Isn't it wrong for a company to lie about things like remuneration and money too ? Is it okay for companies to pay people they claim internally have the same pay (for the same work), but pay them differently based on things like location ?
That's actually a really interesting parallel to draw. I have certainly seen a non-negligible amount of dishonest management ("Sure we'll promote you, we just need a few more cycles" to a friend who was about to be fired). From a legal perspective I'm sure what's signed in writing makes the difference.
But we're not really talking legal here, we're talking ethical. And ethically, I'm not sure why dishonesty on paper is worse than dishonesty in a 1-on-1.
You'll find all kinds of notions/norms in our culture that are inconsistent with each other. Usually it takes a standup comedian to point out our own hypocrisy.
Given that I keep reading things like that some 90%+ of employees across a wide range of companies would deny their employer a $1 million contract if it got them, personally, $500 ...
Given those I think the norms in our society are very much consistent. It's just that we assume we're all employees here, and therefore there is no need to lie to each other.
But we'll lie to our employer, or at least leave stuff out. And our employer will lie to us, and leave boatloads of stuff out.
This is the norm. It is also the norm to lie about it.
"Isn't it wrong for a company to lie about things like remuneration and money too ?"
Yes it is wrong.
"Is it okay for companies to pay people they claim internally have the same pay (for the same work), but pay them differently based on things like location ?"
It is ok to pay different amount of money to workers living in different states (if that is what you mean). Assuming the company did not mislead the worker before accepting the job at lower paid location.