Q. "Can we ask staff not to talk about their pay with each other?"
Answer:
Generally, no. The National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) grants all non-supervisory employees the right to organize and engage in "concerted activity" for the purpose of mutual aid or protection.
"Concerted" means "in concert," meaning more than one employee is involved. Activities for mutual aid and protection could include discussions about wages, benefits, treatment from managers, safety issues, and just about anything else two or more employees have a stake in. As a result, the protections provided by the NLRA are broad.
Here are a few examples of protected activity:
Employees discussing their pay via email, a break room chat, or social media
Employees circulating a petition asking for better hours
Employees refusing to work in unsafe conditions
Employees joining with coworkers to talk directly to the employer, a government agency, or the media about problems in their workplace
While the NLRA doesn't protect supervisory employees in this way, your organization should be careful about who you classify as supervisory. Only those who have real authority will be exempt from the NLRA's protections (i.e., an assistant manager would, in many cases, not qualify as supervisory).
Note that a number of states have enacted pay equity or pay transparency laws protecting all employees' ability to discuss their wages—even those in leadership roles. Understanding these protections is crucial for your ministry to maintain fair and legally compliant practices.