I just found out my co-lead makes $40K more than me.

33 Comments

1. AnonymousNovember 2,2023 at 10:42PM UTC

   This is exactly why I move around every 3 to 5 years. I make almost 2x what my counterparts make who do exactly what I do.

   I recently went out on my own to increase my comp + freedom to work less, keep more $ and work for who and how I want.

   The perceived value you have from the inside looking out is considerably greater than if your leadership sees your loyalty of sitting at the table year after year. Just a fact of life I learned years ago.

2. AnonymousNovember 2,2023 at 10:55PM UTC

   This happens a lot, unfortunately. Employees can get better raises by changing jobs than doing well at their current positions. There are benefits to staying with the "devil that you know" rather than trying out the "devil that you don't know," but until companies get the message that they need to take care of the employees they have, this will not change.

3. AnonymousNovember 5,2023 at 6:25PM UTC

   Can you explain this a little more? When you referred to our perceived value.

4. AnonymousNovember 5,2023 at 8:47PM UTC

   What my peers and I who move around ihave learned is that perception not fact determines a career with momentum. In simplified terms there are two types of employees. 1. The one who spends years climbing a single ladder, learning and improving and growing a known company. This employee is seen as steadfast, loyal, predictable and improving a known entity. After a few years this employee is viewed as a workerbee. Even when promoted. 2. The one who spends years climbing many ladders, experiencing a diverse array work places, strategies, methods and styles. They have experience in a greater number of situations and bring an interesting twist to the table. The market value of someone who moves around is perceived to be worth more because they are perceived to know more and have greater experience. The market has shoed it values your coworker at each step/move and currently the market has her valued at $40k more than you because she has climbed more ladders (even if she's jumped off a few). Is this based on fact?......NO. Employers don't have to pay you Market Value to predictably climb a single ladder. Safety is your reward. Employers must pay market value fior the new blood ( and a contractoris new blood that has the value of being onboared in a sense). The market dictates that price tag.

   My mentor told me back in my 20s to never get stale. Keep moving. Movement will equal growth In every race.

   So the bottom line is your coworker has made more than you have for years. She didn't just get a $40k bump.

5. AnonymousNovember 3,2023 at 2:46PM UTC

   What no one has mentioned is, you have to look at the state she lives in and the cost of living there. If you live in Arkansas, and she lives in California, the cost of living is exponentially higher for her.

6. AnonymousNovember 3,2023 at 6:16PM UTC

   Good point! But we live in equally $$ cities, NY vs LA.

7. AnonymousNovember 3,2023 at 10:25PM UTC

   I think everyone’s thoughts on the variance is something to consider and to take into consideration. I hope you find a solution that makes you happy!

8. Kate HopkinsNovember 4,2023 at 12:53PM UTC

   I would also say that when companies make an offer for someone who is remote, they don't adjust the salary to compensate for the cost of living difference if the employee lives in a higher cost area. Where to live is the employee's choice, not the employer.

9. AnonymousNovember 3,2023 at 6:13PM UTC

   I have seen it happen in the past that companies hire-in new employees who are great at negotiating, but they forget to raise the compensation of lateral employees. Go negotiate yourself a better salary and some remote days!

10. AnonymousNovember 3,2023 at 6:17PM UTC

    6 months

11. AnonymousNovember 3,2023 at 6:55PM UTC

    This is why I never discuss salary at work. To me nothing good comes from the conversation. Either I'll find out I'm making less than a coworker or they find they are making less than me.

    While I can understand your feelings, do you know that you both have the same education and skills?

12. AnonymousNovember 4,2023 at 1:17PM UTC

    If performance is similar or better ask for a raise and show your value by providing performance expectations and achievements. If they meet or exceed then Education doesn’t matter but it will be a vinous that skills do and you have them and more.

13. AnonymousNovember 3,2023 at 11:02PM UTC

    Oh this sucks. That is a huge gap. I'm sorry.

