Pay inequity.

11 Comments

1. AnonymousNovember 19,2023 at 3:08PM UTC

   Never address someone else's pay.

   Approach getting a raise based on YOUR merit.

   Being at a company longer is definitely going against you. Most of the time if you remain with a company more than a few years without a substantial promotion, you will fall behind in compensation than someone coming in from the outside. As time goes by that gap grows wider with each new hire. The market value of those coming in is usually higher, sometimes much higher.

   So do your due diligence, research the market value of your position at competitive companies, competitive roles and study the job description to make sure you are staying competitive in skills and responsibilities. Then based on that along with YOUR contribution and accolades request a raise and or promotion.

   You have to make the case based on you. If there is no raise offered consider making a move either internally or to another company. There is seldom a reward for sitting tight, staying safe and not pursuing career opportunities.

2. AnonymousNovember 19,2023 at 3:57PM UTC

   Tread lightly, I’m not sure you’re going to win this one.
   It’s YOUR assessment that these roles are equal in responsibility. As the other poster said, you likely don’t have full insight into this person’s education, experience and leadership skills. They may have done a better job at negotiating salary, too.

   I’m a VP in my organization and there are five other people in my immediate department with that title. Despite equal responsibility, I’m the highest paid because of an advanced degree, years of experience and I aggressively went after and got a high salary during the offer process. It’s frankly not my problem that others weren’t comfortable doing the same.

   You’d be better served demonstrating value add to your organization and detailing ways you’ve increased revenue, saved money and increased efficiencies as you ask for more money.

3. DeborahORellNovember 20,2023 at 1:32PM UTC

   To have a gender pay claim, you have to prove he is making more ie you need a friend in payroll or he has to tell you. Tenure with an employer doesn't mean everyone who has been there are 9 years are all making the same.

   Pay disparity happens when all things are considered.. ie you have the same education, same experience, same everything and you are still being paid less and you feel the reason is because of your sex. that's illegal.

4. Tricia BurroughsNovember 20,2023 at 1:42PM UTC

   Ask for a pay equity check from your manager. This report will take multiple factors into account and if you really are outside of the statistic median of salaries you can request an adjustment.

5. AnonymousNovember 20,2023 at 6:43PM UTC

   You don't. You don't have the same job. Such a thought.

6. AnonymousNovember 20,2023 at 8:08PM UTC

   I don't understand why you think it is your business to know how much someone else makes. I would be livid if someone else knew my salary except for those who hired me. If you think your pay is too low, then ask for a raise or do the research to see if you are in line with what the market dictates for the job you have. Your job descriptions are not the same so therefore, your pay should not be the same. I would just do my work.

7. Joan Williams, Senior Talent Acquisition SpecialistNovember 21,2023 at 1:50AM UTC

   Being with the company longer doesn't mean anything unless you are in a union environment.

   Actually, being with the company for a long time in many instances means you're more likely to be making less. Especially if the other person has changed jobs every few years. When switching companies, new hires typically receive a higher raise that the 3 to 5% many companies grant for yearly merit increases.

   It sounds like he negotiated a higher salary when he accepted the position. That being said, most companies work hard to mitigate compression issues so this doesn't become an issue.

   I would be careful how you move forward on this - why do you have a reason to believe he's being paid more? Unless he told you, that should be confidential information. How did you obtain that info?

   And while it may hurt your feelings, the company has every right to pay each employee whatever they negotiate within the given salary bands.

8. AnonymousNovember 22,2023 at 7:59PM UTC

   Ask for and understanding of that from your HR/People team. If you feel you have been underpaid or that the disparity is gender related contact the EEOC for guidance on how to proceed.

9. AnonymousNovember 26,2023 at 2:45PM UTC

   You can talk to HR or your boss and find out differences in job titles and is the pay scale rated on the title and experience etc

   However if this colleague was hired after you chances are they are making more money newer hires almost always come in at more money because hiring changes year after year , you say your job titles are different but you do the same job, are you 100% percent sure they are the same ? Even if their job has one or two things different than yours then that could be why, there are many reasons for difference in pay and it’s hard to prove your being paid less because of discrimination, but you can certainly reach out to EEOC and get information on what you need to prove it, good luck

10. AnonymousNovember 26,2023 at 4:18PM UTC

    This is common with longer term staff, because new hires will come in at market rate, and if you're a longer term employee your incremental raises will never catch up to market rate unless HR does a rebaseline. I would suggest doing some research to determine what current market rate is and asking for HR to do an assessment. Generally speaking, the best way to make a bigger pay bump quickly is to look for a new job though.

11. Liz MilneNovember 27,2023 at 2:15AM UTC

    Your first issue is finding out if your belief is true or not. When you have reliable, verifiable proof, you can plan your next steps...