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Angry employees list how much they make on company notice board after manager tells them 'not to discuss wages'

Employees of Kentucky Planet Fitness resisted their manager's attempt to exercise control over discussions about salaries

KENTUCKY, UNITED STATES: Employees at Kentucky Planet Fitness opposed their manager attempts to exert control over salary discussions by responding with a notice of their own, listing their hourly wages. According to The Daily Dot, the Reddit account that published the manager and the employees notices has since been suspended. But the incident helped spark a discussion online about these unjust demands made by employers.

The manager named Jer, who worked at Kentucky Planet Fitness, posted a threatening notice adressing employees that read, “Attention all subordinates. Effective immediately, conversing about wages (both on duty and off duty) is strictly forbidden." This showed the employer's lack of knowledge of basic labor laws and employee rights in the United States.

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But even though employees have the legal right to discuss salaries with coworkers, employers frequently discourage this habit in the workplace. Employers do not like it when employees talk salary because it reveals patterns of discrimination, pay gaps and other unfair practices that leave them vulnerable to potential lawsuits, according to Donna Ballman, an employment attorney.

Manager Jer's notice asserted that discussing pay was forbidden as it was the company's "proprietary information”. He added that Kentucky is an at-will employment state and warned, "If you are overheard speaking (OR LISTENING TO!!) a conversation in which wages are discussed, you will receive disciplinary action up to and including termination." Employees retaliated by posting their hourly wages on the same notice board and also schooling Manager Jer about employee rights and how his threat of terminating the jobs of those discussing salary had no legal standing.

“Yo Jer-Bear,” read the employees' notice in response to their manager. “Seeing as you’re a manager in the great illustrious [world] of Planet Fitness gym franchises, it may behoove you to become familiar with the laws pertaining to it. Sprinkling legalese and word-salad across an 8.5×11 paper you printed does not a legal doc make.”

The notice then had a list of relevant online links to websites that talked about how it was illegal for employers to forbid discussions about salary. And the final nail in the coffin was the information of 12 of the employees listing their hourly wages out in the open for everyone to see and discuss. Between the time the employees' notice was pinned up and the picture of it was tweeted by an employee, six more workers had manually added their hourly rates on the sign. The tweet read, "The best shot/chaser of all time"

A user commented on this tweet, said, "our regional boss recently told all the employees we shouldn’t discuss our wages as it “causes a discontent in the shop, and will end with your immediate dismissal” i’m assuming that is the same thing? i’ll be reading more about it"

Another tweeted saying "Yep, forbidding discussion of compensation is extremely illegal, and it takes a real idiot of a boss to proactively go on the record and threaten to fire people for it."

It comes as no surprise that people are supporting the workers instead of Manager Jer and his unlawful demands. A user commented on the matter tweeting "Posting a threat, titled "ATTENTION ALL SUBORDINATES" is definitely the way most corporate trainings, leadership books, & speakers recommend as the best method for commanding respect and loyalty from the people you manage. You are their superior, and they need to know it, right?