14. Kelley KempelNovember 4,2023 at 12:28PM UTC

    I recommend the book “Know Your Value” by Mika Brzezinski. She outlines some great approaches to negotiating in these situations where you’ve been at a company and have high value for them but need them to make an adjustment to your compensation.

15. AnonymousNovember 4,2023 at 12:32PM UTC

    I found this out at a previous job, there was a 60k gap but this person was a lower performer, our boss arguably relied on me more, and I often did her work when she didn’t hit deadlines. Now I’m not recommending this approach but I asked my boss to close the gap, he didn’t, so I left.

16. AnonymousNovember 4,2023 at 12:34PM UTC

    Yuck. I am sorry that this is happening to you. I am glad gender is not an issue also.

    You will get to decide what you want to get changed: money or work site (remote vs. hybrid) . What will help you feel better? Then do your own research on market value and compensation. If you decide to stay at your current job, what would you like? Not all compensation is money, maybe additional time off? Hybrid work?

    If you want simply money, you will probably need to get a new job. This large amount difference will probably not be totally changed.

17. AnonymousNovember 4,2023 at 12:36PM UTC

    Yikes this sucks.

    The benefit for you to be in person is that you’ll have the opportunity to have real person to person interactions with higher ups. Build up your relationship with them for long term growth.

    i am not sure when your annual reviews are. But if they are coming up. Perhaps she won’t be eligible for an increase at that time and they fully intend to close the salary gap? Watch how your review plays out but then be prepared to negotiate higher earnings and hybrid work (unless you just had your review- then I would not wait an entire year to schedule a 1:1).

18. GirlBossanova934974November 4,2023 at 1:33PM UTC

    I think you need to step back and put yourself in the position of the senior managers at the company you work for. Put on your management hat. You hired all these contract workers at higher wages thinking you were probably going to get rid of them as soon as "the crisis" was gone. Crisis went away and you still needed some of these workers. So you kept a few around and paid up for them. And what of the other workers? Well, there is NO crisis there. If you can get away with it, that is all well and good. YOUR JOB AS AN EMPLOYEE is now to go to management and get a raise. Last but not least, please consider if the business turns down, the newly converted contract workers will be the first ones to be let go as they are the highest cost workers per unit of output.

19. EmpoweredGirl673974November 4,2023 at 1:38PM UTC

    It is a difficult conversation to have and unfortunately sometimes management just doesn't care. I accidentally received a coworkers pay stub in my envelope. He was new and less experienced than I--imagine my horror to discover the disparity in our pay. I reached out to my manager. He told me there was nothing he could do--I would have to resign and reapply to get the higher pay. If THAT isn't bass-akwards, I don't know what is.

20. AnonymousNovember 5,2023 at 9:28PM UTC

    LOL

21. Kiyara S.November 6,2023 at 6:45AM UTC

    That is definitely backwards and I hope you found another company to work for. Your manager could advocate for you and they chose to tell you to resign. Horrible leadership.

22. AnonymousNovember 4,2023 at 1:58PM UTC

    Since she was hired out of state, could she be living in Los Angeles and you’re living in Indianapolis? Those cities, of course are hypothetical. So if her salary is based upon where she lives, that would make sense.

23. AnonymousNovember 4,2023 at 2:50PM UTC

    This is tough, and good on you for not taking it too personally and acknowledging that it’s not her or her performance that’s the problem - it’s the compensation disparity.

    As others have said, it might just be that she started off as a contractor responsibly for paying for her own health insurance and then was converted.

    I’ve worked jobs where equal colleagues started off in high cost-of-living metros and then took those wages with them to the suburbs. There wasn’t anything I could do about it other than learn strategy.

    One pathway offered to me was to contact HR, my manager, and offer a very detailed list of what I was doing: and ask them for salary comps within the company for individuals with the same responsibilities.

    Good luck.

