Say you get an offer (not in finance, or banking), and you reply to the potential offer saying, "It's too low, I would only take a salary of minimum of X dollars (it's the top of the range for which they had advertised the position), and even then I'd be taking a pay cut if I were to accept the offer".The potential employer says, "show us your current pay stub to prove you'd be taking a salary cut, and then we may revise the offer". To me this seems sort of ludicrous, if they need a pay stub to confirm you're not lying to them, why even make a job offer in the first place if there's so little trust?Is it normal for a potential employer to ask for pay stubs? By the way this potential employer is a government agency.

Walk away.

In general, Hansi is right...It is possible that they want to use the pay slip as part of some internal wrangling and part of the shit you have to put up with in government service is that HR departments are far more powerful yet far less competent than in the private sector.It may be that the manager you'd be reporting to earns less than you currently do and this is part of his fight to be paid something nearer the market.A critical problem is that whereas government can get away with paying less than market rates for some jobs without much loss of quality, the poor pay attracts people with issues, or rather they get bounced off everywhere else.I once told someone hiring for a mildly important job in the UK government "if this CV is true, you can't afford him", sadly they could afford him and a year later (this is the government remember) they came to me asking if I'd sign something that stated him as incompetent.]So I'm not suprised they want to see pay slips.If you were explaining this to me over a pint at the Random Walkers, then I'd probably be counselling to push, rather than placate.I sense that they need you for a role that's hard to fill, but are trapped in civil service inflexibility.So it may be that you should ask to come in at a more senior grade.

Thanks for the advice Dominic, you read the situation very well. It sounds like government agencies have similar issues, no matter the industry or the country.

I don't see any issue whatsoever. Show them your payslips, and they may revise their offer UPWARDS.I see bigger issue in the opposite case, much more frequent scenario, candidate performs well, and company wants to see payslips to pay get away with paying LESS, using excuses like "we cannot pay more that x% increase on your previous pay", etc

We also need to look at the microstructure of how pay evolves.If you come in at the top of a scale, it is much harder to move up since you have to be promoted up a grade to get into the new band.This isn't just a work performance thing and certainly nothing to do with market forces, but a function of waiting for people in the next level to leave and internal politics.It is far from unknown for total comp for people at the top of a scale to go down.Also be wary of signing on bonuses, by all means take the money, but do not believe any promise that they are likely to be repeated.This is an industry standard lie.

QuoteOriginally posted by: HansiWalk away.Run away, to be precise.