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In Thailand, can you ask a previous employer how much they earn?


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Hi,

I am not sure this is in the right place.

But we are interviewing someone and she is has a great resume and want to know how much we should pay her.

Can we ask her last employer how much she was getting paid? I think not, but my business partner says everyone can do that in Europe.

So what are the rules here. Is it allowed? I thought common sense would be no

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For a start, in Europe anybody can ask an employer/previous employer to reveal the salary details of one of their employees, but unless the individual concern has signed an agreement to release that information the employer would be braking the law if they release the information.

Of course in Thailand there is little or no protection of personal data.

That aside, I think you are getting distracted by pennies.

You have a candidate in front of you with a great resume who you presumably wish to hire.

Offer her what you think she is worth to your business.

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Yes we want to pay her a fair rate as she looks the goods on her resume.

I just wanted to know if it was ok to do it here as I don't want to be breaking any laws.

Anyways, I think I will give her an offer after the interview as a resume can say anything

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Yes we want to pay her a fair rate as she looks the goods on her resume.

I just wanted to know if it was ok to do it here as I don't want to be breaking any laws.

Anyways, I think I will give her an offer after the interview as a resume can say anything

I don't expect that her present employer knows that she is applying for jobs, they may not be too happy if they find out and of course you may not even offer her the job anyway ... you should not contact her employer without asking her if it ok to do so.

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Normally always we speak about what they earned before....Sometimes they even tell them-self (true or not is another question).

And you can ask just everything you want, if you get an answer or a true answer is another question.

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In Thailand someone who dialed the wrong numnber ends up asking what you make a month, so you can ask a previous employer that question too, if you get an answer or an honest answer is another issue.

Why don't you ask the applicant for proof in the form of salary statements and a bank statement? It's not uncommon by the way for an employer to make sure your staff has no dubious debts or a bad credit record.

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Pay a fair rate for the job she is required to do.

Exactly...an employee is entitled to a good wage for a good service given. I would imagine you have the right to ask anybody anything....just as much as they have the right to keep stumps, if they so choose.

Edited by dotpoom
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I would advise against asking the former employer unless you have cleared it with the candidate first (for reasons mentioned before). Also, it is not a good way to start a new work relationship to go behind the candidates back.

If you are concerned about the salary level she claims having before, ask her for verified bank records on salary payments or payment slips from her former employer.

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I never see the rlevance of what you earned in your ast job. The company should make you an offer and then you can decide if you want to accept it. To me it shows a company is trying to be a cheap skate which I for one do not appreciate.

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Offer a fair rate for the job, what ever she earned before is totally irrelevant. If you are too low then hopefully she will tell you or just leave.

Obviously you have not employed people before other wise you would know better than ask.

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Hi,

I am not sure this is in the right place.

But we are interviewing someone and she is has a great resume and want to know how much we should pay her.

Can we ask her last employer how much she was getting paid? I think not, but my business partner says everyone can do that in Europe.

So what are the rules here. Is it allowed? I thought common sense would be no

What bearing does a persons last salary have on the job being applied for now? He or she is not applying for their last job they are applying for the new one. Review the application and resume, do the interview and then if interested make a reasonable offer based on the job at hand. Past salaries have no relevance. Pay the person for the job they are applying for, forget about the past.

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It makes no real difference what a prospective candidate earned before ... simply offer them a fair market rate for what you are asking them to do, they accept or not ... if you "really" want this candidate, be prepared to pay more.

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whistling.gif Ask her what she wants as a salary.

Then if what she asks is to high, explain to her honestly why your firm can't afford that.

Be honest with your potential employees or you will regret it later.

The ones who think they have been unfairly treated are the ones who will cheat you later.

And yes, I have hired staff before.

Be fair and honest at the interview and hope you get a fair and honest employee, try to cheat the employee and all you will get is revenge payback from the employee later.

And, as they say revenge is a dish that is served ice-cold.

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Yes we want to pay her a fair rate as she looks the goods on her resume.

I just wanted to know if it was ok to do it here as I don't want to be breaking any laws.

Anyways, I think I will give her an offer after the interview as a resume can say anything

Where I am from it is normal to ask people what they earn, how much they have saved up and any other personal financial info.

I would just ask her.

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It is very interesting to know what the candidate was earning in a previous job because...

1) The candidate can lie about her actual salary, may claim is actually getting 50K but is being getting 20K, and will proclaim if next salary is not bigger than 50K will not change of company.

2) If candidate wants 50K, but other members in the team doing same job are getting 25k, the employer will have a conflict in the team that could affect company performance.

3) Of course.. if employee knows candidate was getting 30K, and candidate wants to get 40K, the employer can can just offer 30K or 31K and propose a bigger salary if performing is good.

... and anyway, does the candidate have so much economic power could contract a lawyer and fight her future or actual employer?

unless the position is for some kind of high executive probably not... the only thing she could do if gets mad at you is just just quit,

as most of people with just a regular salary don't have the knowledge and money to hire a lawyer and fight a company.

