by Beks
You accidentally discover a recently hired employee at your office negotiated a salary within 4% your own. Not a big deal normally but…
this employee was hired to be your assistant.
You approach your manager to confirm the salary and inquire as to the reason why you are underpaid or the assistant is overpaid. He shares your mistake was not negotiating your salary when accepting your job initially and you should never have accepted their first offer. He then tells you with a laugh, ‘We were kinda shocked you took it.’ Had you negotiated, you’d be making more. He then shares that thanks to company mandated increase limits, you will never reach the same salary potential as the new person, even when promoted, regardless of experience.
Rather than be paid based on hard work, experience, or accomplishments, you will now be forever limited because of mistakes you made as an inexperienced job hunter.
All this is a ‘hypothetical’ scenario of course – said with a wink and a nod.
Here’s the question:
Would you stay?
Beks is a full-time government employee who enjoys blogging late into the night after her four kids have gone to sleep. She’s been married to Chris, her college sweetheart, for 15 years. In 2017, after 3 long years working the Dave Ramsey Baby Steps, they paid off more than $70K and became debt free. When she’s not working or blogging, she’s exploring the great outdoors.
NOPE. I would be searching for another position, with the opportunity for advancement both in position and pay, befitting my experience and hard work. Obviously, I wouldn’t be quitting RIGHT NOW to do something about it, but I would definitely start looking.
No. (And this is not unusual btw.) Clearly, this company rewards and values people who play jobscotch (many do enjoy the job hunting form of hopscotch) and it it would behoove this hypothetical person to look for another position. When offered the position, negotiate like crazy to get the highest possible salary and take it back to boss #1. If they won’t match the salary or beat it, move on. And of course, always be prepared to take the position you are negotiating for.
If they aren’t willing to bend the increase rules or promote you to give you a bump in salary, it’s time to move on. I did this a few years ago when my company starting bringing in new Ph.D.s at one title higher than I was brought in at to be able to offer them more money. I was promoted that year, mostly because of the discrepancy.
This is not unusual and it has been shown to be one of the many reasons women are paid less than men to do the same job – far fewer women than men negotiate for a higher starting salary. A 5-10% difference in salary can compound to a 10-20% difference fairly quickly.
In THIS job market? YES, I would stay. This is solely speaking as someone who has been out of work for the last year. Look for something else, but don’t just leave.
I would certainly start looking for a new job. If there is a job offer, this may be an opportunity for a salary negotiation with the current employer.
Interesting. I am in the same boat trying to decide what to do myself. I would never consider negotiating when you are already an employee – but maybe I should How does one delicately handle that? I would feel taken advantage of your situation.
I think I would ask for a merit increase or look outside of the company and when you receive an offer, show that to your manager. They can beat it or you can leave to the new job. My first choice would be to do a salary comparison of what the industry is paying and present that.
I didn’t negotiate my current salary. I took what was offered and have been rewarded with excellent raises since. A coworker negotiated well and has been received mediocre raises with the explanation of, “You were hired at a high salary.”
Interesting how different businesses operate.
Heck no. A company like that is bogged down in red tape if they can never approve a salary increase outside of whatever ‘range’ they want. I actually did the same thing a number of years back, I took a salary that was lower than market value. Once I realized it, though, the boss made it up and I averaged 20% raises for the next couple of years which brought me back in line. It was a small company with flexible policies and the boss valued me. Sounds like they don’t appreciate you or there’s too much red tape to make staying a worthy company.
Have you talked to someone above your boss?
It depends if you like your job, or if it’s only “something you do” to pay the bills. If you like your job, stay. Company policies change, and someday you could get a big raise to bring you “up to level”.
Or, like Walnut said, the new coworker won’t necessarily get the full potential raise amount, since they were hired at a high salary.
Basing your career solely on “salary potential”, it sounds like a terribly frustrating way to spend your life.
I would look, but if this hypothetical employee was pregnant, she should be prepared to stay. I have job-hunted as a pregnant woman, and you can tell me over and over until you are blue in the face that discriminating based on pregnancy is illegal. So what. It still happens. So life circumstances (and this terrible job market) have a bearing on it too. The future raises thing would be the most frustrating. If they can’t change it in the future, I would ALWAYS have a professional resume on hand for ANY opportunity that strikes my fancy.
never mind the other person. are you being paid fairly for the work you’re doing? if so, then stay.
if not, then begin looking for another job. but dont quit until you’ve accepted another offer.
be careful comparing yourself to others – it just breeds discontent
I would start looking for a different job but not quit until I had one. If the assistant is able to negotiate a salary within 4% of yours, the job market in that area/field is pretty good so chances are good that you would be able to find something else that pays better. That’s really crappy management.
I would immediately be looking.
You may end up staying at your job (because nothing else out there is better), but that kind of inflexibility bodes ill for the future, so it is worth checking other things out.
However, hypothetically, if you were expecting, it might be worth staying at the current job so that you wouldn’t have to interview while pregnant.
Nope. The only way you will be able to increase your earning potential at this point is to 1) find another job offer and leave or 2) find another job offer, present it to your company and tell them you will leave if the offer isn’t at least matched. Then follow through and leave if they won’t match it.
