Example: Sharing pay information with another employee

Adriana starts a new job working at a childcare centre.

During a shift, Adriana talks to another employee, Greg, about her pay. Adriana shares her hourly pay rate and explains that she is concerned she’s not getting the right pay.

Adriana can share her pay information with another employee as this is her workplace right.

Example: Asking another employee about pay

Kip and Steve are both forklift drivers for a building supply wholesaler.

Kip has concerns about his pay, especially for the hours when he works overtime. Kip speaks to Steve and asks him what pay rate he gets for working overtime.

Kip tells Steve his own hourly pay rate and overtime rate.

Steve isn’t comfortable talking to Kip about his pay rate and says he won’t share this information. He says that if Kip has concerns about his pay he should speak to their manager, Elijah.

Kip has the right to share his pay information with another employee and ask another employee about their pay information. Steve also has the right to not share his own pay information.

Example: Sharing pay information and adverse action

Lu is an engineer working for a construction company.

Lu and another engineer discuss their salaries. Lu realises he’s getting paid less than other engineers with the same skills and experience as him who are doing the same work.

At his annual performance review, Lu mentions the difference in salary between him and other engineers performing the same work. Because of this, Lu asks for a pay rise. His manager, David, says he’ll consider it.

The next week, Lu gets called into David’s office. David says Lu won’t be eligible for a pay rise for performance reasons and that he is going to be performance managed. This confuses Lu because he has only ever been given very positive performance feedback, including at his annual performance review with David the week before.

A week later, Lu is relocated to a different office away from the other engineers and taken off some key projects, with no reason provided.

Lu believes he was disadvantaged because he talked with a colleague about their pay.

Lu comes to our website, finds this page, and reads about pay secrecy laws and adverse action. He thinks this situation could be adverse action. He decides to contact the human resources department and raise a complaint.

Example: New employment contract with pay secrecy terms

Samira is thinking about accepting a job as a medical receptionist at her local general practice.

Samira is given an employment contract to sign that says she isn’t allowed to discuss her pay with anyone. A friend tells Samira that they think this term in her contract isn’t right.

Before she signs the contract, Samira decides to check what laws apply on our website.

Samira learns that new employment contracts can’t include terms about pay secrecy from 7 December 2022. She also learns that she has a right to talk about her pay with anyone if she wants to.

Samira talks to the employer about these laws. The employer agrees to take the pay secrecy term out and gives her a new version of the contract to consider.

Example: Existing employment contract with pay secrecy terms

Jonah works in a call centre. He entered into an employment contract in August 2021.

Jonah’s contract has pay secrecy terms that prevent him from discussing his pay (such as his weekly wage and any annual bonuses) with other employees.

Jonah’s pay secrecy terms still apply because he entered into the contract before 7 December 2022 and his contract has not changed after this date.

Any pay secrecy terms in contracts agreed to before 7 December 2022 continue to operate until the contract is changed.

Example: Enterprise agreement with pay secrecy terms

Jana is a hospital administrator. The hospital has an enterprise agreement which was made in 2021.

The enterprise agreement includes pay secrecy terms that restrict employees discussing their pay with other staff.

From 7 December 2022, these terms have no effect.