Edited by Lidra
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Both sides of the argument are good a previous salary gives an indication and of course you should pay what you think an employee is worth. However you won't know what an employee is worth before you have tried here. A previous salary could be a good indication.

However knowing if the previous salary is stated truthfully or not is hard. However if it was a legit job I am sure there are salary statements (sure they can be faked)

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Pay a fair rate for the job she is required to do.

Unfortunately for most of us... the word 'fair' can have many interpretations...

For me a fair salary should be one that allow a single man (one man or woman) to sustain a family (let's say two adults and one child), and that should include pay a house/condo rent, pay a car, internet/phone bills, basic education for child, medical care, clothes, food, water...

But if we consider this 'fair', most of population is not getting a fair salary.

And what is 'fair' in this country from most of the companies perspective looks to be just enough to pay a small room where the employee sleeps when is not working, or just enough to don't die and go back to work the next day.

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It is very interesting to know what the candidate was earning in a previous job because...

1) The candidate can lie about her actual salary, may claim is actually getting 50K but is being getting 20K, and will proclaim if next salary is not bigger than 50K will not change of company.

2) If candidate wants 50K, but other members in the team doing same job are getting 25k, the employer will have a conflict in the team that could affect company performance.

3) Of course.. if employee knows candidate was getting 30K, and candidate wants to get 40K, the employer can can just offer 30K or 31K and propose a bigger salary if performing is good.

... and anyway, does the candidate have so much economic power could contract a lawyer and fight her future or actual employer?

unless the position is for some kind of high executive probably not... the only thing she could do if gets mad at you is just just quit,

as most of people with just a regular salary don't have the knowledge and money to hire a lawyer and fight a company.

I assume you have had little to do with employing people. If the job has been analysed correctly then it has a certain value to the company, you then have a scale of salaries within a certain band for that particular job and a prospective employee can be offered the job somewhere on that band. To pay someone a salary higher than the job's value does no good to anyone as it leaves little room for increases etc. at a later date. I have worked in jobs that published it's salaries so everyone knew what you earned, not always good, and I have had jobs where you signed an agreement never to release your salary level to another employee. Again not always good for obvious reasons. Set your pay scales then look for the employee.

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I run a recruitment company here in Thailand and handle this sort of thing every day.

Salary negotiations are an integral part of any job offer and need to be handled with care and professionalism. When we are placing a candidate we will always insist on getting 2 references (to check abilities, qualifications, time spent in role etc) but NEVER ask the previous employer about salary, preferring to ask the candidate to supply at least 2 recent salary slips. If they say they have a bonus or commission, then they need to provide documented evidence of this, again in the shape of a pay slip. In short, it is their responsibility to provide written verification to corroborate anything they claim is their remuneration.

As a note of reference, a reasonable salary increase in Thailand is anything from 15% to 30% with the median amount being 20%.

I hope this helps and good luck with your new hire.

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I run a recruitment company here in Thailand and handle this sort of thing every day.

Salary negotiations are an integral part of any job offer and need to be handled with care and professionalism. When we are placing a candidate we will always insist on getting 2 references (to check abilities, qualifications, time spent in role etc) but NEVER ask the previous employer about salary, preferring to ask the candidate to supply at least 2 recent salary slips. If they say they have a bonus or commission, then they need to provide documented evidence of this, again in the shape of a pay slip. In short, it is their responsibility to provide written verification to corroborate anything they claim is their remuneration.

As a note of reference, a reasonable salary increase in Thailand is anything from 15% to 30% with the median amount being 20%.

I hope this helps and good luck with your new hire.

So someone trying to improve their standard of living by trying to get a better deal on salary in thailand is Fxxxxd up by tin-pot companies like you.

What you are saying is utter bxll shxx, AS far as you are concerned the candidate is prevented from playing the game. ( He/She must show their best card first )

rolleyes.gif

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What not ask the job candidate?

Why do you want to know? Do you want to make sure you're not paying more than they were willing to work for in her previous job?

Perhaps you're concerned that they would lie with an inflated number. Even if they do, you'll still have an indication of what they'd like to be paid.

Edited by HerbalEd
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Yes we want to pay her a fair rate as she looks the goods on her resume.

I just wanted to know if it was ok to do it here as I don't want to be breaking any laws.

Anyways, I think I will give her an offer after the interview as a resume can say anything

Where I am from it is normal to ask people what they earn, how much they have saved up and any other personal financial info.

I would just ask her.

Why

If your interview questions were this. None of your business would be my answer. We wouldn't get past 5 minutes.

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In my line of work, it's usual practice for the employer to ask what you expect as a salary and go from there. Notwithstanding, there's always a question on your current / previous salary on the application form. CV and application form in the UK 99% of the time.

The employer invariably comes back with a lesser amount, but not by much, as they expect the prospective employee to overegg it.

Edited by wooloomooloo
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