…I’d start networking all my contacts to “hear” of an opening elsewhere…
If the boss is slimey enough to say screw-you in that fashion, they will not stop at hiring someone to replace you at an even lower salary, and not think twice about it….someone like, your assistant!
Well you have the whole maternity thing going on right now (read impending leave), hopefully it is generous, and when that nearing an end I would test the market, see if you can get a higher salary. Take this as a lesson, you clearly undervalued yourself. Why should a company value you more than you do.
I agree with Adam – don’t compare yourself (hypothetically) to others. If you were happy with your job, and happy with your salary prior to finding out this information, then the only thing that has changed is the amount of information you have.
Definitely make a note to negotiate when given your next job opportunity, but I wouldn’t jump to change something just because you now know what someone else is making.
I negotiated a good deal for myself at my current job (for both salary and paid time off) and I don’t apologize for that – other people were free to negotiate just like I did. If they didn’t, well, that’s not my fault.
I’m curious, is this the same person who was part of the below posting from January, 2011? The same person who then felt she had a lot of making up to do for being in a foul mood because she hadn’t received her promotion or salary increase on a timely basis? The same person who was told that the new salary was NOT negotiable and that 10% was the biggest raise the president of the company every gave? If so and if this hypothetical person is pregnant, then she should be getting ready for a job search after her baby is born – making sure the resume is in great shape, researching headhunters, job postings, networks of job contacts, etc., so that she can be prepared to search in the fall and switch jobs so she works for a company that values her and her skills. Personally, I wouldn’t even bother taking the new job offer to my old company; they don’t value me now and would probably just be annoyed that I got a new job when they did SO much for me by giving me an opportunity to work for less than I’m worth and didn’t complain about my maternity leave. All hypotheical, of course…
January, 2011 posting:
As promised, my merit increase was added last week and I was immediately called to sign paperwork for the promotion. When they announced they wouldn’t negotiate my new salary, I was a bit disappointed. They told me I would be getting a 10% increase and smiled at me as though they had just announced I would get a new Mercedes. Bratty me was a bit saddened. I kinda hoped for 15%. At that rate, I’d finally be back to where I was before the recession.
I thanked them and went back to my desk, my mood deflated. HR stopped by about 15 minutes later to drop off the copies of my paperwork and whispered, ‘Just so you know, the president has never signed a 10% increase before – even for a double step promotion. You’ve obviously got management heavyweights who fought for you. Congrats!!’
I would stay as long as it takes to find another position. However, I do agree with several comments that were made about general happiness with the job and work before this news was made known. Only quit after obtaining another offer/position at a better rate, with equal benefits and such. No way would I quit just to prove a point. That point has to be made with an offer from somewhere else.
Well that’s not pay-for-performance! I agree with everyone, especially the comment about a pregnant applicants. Sometimes you have to be at a new company for a year to qualify for maternity leave. The rules might be different in Canada (I can’t remember if you’re in Canada or the US), but you’d still tee-off the company and be less likely to be promoted later. And if the hypothetical person is a husband of a pregnant wife, there is the same problem of having not built up any annual leave to use during and right after the birth.
Best time to look for a job is when you have a job. Time to dust off the resume (which hopefully isn’t to dusty b/c it should be updated quarterly).
Of course…no waves should be made at the job and work ethic shouldn’t change either. Continue doing you, wait for that new job to come through.
No. I would not stay. That cavalier attitude says it all. Your Manager should be willing to move mountains to keep you happy.
Unfortunately, this happens all the time whether it’s at a federal, state, private or public level. I worked for a company 12 years only to learn that the level I was at would keep me on par with people who weren’t at the (supposed) pay grade I was at. After fuming about this for a couple of years (I needed the job), I left – getting a $20K increase at my new employer. Moving on can definitely pay off – in pay and in respect. But if this is you, wait until your pregnancy and leave are over before jumping. No matter how much it irks you, it’s paying your bills right now. But, as someone else suggested, this is a great time to research, research, research. That way, when you’re ready to jump, you can. Oh, and while it goes without say, don’t talk about this with anyone where you work. Good luck! Something better is out there for you – just not right now.
1. Don’t look until after maternity leave.
2. While on leave, learn to negotiate better. I have heard that FPU has stuff on that topic.
3. Don’t work for government entities any more. Too much red tape.
It doesn’t sound like the “hypothetical person’s” employer values or respects her at all. Especially if this is the same employer who claimed their would be NO negotiating when the promotion was given. The boss sounds like a jerk and he clearly thinks this person is a big pushover. If I was her, I would leave once a new job was found. And I wouldn’t be surprised if this “assistant” (who you didn’t even get to know the pay that was being negotiated at the time???) isn’t being groomed to be your replacement. With your impending maternity leave, the company is likely covering their basis. But I echo others when I say wait until after your leave is up.
Government nutjobs.
Stay put till you have something else to go to. If you are talking about you, then consider that you are pregnant. Good luck finding a job with a prego belly. Ride this out till after your materinity leave, start looking when you are on leave and see what happens. In any case, don’t make a rash decision. Wait it out.
