From what I know there is no federal law governing discussing salary. In most companies salary is a private thing, other than the top executives where compensation is part of the 10k filing. The problem with knowing what other people make is that comparisons only generate friction. For example, someone in department Y sees what a manager in department X is making and isn’t happy, but X department happens to be technical where the pay scales can be larger than for let’s say an administrative manager, based on the market. You can have senior technical people who make more than managers in other areas,the idea of universal pay scales itself is kind of idiotic, because salaries in the private sector are set by supply and demand. Someone in my own field who has experience in the financial sector will generally make a lot more money than someone who works let’s say for a manufacturing company and it will show in how they are compensated. Most companies do have salary ranges for a job position, and often those are known, and that is fine, but knowing what specific people make should not be shared or publicly known, as someone said, all that does is lead to dissension. Basically, if you think you are underpaid, what person X is making is irrelevant, an argument you are underpaid should be based on the work you are doing, the responsibility you have, and one of the biggest arguments is what the market is paying for that experience. It doesn’t always work, beancounters think only their jobs are valuable, and are proud if they ‘save money’ by underpaying someone, but have never bothered to read how much it costs to replace an experienced employee.