Many people find it difficult to negotiate salary.
Daniel Edenholm, expert in salary matters, advises on how to behave.
– Straighten up and get in, he says in Nyhetsmorgan.
This autumn, a new law intended to increase salary transparency can be hammered through at EU level.
The proposal can be described as a tightening of the discrimination law, and aims to increase equality in the labor market.
– The pay gap between men and women in Sweden is ten percent, with this proposal the employer will have to make these differences public, says Daniel Edenholm, who is an expert in pay issues, in Nyhetsmorgon.
Won’t get to ask the question
If the bill is passed, it will go into effect in the summer of 2026.
And if that happens, the employer will no longer be allowed to ask potential recruits what their salary is.
– Women have a lower salary, and if the new employer sets salary each time in relation to what women and men had before, the salary gap will persist. So that’s why that question will be banned, says Daniel Edenholm.
You should think about that
Edenholm has written books and lectured on salary issues and has four tips on how to think before stepping into the negotiation room.
1. Check the situation
– Find out how the position you are applying for is paid at, for example, Statistics Norway. In the new bill, the intended employer will be forced to tell you what the salary situation looks like for the position you are applying for.
2. Prepare yourself
– How badly do you want the job, what is the desired scenario and what is the floor? Think of it as when you bid on a house or an apartment.
3. Be interested
– Have a dialogue with the employer and be interested in how the employer sets a salary. How do you work with equality when it comes to salary setting? How do you work with salary development? What opportunities are there for me?
4. Leave salary claims
– Here, I think you should straighten up and take it easy. You don’t have to send it out of the blue, but tell us what you want. Statistically, it turns out that men do not have that shame in their bodies, while women receive lower wages when they are recruited. And here it also becomes important for the employer to have a system for how to set a salary, and ensure that gender is not the deciding factor.