So, I have a new boss at work. He was pulling us in the office one by one in order to give us our yearly reviews and how much our raises are going to be.
After finding out my raise (only 6% raise) he hands me a piece of paper and it essentially says that I will not discuss my wage with anyone. I asked him what this was and that I have never had to sign one before.
He said it was a “new policy” to “discourage” people from talking about wages. I’ve known the guy before he got hired and we are friends outside of work. He whispers “it’s only not legally binding and just BS” then says “it’s just to make people think they are signing a contract when in reality is Bull”
I tell him that the company can’t do that. They can’t have people THINKING they are signing a legally binding contract when they aren’t.
He then says that he understands and agrees but he has to do it or he will get written up. He then pulls out another one and says “look at this BS”. It’s essentially saying the same thing but with unions. I told him that I’m pretty sure that’s illegal.
I signed both the letters but put next to my name “signed under duress” just to cover my ass anyway.
I get called into the HR office and am told that I need to resign these documents without the “Signed under duress” stuff on it because then I would be “opening up the company to legal liability” to which I replied “well, you legally can’t FORCE me to sign it and if you fire me for not signing something that says I CANT talk about wages or joining a union then I can sue” she gets all flustered and says “well, I don’t think we need to escalate anything that far…” I tell her we are done here and I leave.
Haven’t heard from them since and they refuse to make eye contact or talk to me.
Any thoughts on this? I think I handled it well but anything else I should have done or be doing? Should I try to get my buddy to get me those documents and bring them to the local labor authority?