Employers often don’t want to hear this, but higher-paid employees make better, and longer-lasting, employees.
Without the pressure of living paycheck to paycheck, they’re more free to focus on their lives, their health, and their work, without constantly worrying about finding another job, a better paycheck, or a side hustle, pointed out the members of the “Am I the A**hole?” (AITAH) subReddit.
Because of that, Redditor Routine-Crew8651 was happy for her coworker when he told her that he and his wife had won a small lottery, which allowed him to keep teaching without so much pressure on when the next paycheck was coming in.
But a fellow coworker overheard this conversation and reported the information to their supervisor, and the Original Poster (OP) was shocked when her supervisor reprimanded her for not disclosing her coworker’s new financial situation to Human Resources when he failed to do so himself.
She asked the sub:
“AITAH for not telling my employer about my coworker’s lottery win?”
The university the OP worked at did not have the best benefit model.
“I (26 Female) began working at an international university as a lecturer (We are in Germany, if that matters). From the beginning, the organization hasn’t been fantastic, to put it lightly.”
“My coworker (30s Male) has been here about six months longer than I have been. He’s also a lecturer, working on a part-time basis, and not making a huge amount of money.”
“He’s working many hours in class, but the admin refused to change his contract from 50% to even 75%.”
The OP was excited for her coworker when she heard his good news.
“Then one Monday, he came to work super excited, and we had lunch together.”
“As it turns out, he and his wife won a lottery. They did not win the main prize, they’re not millionaires, but the win was something between 700k and 800k euros, I believe, so it was really decent money.”
“He has still continued his job, as he genuinely likes teaching. But since the win, he has been more chill. He’s clearly not as stressed as he used to be and focuses on his own tasks.”
The OP was uncomfortable when their supervisor began poking around for information.
“Sometime after he told me, our manager approached me and asked if I knew what had been going on with him.”
“I just told her no and casually asked, ‘Why, what’s up?’ I didn’t really know what she was even talking about.”
“She then told me that one of our mutuals had overheard him telling me about the lottery win and demanded to know whether I knew anything about this.”
“I said yes and that he had mentioned it to me.”
“My manager was quite upset and told me that I should’ve informed her or someone in HR.”
“I was confused and questioned what his financial situation, and whether he’s poor or rich, had to do with his job performance, as he’s clearly doing well and one of the strongest lecturers in the department.”
“My manager just, as a response, got really huffy and short-tempered, saying that she doesn’t believe it’s good to gatekeep this information from the staff.”
The OP felt conflicted after that confirmation.
“Was I wrong for not informing others? I believe that his, like everyone’s, finances are private and should be kept private.”
“Maybe it would’ve been different if he had kept this information from his wife, for example, but that’s not the case. I don’t think information like this needs to be circulating around the department…”
“AITAH?”
Fellow Redditors weighed in:
- NTA: Not the A**hole
- YTA: You’re the A**hole
- ESH: Everybody Sucks Here
- NAH: No A**holes Here
Some reassured the OP that it was none of her employer’s business.
“Your manager is a moron and a busybody. NTA.” – SonOfSchrute
“This is not your news to share with anyone. It has absolutely no impact on their job, so there’s no real reason for the winner to inform HR and whomever else, and certainly not yours. It’s no one’s business.”
“NTA. The manager is just being nosy.” – Scorp128
“NTA. Your manager is a gossip and has no clue how to be a supervisor. If anyone gets reported to HR, it should be your manager. His lottery win is none of her business.” – WTH_JFG
“NTA. A person’s financial status is their own private matter, and it’s not your place to disclose it. Your coworker’s lottery winnings have no impact on his job performance. Good on you for respecting his privacy.” – Starry-16Muffinz
“OP is in effect just some random employee, a peer of the lecturer. He doesn’t answer to OP, and OP doesn’t answer to him, so I’m unsure what right this person has to grill OP about another coworker’s financial status.”
“That’s an issue for HR to deal with and I would immediately take it there.” – fastdub
“Even her requesting you to share this info is super illegal. Especially in Germany (as compared to the US), where we value and cherish our privacy laws.”
