[anigbrowl]

This is baffling to me. it's so obviously a sleight of hand by the employer, in the sense of 'don't tell the others you're my favorite, or they'll be jealous.' The idea that the employer has any basis whatsoever to restrict conversation among employees is absurd on its face. It's one thing to say 'don't give away the recipe of our secret dipping sauce,' on the basis that it's a trade secret. maintaining internal secrecy about all compensation is just pitting your employees against each other and seems incompatible with establishing/maintaining team cohesion.