A TikTok user went viral after sharing advice with viewers on how they can utilize The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) income limits to negotiate higher pay.
In a recent video, @ktalkstoyou spelled out how low-income workers—specifically those employed at socially-oriented nonprofits—can use the federal website to their advantage. As of Wednesday afternoon, her video had amassed over 597,000 views.
“Look up HUD housing in your city,” she said. Through the website, @ktalkstoyou explained, workers can research HUD income limits in their cities to determine “what is considered low income or very low income.”
@ktalkstoyou Make sure you find the 2022 list because the 2014 list is the first ine that comes up when I do a google search
♬ original sound – Sleepy
“Take that, print it out, and highlight whatever the average worker—or especially the lowest-paid worker—in your agency is earning,” she said. From there, she suggested leaving an anonymous note stating that a majority of workers are considered low-income.
“Leave it in HR or the CEO’s box anonymously so they have no idea where the fire is coming from,” @ktalkstoyou said. “And maybe everyone here might be organizing against them.”
The Daily Dot has reached out to @ktalkstoyou via TikTok comment. As of publication, it was unclear whether this was a strategy she’s deployed previously. But the nonprofit sector has a long, complicated relationship with fair compensation. In fact, according to the Stanford Social Innovation Review, nonprofit employees are often underpaid because their organizations are “disproportionately concentrated in low-paying industries.”
Indeed, a number of commenters echoed the sentiment that nonprofit workers deserve higher pay.
“When I brought this up to our leadership team and they said we can use the food shelf instead of being compensated more equitably,” one viewer wrote.
“I did that. Resulted in a raise. My boss really doesn’t like me though,” another said.
“Love working at a housing nonprofit knowing we all qualify for the services we keep running,” a third viewer commented.