24. AnonymousNovember 4,2023 at 6:48PM UTC

    5 years of as-small-as-they-can make them increases is going to do nothing vs what people pay to hire someone in new after 5 years. This is likely just the result of that. Start looking for a job now knowing what you're worth. If you love your company, you can leverage a new offer to see if they'll beat it to get you to stay. But you might find something better. It never hurts to be looking. Long term loyalty at a company is no longer rewarded.

25. AnonymousNovember 4,2023 at 7:50PM UTC

    You shouldn't feel embarrassed. Employers rely on us not discussing pay in order to not have to pay everyone fairly. I personally find the comments about not discussing pay disappointing because the only way we can ever force these companies' hands is to share information as employees!

    Now that you have the information, you have plenty of advice about how to proceed. I hope you get paid what you're worth.

26. Cindy GloverNovember 6,2023 at 1:22AM UTC

    Well said

27. AnonymousNovember 6,2023 at 1:29PM UTC

    Does your company do location based salary bands? If your coworker is in an area that has a higher COL than yours that may be what's going on. That said, there's nothing stopping you from looking externally and getting paid what you're worth!

28. AnonymousNovember 6,2023 at 1:46PM UTC

    You can ask, but honestly you will most likely have to leave your company - a $40K raise is way outside the norm for companies to level the playing field. . Make sure to do it with grace and dignity, you never know when they might realize what they lost.

    There was someone I worked with in the same situation. The company could not even begin to touch that kind of increase. So they looked around, found a company out there who would compensate them accordingly. They also had a chance to learn new skills and grow in a different environment. We all hated to see them leave. Fast forward 3 years and they were sought out by our company to come back with their old and new knowledge in a different role. They are back and a lot of us are very happy as this person was an awesome team player with great ethics and drive.

29. AnonymousNovember 6,2023 at 3:18PM UTC

    The only advice I can give you is to not bring it up as a result of you knowing this information. Any request for a higher pay has to come directly from your skills and what you being to the company. I am saying this bc in the past I had made that claim to be payed more since my pair was making more and it just didn’t fly. See what the market is out there, what you could be payed elsewhere, and extra point if you can land a couple interviews and go to them with ‘this is what the market compensates for my position/seniority’. Companies are known for offering a high rise to not lose a valuable employee.

    I also think that what ppl are bringing up re: out of state rates should be taken into account. Best of luck!

30. AnonymousNovember 6,2023 at 4:01PM UTC

    Is it possible that the extra $40k is (in some part) due to a higher cost of living where your co-lead lives? It could be that she is within the market rate for her geographic area + negotiated strongly as well. I think first step is for you to do some research.

31. Afo Ogbeyalu KaluNovember 6,2023 at 4:01PM UTC

    My advice to you would be to float your resume/apply for positions outside of your current company, and prepare a proposal to renegotiate your contract (based on the value you bring to the organization, and your strategic plans to grow the business). If the company feels that it is in its best interests to retain you, then you've presumably settled the pay disparity issue. If it does not, you have options, and perhaps an ability to thrive in a new organization. Best of luck!

32. AnonymousNovember 6,2023 at 5:46PM UTC

    If you are in good standing I would use this information with your manager and HR in tow to try to get some kind of improvement. You may not see the whole of the 40K but unless you are both exactly the identical background in terms of education and experience outside of the business you are in there are many factors that go into compensation beyond matching internally same job for 2 people. If you cannot get information about why you are paid so much less shop around to see your value elsewhere to see if you can make up the difference. As for remote vs onsite if you are local to HQ there may be less flexibility to be remote, as some employers are using that as a way to RTO for most. Good luck. And when you bring up what you know be sure to tell the peer you are going to do this or you may create more internal issues than you hoped for.

33. Nadia SobouhiNovember 7,2023 at 3:46AM UTC

    No, this happened exactly to me too , when I spoke with HR, they accused me to not keeping confidential information such as my colleagues salary. and almost I was in trouble. try maybe your company is different