Today I got an email from the head of HR today regarding our yearly pay increase. The email also contained the following:
“Compensation is a confidential matter unique to each associate and therefore should not be disclosed to or discussed with others.”
Since I have a good relationship with most of the executives, I replied to his email letting him know that preventing employees from discussing pay is illegal in the US and provided the following link for reference:
https://www.nirb.gov/about-nirb/rights-we-protect/your rights/your-rights-to-discuss-wages
He replied that what they were doing is not “forbidding” us from talking about wages, just “discouraging” it and they wouldn't take any repercussive action against employees that choose to do so. However, from my understanding of the wording of his initial message, it seemed like a pretty black and white instruction to not discuss wages. He followed up by letting me know that he would talk to the company attorney about the matter, but was pretty sure the message fell into a “safe gray area.”
TL;DR: Is it still illegal to “discourage” talk about pay if it's not explicitly forbidden? The company is located in IL if that helps.