I’d be looking in a heartbeat. Of course if I was say enciente as it were. I would wait til after my mat leave to move…
I would NOT wait until maternity leave is over to start looking, as Nichole said. You can always tell potential new employers that you are not free until X date. You really do not lose time that you could be searching in this market (or any market, for that matter).
I disagree with those who say that you should not let this affect how you see your job (if you were happy before, you should still be happy). Knowing that one is fairly compensated for work is a big part of being satisfied with a job. If you don’t feel adequately appreciated, it is really difficult to fully enjoy the work. And the best way for employers to show their appreciation is to pay a fair salary.
Do NOT let anyone at your current job know you are looking. Hopefully, they are unaware of your blog, but don’t take that for granted. Make sure you don’t access the blog from work.
Negotiate well at your next job. Negotiate for a better salary than what you are getting now. Make sure it’s at least 10% over your current salary. Also, keep in mind that if they will not budge on salary, you can still negotiate on other benefits, like vacation time, to help offset the lower salary.
Wow… Just, wow. It’d be one thing if this person’s manager said, “well, it’s because you didn’t negotiate and now you’re locked in. I think it stinks, but there isn’t anything I can do about it.” In that case, the person’s manager is good, but the company isn’t. However, the attitude the manager had? Yuck. And the company policy is not conducive to keeping long-term employees.
One job I had I didn’t negotiate my salary. A friend of mine, a guy, who started at the same time did negotiate, so we started at the same company with different salaries. However, shortly after working there, I got a generous out-of-the-blue raise, and he didn’t. BUT, now our salaries were equal. After proving myself as a good employee, they took steps to bring my salary up to par with my peers at the same rank and tenure.
I’m not enamored of this hypothetical company, or hypothetical manager. If I were in this person’s shoes, I would begin making an exit plan. But, I would carefully look at the timing to make sure I wasn’t hosing myself by losing crucial benefits, etc. And I would take my time looking given that the economy is still very much touch-and-go.
Long time lurker, first time poster.
No, I would NOT stay, if I could help it. What a slap in the face! I’d plan my exit carefully though. Perfect your resume and a (generic) cover letter (you’ll need to adapt it of course, but getting a “generic” one in great shape will save you time.)
I’m also wondering, when did they hire this person? Could it have been while you were away for your training period? I’m very cynical but I can’t help but wonder whether they purposely sent you away while they were recruiting for your “assistant”.
Good luck!
Assuming the employee in the hypothetical situation is pregnant –
As a mom of 2 teenagers who remembers being a first time mom well, I’m wondering how flexible the current employer is with time off, etc. I had a very flexible employer which was nice when it came to sick babies, doctor’s appointments, etc. To me, there are some things more important than money.
I believe this happen to many people in the world whereby they eventually find out they are under-paid and his/her partner is over paid. The problem is you are doing more job than your partner or even doing his/her job. He/she apparently doing nothing, come to office, doing nothing and go home.
Complain may be the only way you can do right now to get your boss to provide you with a fair justification. But this only make things worst. No boss in this world willing to show you his/her dirty underwear, or the little hole on it.
Working hard is good from company perspective as the company is moving forward and earning money. You actually help the company a lot. But comes to reward, you will not deserve for more. It is because you are not the person who allocate pieces of the cake.
From today onwards, do not work hard but work smart. Focus more on social and public relationship. You will get more reward while you doing lesser thing.
Good luck! Too bad this is the fact of the real world, but it even worst while the education in school still teach us to work hard and more to get better reward. Remember, this never happen. The theory proved when you become your own boss one day.
I can tell you from a middle manager’s perspective that this just happened in my dept. We had to hire someone, and I was prepared to offer her a salary similar to the person who had just left (which was higher than the starting salary – which, in my opinion, is insulting). When my boss found out that the new hire hadn’t asked about the salary range during her interview (which I was always told was bad etiquette – you wait until you have a job offer), he told me to offer her the starting salary. We did, and I fully expected her to negotiate – BUT SHE DIDN’T. Now I’m worried that she won’t stay long b/c she’s not making much money. I’m hoping the job perks (and a good boss – ha!) will keep her around.
I would say you messed up and are paying for it. What your boss said is the standard at almost any job. Yes it sucks, but it’s true. It’s common knowledge that one should negotiate a salary, and it’s also been studied and proven that women suffer life-long repercussions because they are less likely to negotiate their salaries than men. The situation sucks, but you should have researched the job search and salary decision process and negotiated. You’ll now know better for your next job.
Is it really too late to negotiate? I once found out that a co-worker with less job experience and same title as me was getting more money. I took this up with my boss and he managed to get me the same salary. It took some pushing on my part but it got done. They realized that the pay difference was not my fault (neither one of us negotiated) and that our pay should be the same. Actually my pay should have been higher since I was there longer but I didn’t think of that at the time and was just happy to get the “match”. If you like your job otherwise, I would push for an increase based on what you bring to the table.
Also, wait til after maternity leave to job search. You can update your resume but no one would hire a pregnant woman who may not even return to the job after having a kid — unfair but true.