Chris Bennett: Your wages are making headlines

Are you being paid enough? was the header on the email sent out for the latest Optician salary survey.

Contentious headlines always grab people’s attention and, as with any survey, the more people who take part the more meaningful the results will be, hence the headline. The reaction Optician received following delivery of this email makes me think it is overdue. I urge you to participate.

Within minutes of the email going out comments rolled in. One suggested that allowing people to compare their salaries would cause problems for employers, another that allowing staff and locums to compare salaries was harmful to both and an employer’s (tongue-in-cheek) comment said the survey would be giving his staff ideas for a pay rise.