I just found out before I got my present job the person in it was making close to $7,000.00 more than I was.
Is there anyway to handle this? I am 90% certain if I confront them they would say “Don’t like it leave.”
I know the salaries of everyone as I do incentives for managers. I did such a bang up job they put me in charge of setting up a progressive system of wage increase. So thus I got the wage scale for the last two years.
I don’t know how long the other person was in the job , I’ve never been one to justify a higher salary just because someone has been in a job for years. What gets me is this girls still calls ME for advice. She now has a job at our sister hotel.
Any ideas? Or am I just stuck looking for another job.
My recommendation: Find another job, while you’re considering the new job offer, tell the powers that be at your old job “the person who had this position before me made $7,000 more” (no need to tell them about the second job offer) and see what they say. If they don’t make you happy, you can take the new job.
I shouldn’t get involved, but I’m curious. You don’t think experience should count for anything? Maybe the person who had the job before you was there for a long time, and in the course of the job learned about other things (i.e. gained valuable “experience”) besides the presumably technical questions she still calls you to ask about, experience more along the lines of “how to handle situations” or “how to handle people”. So, by the time she left, she was paid more.
Or then again, maybe she just got paid more simply because she’d been there longer. And actually, I always thought that was how most jobs worked–after you’ve been there for a while, you get a raise. It’s how employers keep trained employees from walking–they toss them a scrap of a salary raise every so often. Even if it’s only 25 cents an hour down at Burger King, you still get the raise just because you’ve been there X number of months. So you think this is a bad thing?
But then again, I’ve never been in the kind of management position where they even HAVE a list of what everybody made last year, and everybody knows exactly how much everybody else in the office made, and it’s a really BFD who gets what corner office and which parking space. I suppose it would bug me, too, if I were in your position.
And yeah, your instincts about being told, “leave the party if you don’t like the music” are right, although I would increase the percentage to 99.9%.
And remember, you can always just put in the time and see if your salary goes up to match hers. Hey, at least you HAVE a job–I know some starving Armenians who would be grateful…(etc.) :rolleyes:
I work for a business-credit reporting agency. I looked at the job postings in consumer-credit and found a classification that matches what we do in business-credit. Same work (or even more work in business-credit), same company, but the job in Consumer is a pay-grade higher. The bottom salary for that grade is about $5,000/year more than the middle range (where I am) of my position.
I mentioned this to a co-worker and she made a fuss about it. She got a promotion even though she’s only been with the company a few months. Of course, by the time the director heard about it (remember the “telephone” game when you were a kid?) the rumor was “everyone is going to quit unless we all get the higher pay grade, and Johnny L.A. is the one stirring things up!” I told the director that I wasn’t causing trouble, and that I had just mentioned information that was posted on the intranet for everyone to see. Besides, I’d brought it to the supervisor and a couple of people just happened to be there.
Well, reviews are coming up. Since the director and the supervisor have only been there a few months, we all had to come up with our own goals. Naturally I exceeded my goals by 25%! There wasn’t a very good description for my desk, so I was asked to write them up. I copied the requirements from the Consumer position that’s a pay-grade higher, so now it be nicely documented. Now, the supervisor wants a list of accomplishments for 1999. I listed about 20 things, then added “This is what I want, deserve and expect: 1. A promotion, 2. A raise, and 3. A desk remotely located in the Washington (state) office!” Hey, I’ve got to try!
I’ve also started telling them how great I am. I do it in a humourous way, so I don’t come off as a jackass; but I get the point across. (Yesterday the supervisor said, “You’re starting to sound like Steve!” I told him Steve learned it from me.)
“I must leave this planet, if only for an hour.” – Antoine de St. Exupéry
I do the incentive programs so I must have the salaries of all managers. Since I took this on as an extra duty caused I finished my work, work that like this other lady has, she can’t handle in her allotted time, and did such a good job they put me in charge of a new base pay program for ALL employees. In order to work plans I need salary info.
No I believe in equal pay for equal work. If I am doing a job equal to someone else I should be paid the same. Why not say, you’re a woman or you’re black you should make less. It makes no sense. Equal pay for equal work.
Anyway I know I won’t get the money, but has anyone else run across a similar situation. I mean I could see a couple of dollars more but that money is more than my rent is for a whole year.
Firstly, “equal pay for equal work” doesn’t mean anything, because nothing is equal. No two people do exactly the same thing at exactly the same performance level, even if they do hold the same title.
Secondly, it’s irrelevant that the former person made more than you. They could’ve made double what you made, or half what you made. The only thing you have in common with the former employee is the position you hold.
Now, for the important stuff: If you deserve more money than you’re making, go ask for it. Make a mental note that the company is willing to pay more for your position than they are currently (that’s a point in your favor), but don’t use that as the reason you deserve the raise, because it’s a bad reason. In fact, it’ll probably piss off your boss if you ask on that basis.
The reason you deserve a raise is the hard work you’ve been doing. Give yourself a review for the last year. Note all the things you did well. Note all the things you did beyond the call of duty. Give specific examples of how things are better because you’re there. Put it all on paper, and bounce it off someone you trust. Now talk to your boss about it.
But first (as Arnold talked about), think about the demand for the job you do. I don’t know what your job or the market is. If you can go get another job at the drop of a hat, talk to the boss now and figure you might have to start looking. If you can’t find a job quickly, or you’re in a tight financial situation and can’t afford to be out of a job for a month, do as Arnold suggests, and proactively get a new job (or job offer).
One final thing: It’s extremely unlikely that the boss will actually fire you if you ask for a raise. He (she?) may say “no”, but if you don’t ask you’ll never know. It’ll be a good experience anyway.
Hey, at least you HAVE a job–I know some starving Armenians who would be grateful…(etc.) :rolleyes:
There wasn’t a very good description for my desk, so I was asked to write them up. I copied the requirements from the Consumer position that’s a pay-grade higher, so now it be nicely documented. Now, the supervisor wants a list of accomplishments for 1999. I listed about 20 things, then added “This is what I want, deserve and expect: 1. A promotion, 2. A raise, and 3. A desk remotely located in the Washington (state) office!” Hey, I’ve got to try!