Advice on salary disparity

letsgo2018

Im in my current role 10 years , a graduate was recently hired to replace my shift partner of 2 years . I was sitting in the canteen the other day and sat there and listened as the topic of his salary came up. I was shocked to discover hes on over 5k more than me . This guy is just out of college with no experience and here I am doing the same job and more expected to train him in on over 5k less. I said it to the guy that left and he confirmed he was on exactly the same salary as his replacement. Can someone offer some advice on how to approach this. Its discrimatory as far as I'm concerned . HR frowns on people discussing salaries and we can see why. They want to hide their dirty little secret . I dont want to get the new guy in trouble by telling my manager he told me what he was on but at the same time a salary adjustment needs to occur

Diziet

Ask for a salary review and you can say 'it has been brought to my attention that...' without naming names.

mada82

Companies will pay you what they can get away with. I find in my place external candidates generally come in earning more.

It’s up to you to negotiate hard to get paid more and if you do tell me what your secret was

davo10

Unless you are being discriminated against on one of the 9 grounds, wage disparity is not discrimination. Employers are not required to pay the same wage to everyone.

If you feel you are underpaid, then you have to go to the market and see what you are worth. Apply for better paying jobs, if you get one, tell your employer to match it or you are off.

letsgo2018

Diziet wrote: »

Ask for a salary review and you can say 'it has been brought to my attention that...' without naming names.

What if they ask me who told you?

limnam

letsgo2018 wrote: »

Im in my current role 10 years , a graduate was recently hired to replace my shift partner of 2 years . I was sitting in the canteen the other day and sat there and listened as the topic of his salary came up. I was shocked to discover hes on over 5k more than me . This guy is just out of college with no experience and here I am doing the same job and more expected to train him in on over 5k less. I said it to the guy that left and he confirmed he was on exactly the same salary as his replacement. Can someone offer some advice on how to approach this. Its discrimatory as far as I'm concerned . HR frowns on people discussing salaries and we can see why. They want to hide their dirty little secret . I dont want to get the new guy in trouble by telling my manager he told me what he was on but at the same time a salary adjustment needs to occur

What he's on and what you're on have nothing to do with each other.


You can't compare someone joining a company in 2008 to someone joining in 2018.


You had an opportunity 10 years to ago to make your demands.


You have your yearly review and you decide each year after it if it's good enough to stay or you move on to somewhere else that's willing to pay you what you think you're worth.


Forget what he/she is on or anyone else around you and focus on you're own worth and find someone willing to pay you it.

are you doing the exact same work?

have you the same qualifications?

if not, would the new joiner possibly be expected to take on additional duties once settled in the role to take advantage of any possible skills they may have?

have you any perks as a result of long service that they dont?

if the picture is as simple as youve painted, you want to make the trip to the office alright, but usually the best way to get the raise is to get it somewhere else

BronsonTB

I was in a similar situation, I left, got paid more elsewhere for very similar work.
Most employer's do not have the employee's best interest's unless they actually appreciate you & have regular reviews to ensure you are happy in your job.

Sounds like the OP is in a company like my old one....

splinter65

letsgo2018 wrote: »

Im in my current role 10 years , a graduate was recently hired to replace my shift partner of 2 years . I was sitting in the canteen the other day and sat there and listened as the topic of his salary came up. I was shocked to discover hes on over 5k more than me . This guy is just out of college with no experience and here I am doing the same job and more expected to train him in on over 5k less. I said it to the guy that left and he confirmed he was on exactly the same salary as his replacement. Can someone offer some advice on how to approach this. Its discrimatory as far as I'm concerned . HR frowns on people discussing salaries and we can see why. They want to hide their dirty little secret . I dont want to get the new guy in trouble by telling my manager he told me what he was on but at the same time a salary adjustment needs to occur

When you negotiate for a rise what is your employers argument against an increase in your salary? Do they quote economic instability or what?

