0

I have 2 offers, one from company A and one from company B. I accepted company B's offer due to the it being a lot better than company A. During the interview process, I told company B about the pay that company A is offering and they went above that.

I have a couple of questions:

  1. Can company B call company A to verify that I did indeed get an offer letter?
  2. Can company B call company A to verify if what I said was true about the pay that was being offered to me?
Improve this question
2
  • 3
    Companies do not generally share information about hiring decisions or compensation. Some companies will provide "employment verification" for reference purposes but that rarely goes beyond "so-and-so was employed here from XXXX until XXXX". They may add "and held the position of YYYY". They don't give salary figures or reasons about why that person is no longer employed there.
    – jwh20
    Commented Oct 10, 2021 at 10:08
  • 1
    Where are you located? In many countries, sharing this information without consent from you would be illegal.
    – Abigail
    Commented Oct 11, 2021 at 12:48

5 Answers 5

Reset to default
5

They can ask anything they like.

The probability is that they won't. Unless it's on a personal level there is no reason CompanyB would give out this information.

But on a personal network level anything can happen. I went to an interview once and before my interview had even started my current employer had been informed I was in the waiting room by a staff member who recognised me.

Improve this answer
1
  • Spot on. Officially - There is next to no chance this would happen company to company. But as said it's a small world, especially in some industries. People talk, but very unlikely to be about salary. The people in those conversations will more than likely be professional and respectful.
    – Techlead
    Commented Oct 15, 2021 at 8:11
3

They certainly can. They won’t though, because company A will tell them “none of your business.”

Improve this answer
7
  • 3
    And if the two HR people know each other?
    – Solar Mike
    Commented Oct 9, 2021 at 19:46
  • @SolarMike: they still won't since most companies consider offer data confidential.
    – Hilmar
    Commented Oct 9, 2021 at 21:09
  • @Hilmar we do not know what they would do, but they might. However, it is highly likely that this would be illegal collusion, but companies have broken the law before. I think it unlikely that they would share this data.
    – emory
    Commented Oct 10, 2021 at 0:24
  • 2
    If a HR person at A knows an HR person at B, then telling their mate about salaries or offered salaries at A would hurt company A, and if found out, could have very bad consequences for that HR person.
    – gnasher729
    Commented Oct 10, 2021 at 10:13
  • 2
    Maybe they know each other, maybe they’re married, maybe they hire ninjas to steal the information… does any of that whataboutism help the OP?
    – mxyzplk
    Commented Oct 10, 2021 at 15:11
0

Depends on country and state. EU, I am sure this would run afoul of GDPR. US, California has strong laws requiring this information remain confidential.

Improve this answer
0

I think you're reading too much into this.

Company A offers $xxx. You tell company B how much company A is offering.

Regardless of the ethics of you sharing that information, one of the following will happen;

Company B will decide that they can offer $xxx + $x. You take the higher offer.

Company B will decide that they cannot match company A's offer. They offer only $xxx.

Company B will decide that they cannot match company A's offer, and withdraw from the negotiation.

It all depends on the budget company B have for the role, and if they think you're worth it. Even if it was legally possible, company B is never going to check with company A that you have been given an offer.

Improve this answer
0

They won't; they already know you were probably inflating the number a bit to help the negotiation along.

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .