I live in an at-will state, not sure if that makes a difference. My job requires a lot of travel using my personal vehicle and I have to report my mileage daily. I recently found out by talking to a colleague in the same position that the way I was taught (by my slimy previous supervisor) to put in mileage was wrong and that I should be calculating my mileage differently. I felt completely taken advantage of and deceived but wanted to correct it in a professional way.
I explained to my current manager the way that I have been inputting mileage in the payroll system and how it differs from that of my other traveling coworkers. He was immediately on my side and we are working to fix it moving forward and to get back reimbursement for the miles that I’ve been missing.
Here’s the problem: he tried to tell me that while I was in the right and that he’ll take care of it, we are not supposed to talk about how much we make. The company has been seemingly transparent about pay scales for all positions but this really struck a nerve. I explained that it is our legal right to discuss wages but he pushed back and said that we aren’t allowed to at this particular company.
I can’t find anything about it in the employee manual and according to the NLRB/Labor Board everyone is supposedly entitled to discuss pay. I’m satisfied with my hourly, but I wouldn’t have even found out about the fact that I am being severely under compensated for my travel if not for openly discussing it. Is he in the right? Should I just drop it and hope that the reimbursement gets taken care of? Should I correct him? Should I reach out to HR for guidance? Does being at-will mean they can make those kinds of rules? I want to protect my job and make sure I’m being compensated fairly while also staying out of trouble.