Tell me how

letsgo2018 wrote: »

What if they ask me who told you?

I wouldn't say anything about hearing that someone is on more. I'd just say that you are unhappy with your salary level and want to know if they will change it.
If they ask why did this come up, say that it has been on your mind and it is time to discuss it.

Before you do this though, think, would you leave over this difference? Before you heard it, did you feel underpaid? Is it possible the new hire has more qualifications than you albeit less experience?

Could you get an alternative job with similar impact on your life, travel time, work/life balance, other perks etc?

If you make an issue of this but don't leave if it doesn't change then the environment might become uncomfortable for you.

LegacyUser

limnam wrote: »

What he's on and what you're on have nothing to do with each other.


You can't compare someone joining a company in 2008 to someone joining in 2018.


You had an opportunity 10 years to ago to make your demands.


You have your yearly review and you decide each year after it if it's good enough to stay or you move on to somewhere else that's willing to pay you what you think you're worth.


Forget what he/she is on or anyone else around you and focus on you're own worth and find someone willing to pay you it.

People (rightly) expect the same pay for the same work. Anything else in unequal. Ten years ago his wage demands would not have reflected CURRENT rent and inflation. What planet are you living on?

Even monkeys want to be paid equally.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2003/09/25/national/science-health/peeved-monkeys-reject-unequal-pay-on-the-job/#.W6PDDKpKjGg

MarkR

Rising tides don't lift all salaries. You never get a decent bump in wages, without moving jobs, or at least making it known that you are unhappy with your salary.

Bring it to your managers attention. Find out what the rationale is for the disparity. If it's as mentioned above, a qualification, or expected duties, that you don't have, or won't be doing, then maybe it's fair. If not, then i'd be asking your manager what you need to do to get what may be a fairer wage.

Also, get your job spec, update your CV, and get looking. I was offered the sun moon and stars when I handed in my notice. Offering the same stuff that had previously been rejected to me.

If your meeting with management doesn't go well, and it mightn't, just let them know that you're not happy with the situation, and you're going to start looking for jobs. Or even better, that you're already looking into it.

bullpost

Unfortunately this can happen and I've personal experience .

Sometimes there's no conspiracy, its just easy to overlook this situation in modern HR-driven companies.

As others have said, don't go in on basis that you want what someone else is getting , but instead on what you feel you are worth and also whats industry standard for your role and experience.

However it may be difficult to get the bump unless you let them know you will start dusting down the CV unless its forthcoming.

wirelessdude01

When I worked in the private sector you got what they thought you would accept. I left a multinational for another multinational and went back to the original multinational all within the space of 7minths and with an overall salary bump of 21k. Would have been far cheaper for them to have given me the salary bump I initially looked for.

Most companies don't value loyalty at all but you have to have a clear figure in your head what you want before you go looking for it and also whether you are willing to leave to achieve it.

OMM 0000

letsgo2018 wrote: »

Its discrimatory as far as I'm concerned

It's not.

Generally you get the salary you (a) deserve or (b) ask for.

So the issue here is (a) or (b).

Of course there are some terrible employers who underpay people.

But in my experience, the people earning good money do so because they asked for it. This could mean they are aggressive or persuasive.

But it's up to you to take ownership of your salary. Leaving it to your employer to "do what's right and fair" is not a good strategy.

micks

letsgo2018 wrote: »

