Can employers stop you from discussing wages?

We get this question a lot, from employees working at a job where their boss or company tells them to not mention or discuss their wages with anyone. Sometimes employers have a workplace policy or put up notices prohibiting employees from talking about wages and threatening punishment if they do. So, can they do that?

Oregon Protections

Most workers don't realize that Oregon law specifically protects your right to talk wages, including asking for a raise. Oregon law ORS 659A.355 makes it illegal for an employer to fire, demote, suspend, or otherwise retaliate against you because you asked about, discussed, or disclosed wages. The law is broad by design: the legislature wanted workers to be able to have open conversations about pay without fear of punishment. Some employers try to prohibit these discussions or even punish employees who discuss their wages.

The Oregon Court of Appeals recently decided that protected wage discussions are not limited to just conversations between employees, and are not limited to just situations involving pay discrimination. The statute means what it says: if you inquire about, discuss, or disclose wages, including by asking your employer directly for more compensation, you are protected. That means that firing or retaliating against you for discussing wages is an unlawful employment practice under Oregon law. Broadly protecting open wage discussions serves the legislature's purpose of eliminating unlawful discrimination in pay.

Congratulations to attorneys Diane Sykes, Maria Witt, and Shenoa Payne on this important result providing clarity on an issue that so many employers get wrong.

If you have been fired, demoted, passed over for promotion, or otherwise treated adversely after asking about wages or requesting a raise, you may have a claim under Oregon law.

Washington Protections

Washington workers enjoy some of the strongest wage transparency protections in the country under the Equal Pay and Opportunities Act, which was made significantly more powerful in 2019 and 2022. The law makes it unlawful for an employer to restrict employees from disclosing or discussing their wages with coworkers or others. That means workplace policies, handbook provisions, or direct manager instructions telling you to keep your salary confidential are not just unenforceable, they are illegal.

The law expressly prohibits employers from retaliating against any employee who inquires about, discloses, or discusses wages. If you asked a coworker what they make, looked into whether your colleagues are paid fairly, or simply raised the topic of your own compensation with your employer, and your employer responded by firing you, demoting you, cutting your hours, or treating you worse in any material way, that is unlawful retaliation under Washington law. The protection is not limited to formal complaints or organized collective action, even a single, casual conversation about pay can be enough to trigger it.

The bottom line: Oregon and Washington employees are protected when they discuss their wages with coworkers or their employer. Retaliating against employees for discussing wages is illegal. And an instruction from a boss or a handbook policy saying otherwise does not override the law.

Munsinger Law represents employees in employment and civil rights disputes in Oregon and Washington. Learn more about us at www.munsinger.law.