“It’s not your information to share in the first place, so where exactly are you gatekeeping it? Let your coworker know and support him if he chooses to go to HR about this.” – J_Berlin_
“I’d report her to HR because those are all quite intrusive questions for Germans as well, we usually don’t even talk about our own money, so why on earth would you tell her about other people’s money?”
“I wouldn’t even be surprised if some of the things she wants you to report to her are questions she legally wouldn’t be allowed to ask because of anti-discrimination laws, and her asking you instead of him could be a way of her trying to go around those laws.”
“Pretty sure her telling you she wouldn’t have hired you if she knew that you had a different social class than she assumed is already a big no-no.” – Emergency_Poem_8048
“I would maliciously comply by following your Manager’s instructions. Go to HR, and tell them your manager told you to report this to them.”
“Afterwards, you should ask what other aspects of your coworker’s lives you should report to them, and when this will be officially added to your job description.” – dragonbruceleeroy
Others agreed and believed the employer was looking for another “reason” to pay their faculty less money.
“The manager has been underpaying, hoping desperation will keep employees in service.”
“Your coworker no longer needs to stress about meeting rent or mortgage on a s**t wage, so your employer lost an element of control, and may have to start treating their employee well, in order to keep them, and they’re lashing out at you about it.”
“NTA.” – CleoJK
“The manager wants a legitimate excuse to keep him part-time and working for lower pay. Someone with that kind of money doesn’t need a bump to full-time or a raise, right? This isn’t just being a busybody.” – Capital-Cheesecake67
“This manager clearly sucks. They only want financially dependent employees who have to suck it up and accept any abuse. Someone with f**k-you money is no longer their ideal employee. They’re fine with stressed and burnt out. Those employees are too occupied getting by day to day to look for a better job.”
“NTA, OP, for not sharing his information.” – flatulating_ninja
“I don’t know what German customs are like, but ratting out a coworker’s financial situation to your boss in the USA is social suicide.”
“Not just that, but I get the feeling that they wanted to know because they like bossing people around who are financially dependent on them. And the more dependent, the better.”
“My employers have told me as well that they would’ve not hired me if they knew I lived in an apartment that my dad bought for me (because again, someone ratted me out, lol).”
“They’ve also made foreign workers on a part-time contract work for extra hours (think of being physically in the classroom for 30 hours a week on a 50% contract) in the hopes of a permanent contract that they dangle in front of them.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if the OP’s employer isn’t exactly like them, and NTA for not playing into their hand or ratting out their coworker.” – Routine-Crew8651
“I would dare to say that the lottery winnings have had a positive impact on his job performance and that the manager should be thankful that his star employee can now show up to work free from financial strain and stress.” – kleosailor
“NTA.”
“Your manager is upset because this guy was worried about his job before, so he worked harder and did tasks that SHE was supposed to do.”
“Now he’s laid back and only does his own work, and likely puts her and others in their place when they try to offload their work onto him. Or worse, he’s able to say ‘no’ with a smile.”
“I’ve seen this happen with workers who were retiring, and/or who got life-changing opportunities. Without the fear of losing their jobs, people don’t put up with crap.” – carnal_traveller
“NTA. First off, I fail to see why they’d need to know. And even if they actually did, I fail to see why it would be on you to report it. Are you the personal finance police now or something? Maybe you ought to have a raise if they are going to add this to your responsibilities.” – LaFlibuste
“NTA. What the f**k is she on about with ‘gatekeeping information’?!”
“I would advise you to pull him aside, where no one can overhear you, and warn him, though he might have already gotten in trouble. I guess his mistake was talking about it at all.”
“And try to figure out who ratted on you. Someone you work with doesn’t like either of you, and they did the mental gymnastics to think that this would somehow get them ahead (though in the long run, it won’t).” – Due-Reflection-1835
Some Redditors were left suspicious, wondering what employer, especially in Germany, would think it was a good idea to meddle around in someone’s private life, particularly their financial situation.
The best guess was probably hoping that they could somehow use this information to justify not paying their workers more, or ushering in new part-time employees who’d be eager for any semblance of a paycheck.
Ironically, without the pressure of paying rent and other expenses, the OP’s coworker would actually be able to focus more clearly on their job and not worry about the pressures that tough financial situations bring.