How do I bring up the fact to my boss that I know I am paid lower than most at my job?

Question

A coworker recently discovered a report at work that shows our departments salaries. Her and I were both astonished at the differences. I have been there for 3 1/2 years and another girl was hired a year ago and makes $2 more an hour than I do, along with others who have been hired after me. I trained these people! How do we tactfully bring this up to our boss without letting him know that we saw this report? She is also being paid lower than others and has been there for 2 years. Just to add, there was nothing illegal about viewing the report, it was accidentally discovered and it is not password protected. It is stored on a shared file that anyone could access.

Answer 1

Be prepaired for him to find fault with your work and replace you.
I have been a manager and thats how it is handeled.
You looked in to the files and know what you shouldn't and now you can't be happy working there.
It isn't policy to give everyone the same pay.

Answer 2

Most places it is illegal to know about co-worker's salary, even if you are friends and tell each other. It will probly do you no good to confront your boss about this. There may be alot of factors involved. When they really really needed more workers, they may have hired at higher starting salaries. And maybe, those who make higher salaries do bigger and better favors. I was in a job (a professional technical healthcare position) and had been there 18 years, and had been a faithful, responsible employee, and new hires were starting out $2 an hour more than me (after 18 years). Talk about frustration. It did no good to go to my immediate supervisor, the department director, or the hospital administrator, so I found a new job. Good luck!!

Answer 3

What you have done is 'discovered' an 'honesty' mine; whereby the company 'plants' information in an unsecured place, and, those who discover it and report it are hurt as their careers are 'blown up'.

Three rules about paychecks:

You can only spend your own money
You can't spend anyone else's money
Further 'worrying' about other's pay will get you fired because it breeds resentment and envy.

On several of my former jobs, there were some 'hurt' feelings because of the payscale. I was getting raises when other's weren't and we were in the same agency. Plus...my security clearance was higher 'than the average bear's'. I learned that it is best to change the subject, leave the room, or leave the building when the subject turns to pay...because there IS always someone who is a 'bounty hunter' in the back pocket of management who will REPORT those who mouth about paychecks and amounts...for a piece of their former salary!

When do you discuss money?

A...when you are up for your annual review. YOU negotiate your best deal.

B...when you are being interviewed by another company and you can state how much you think that you are worth.

You save yourself a lot of trouble by not 'teaming up' with coworkers on search files, or checking 'rumors'. Good set up for possible termination of your services.

You boss KNOWS how much you are being paid. You boss ALWAYS know how much you are being paid. YOU don't know whether or not your boss is going to be sending out pink slips...in the near future. This is one of the quickest ways to 'trim the budgetary fat'. Planting false information...and seeing who violated company rules to 'unearth' it.

Answer 4

Salaries are Not always about length of time at job ,
But rather the skills and aptitudes one brings to the table .
I have been hired for positions where I was the highest paid employee first day on the job (and was instructed Not to discuss salaries with co-workers) .
If you feel your work is truly on par with those getting paid more ,
Interview with other companies and get those higher paying job offers .
If you really want to stay where you are currently ,
Advise your supervisor that you have better paying offers and ask if he wishes to meet their offers .
Sometimes companies pay is based on the incoming interview and the subsequent salary is set by HR .

If you want the higher pay bracket , you may have to get serious about interviews with other companies .
Do make sure you are bringing the top level skills to the table though .

>

Answer 5

What do you know about those other peoples background and experience. Those things do come into play when hiring people if experience is important to the managers. The extra $2 may be of value to your company.
Work hard at your job keep a good record of your activities and meeting goals. Then use those things when talking to your boss about your year's goals.
Stop worrying about other people's wages and work on yours.

Answer 6

Then why not tell him? Just tell him that you accidentally opened the file and you were very dissapointed to learn that you are earning far less than the others. Tell him that you have every confidence that he will "make it right" thne leave the ball in his lap.

He should be extremely nervous about leaving this "lying around" like that. You have no reason to feel bad about it. If anything, he should be fired for leaving confidential data in a public forumn.

If I were you, I'd make a copy of that file so he can't deny it after your discussion.

Of course, you never tell us if you are WORTH the extra money. Do you work the same schedule as them? Do you have the same education? Are you ontrack for the same promotions?

Answer 7

Go to HR and ask why there are these differences in pay. Put the onus on them to give every employee an outline as to what they can do to make the maximum allowed for their department(s). The boss will have to follow their recommendations whether he likes it or not.