more expensive than his Van Bommels. In Norway (why are those Scandinavians always so super correct about everything?) they have released the salary data and there is now the smallest gap between what men and women are paid.

Moral of this Monday; don’t talk to each other about what you exactly get paid, it will only make you restless. But think about which colleague of yours probably earns a lot more than you and say at the next meeting that you want what he has. Or she, let’s hope it’s a she.

Make me proud and yourself rich.