Im in my current role 10 years , a graduate was recently hired to replace my shift partner of 2 years . I was sitting in the canteen the other day and sat there and listened as the topic of his salary came up. I was shocked to discover hes on over 5k more than me . This guy is just out of college with no experience and here I am doing the same job and more expected to train him in on over 5k less. I said it to the guy that left and he confirmed he was on exactly the same salary as his replacement. Can someone offer some advice on how to approach this. Its discrimatory as far as I'm concerned . HR frowns on people discussing salaries and we can see why. They want to hide their dirty little secret . I dont want to get the new guy in trouble by telling my manager he told me what he was on but at the same time a salary adjustment needs to occur

its supply & demand or as HR management will put it they paid market value

It seems to be happening more & more the last few years

A simple way of testing the water us telling your manager that - while you're happy in your position, you have been made an offer paying 5k/10k etc extra.
That you dont want to leave but you have responsibilities and the extra salary is tempting. Can they match / improve on it

do it informally to test the water

Tell me how

micks wrote: »

its supply & demand or as HR management will put it they paid market value

It seems to be happening more & more the last few years

A simple way of testing the water us telling your manager that - while you're happy in your position, you have been made an offer paying 5k/10k etc extra.
That you dont want to leave but you have responsibilities and the extra salary is tempting. Can they match / improve on it

do it informally to test the water

If you do it informally, it will likely be treated informally (i.e. Sure, pay rises for everyone).

If you do it formally, be well prepared. Throwing out threats of leaving which may be unfounded could well come back to haunt you.

twowheelsonly

letsgo2018 wrote: »

What if they ask me who told you?

You're not at liberty to discuss that. What one person tells you in confidence is yours and their business. To bring their name into a discussion with management would be a breach of confidence but more importantly would possibly be a breach of GDPR.


The question you should be asking here is how much would it cost the company to replace you ? If you're doing the same job as the others then the answer is obviously around 5k. Judge it yourself off that but don't let them fob you off.
If you're going to tell them that you're thinking of moving on then be prepared to follow through with that.

davo10

twowheelsonly wrote: »

You're not at liberty to discuss that. What one person tells you in confidence is yours and their business. To bring their name into a discussion with management would be a breach of confidence but more importantly would possibly be a breach of GDPR.


The question you should be asking here is how much would it cost the company to replace you ? If you're doing the same job as the others then the answer is obviously around 5k. Judge it yourself off that but don't let them fob you off.
If you're going to tell them that you're thinking of moving on then be prepared to follow through with that.

It may be a breach of confidence between colleagues but it is not a breach of GDPR. The ops colleague volunteered the info and in this case the op is not a data controller. It was a conversation between work mates.

Tell me how

davo10 wrote: »

It may be a breach of confidence between colleagues but it is not a breach of GDPR. The ops colleague volunteered the info and in this case the op is not a data controller. It was a conversation between work mates.

It's a moot point. My advice, don't ever acknowledge that you know definitively what someone else is on. No good will come from it.
You hold an ace up your sleeve in knowing what someone is on, but there's no advantage to letting the company know that you know.

_Brian

Unless you’ve a union agreement then wages are an individual thing and your not being discriminated against in any way.

Request a meeting with your manager and lay your concerns on the table. I’d refrain from naming other employees as really their personal data is none of your business.

Soft inda Head

I had a job I was happy at but I felt I was being underpaid for the work I was doing. When I had my first yearly assessment I didn't get the raise I had hoped for. Not wanting to discuss my disappointment i began looking for another job.

When I got an offer of an interview I went to my manager and asked him for time off for the interview. This meant that he had to ask me questions of which I was only happy to answer.

I explained the other job paid 5k more for the same position (I genuinely had no idea how much they were offering) but the manager asked me to leave it with him for a day or two. The next day he came back and said the company would top the offer by 2k - but I was never to talk about leaving again. 😀

micks

Tell me how wrote: »

If you do it informally, it will likely be treated informally (i.e. Sure, pay rises for everyone).

If you do it formally, be well prepared. Throwing out threats of leaving which may be unfounded could well come back to haunt you.

You may be correct however my last two pay rises have come from informal conversation as i said

KaneToad

letsgo2018 wrote: »

What if they ask me who told you?

The guy who left told you what he was on.

OMM 0000

micks wrote: »

You may be correct however my last two pay rises have come from informal conversation as i said

The best way to get promoted is to develop relationships with the decision makers. That makes these informal conversations much easier to have.