Would you reveal your salary details?

[cookie_monster]

The story

BBC NEWS | World | Europe | Italy posts income details on web

A quote from the have your say board, i didn't think anywhere did this. Very interesting.

I live in Finland and the tax returns have been public for many years. You can even get the details by SMS, just send someone's name and you get their tax return details even a rank showing what position you are in the county (I'm the 132nd highest earner out of 30,000).
It helped me compare my salary against my manager's and coworkers. That's good or bad depending on whether you earn more than them or less than them !

[tmcd35]

£17.5k pa <- pretty much answers the question

[cookie_monster]

Odd how we all seem more willing to do this, there's a whole thread on here where most openly discuss it.

[torledo]

Odd how we all seem more willing to do this, there's a whole thread on here where most openly discuss it.

Yeah. but we're not including our names and addresses along with our salaries...it's fairly anonymous.

While the italian govts. decision allowed people to see they're neighbours declared income!!!

I think it's a bold and brilliant idea, although it would be very misleading in this country....for instance how would this apply to consultants who've setup limited companies and who earn six figure sums but who only pay a fraction in tax ? Or a self employed builder or electricians who with the aid of accountants pay minimal tax.

There's also a lot of people who are assist rich who don't declare a lot of they're financial interests.

[tmcd35]

Name, Salary, City, don't mind. Full postal address, not on a pubic forum, thanx.

Terry McDonald, £17.5k, Norwich.

At the end of the day I don't care who know how much I earn. My salary is a contract agreed between me and my employer. I've agreed I'll do the job I'm given at that wage. If my neighbours want to know - fine I'll tell them openly.

What I'd be more concerned about is providing any details that can be used for identity theft, or, in the case of my address, letting everybody - including nutters, thief's, and people I just don't like - were I live.

[cookie_monster]

@ torledo: No but it's odd how the system works in Finland i have a friend from there so i'll have to ask how it works and the legality behind it as they're part of Europe aren't they. I'd be peeved though if the government had just decided to do it without asking.

Or a self employed builder or electricians who with the aid of accountants pay minimal tax

True but 'minimal' tax is different to no or underpaying tax

although it would be very misleading in this country

I bet it is in Italy as well as most companies are apparently allowed to keep two sets of books. What's that all about?


@ Terry: I just need your bank account and sort code now if you would be so kind :-)

[torledo]

@terry, you should change you're nick to tmcd17.5...trouble is you'd have to keep changing it every few months due to cost of living increases in you're packet.

[limbo]

From what I understand the freedom of information act means that anyone can contact the school and ask how much people earn.

I do not think you can request the information by the name of the person, you can only ask for a job title / position -but how many people work in your school with the same job title as you?

[bossman]

I have been there and spent 3 months suspended for this type of information which when all said and done should be and is at the LEA level quite openly available. I have been sent job specs from LEA with a hierarchical spider map of whom i would be working for including all the pay grades linked to that person not the job.
It came out in the the meeting that all this information should be freely available at each school for anyone to read.

[Geoff]

Yep a FOI request will get you the information on a per job title/role basis.

[torledo]

From what I understand the freedom of information act means that anyone can contact the school and ask how much people earn.

I do not think you can request the information by the name of the person, you can only ask for a job title / position -but how many people work in your school with the same job title as you?

What is the process for this ? Can you be told over the phone the current salary of the Network manager or whatever job title you're requesting info on...or is it a more formal process where you have to write a letter or email.

I'd say it's a very useful thing, particularly if you're applying for a job and you'd like to know what the incumbent NM is earning so that you better informed when negotiating starting salaries if offered the position. We all know 'dependant on experience' means at the bottom of the advertised scale, even if the school/employer can afford to pay more as evidenced by a FOI request.

[witch]

I have asked a union rep (Unison) and they say that the Freedom of Info act requires only the salary scale - not the actual amount as this could be a breach of privacy - esp in the case of only one person with that job title

[Geoff]

What is the process for this ? Can you be told over the phone the current salary of the Network manager or whatever job title you're requesting info on...or is it a more formal process where you have to write a letter or email.

I'd say it's a very useful thing, particularly if you're applying for a job and you'd like to know what the incumbent NM is earning so that you better informed when negotiating starting salaries if offered the position. We all know 'dependant on experience' means at the bottom of the advertised scale, even if the school/employer can afford to pay more as evidenced by a FOI request.

Each CC should have a FOI team. You should make a formal request to them detailing what information you want, in writing. Some CC's accept faxed requests.

For example, here's the information for Lancashire.

Freedom of Information

[torledo]

I have asked a union rep (Unison) and they say that the Freedom of Info act requires only the salary scale - not the actual amount as this could be a breach of privacy - esp in the case of only one person with that job title

in that case it's not really worth bothering with.

[CyberNerd]

I have asked a union rep (Unison) and they say that the Freedom of Info act requires only the salary scale - not the actual amount as this could be a breach of privacy - esp in the case of only one person with that job title

This is sort of true. It's perfectly acceptable to make an FOI request to find out what grade a post is - not what grade a person is.

The LA matches a job description to a scale and the scale is attached to the salary banding. The salary and the scale would have been agreed by cabinet - so this is already public information, you don't need to put in FOI because it should be published. It's public funds, there is no breach of privacy - the local authority is accountable to the public for what they spend.