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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

New employee being paid more than me for the SAME position!

32 replies

Notreallyawaitress · 24/02/2017 14:07

I should say it soon won't be a problem for long as this person is a replacement for me and I am going onto bigger and better things. I have worked for the company for over a decade, and increased profitability and customers greatly in that time, basically built the business up from scratch. My replacement has very little previous relevant experience but I found out that she is being paid a much higher hourly rate. I am expected to teach her the ropes and provide her with all the information necessary to run the business after I've gone. AIBU to suggest that someone they obviously value more than me already, can do perfectly well without my help? Angry
I realise this has more to do with my arsehole boss than the new employee.....

OP posts:
WannaBe · 24/02/2017 14:11

They'll be paying her the market rate. It's completely standard procedure in most companies.

If you (not you particularly but one in general) want to increase earning potential the answer is always to change jobs rather than wait for raises over years.

My eXH has increased his salary by about fifteen times what he started on when he first left uni, and he did it by changing jobs around every tWo years until about ten years ago.

If he'd stayed with the same company he probably wouldn't even be on 20% of what he earns now.

FinallyHere · 24/02/2017 14:45

'Fraid that this is just how it works. Don't trash your reputation by being difficult and not providing all the info the replacement needs to do a great job. Don't take it out on her, better to be helpful and make a good contact. All the best.

Bluntness100 · 24/02/2017 14:46

Ah don't take it out on the employee by refusing to train her. Her salary will be dependent on many things.

harderandharder2breathe · 24/02/2017 14:49

She obviously negotiated harder than you, that's all

Gather evidence including all your extra responsibility and make a case for why you deserve a pay rise. Do not refer to your colleagues pay at all, that is irrelevant and childish

GahBuggerit · 24/02/2017 14:52

you say hourly rate......are you salaried and she is paid bybthe hour, lkke a temp?

RortyCrankle · 24/02/2017 14:54

It's perfectly normal - market rate and all that. You may find that you are paid more than someone else already working at your new company.

No need for OP to gather evidence, she is moving to a new job.

Oblomov17 · 24/02/2017 14:56

''Tis the norm, I'm afraid. That's why many people change jobs every few years.

MrsTerryPratchett · 24/02/2017 14:58

If you did the job so well, you needed to negotiate pay raises.

highinthesky · 24/02/2017 15:23

It's a good job you're keaving, OP. Perhaps your company will finally appreciate what you have done for them.

If you undervalue yourself, expect everyone else to!

Olympiathequeen · 24/02/2017 15:25

Very very annoying and yanbu!

Maybe you took your eye of the ball wrt the going rate for your job and should have asked for a raise at some point/s?

MoosicalDaisy · 24/02/2017 15:37

This is the way companies are i'm afraid, like PP said, it's the market rate, you have to keep moving jobs to keep up with it. It is stupid though, as it's cheaper for employers to keep the same person on than to waste thousands on finding someone new.

OrchidaceousRose · 24/02/2017 15:38

One time I negotiated fairly hard on starting salary and turned out, unbeknownst to me, I was being paid more than my boss.

She was a complete and utter bitch to me.

Don't be that person...you should be angry with the company you're leaving for underpaying you, or yourself for not negotiating for yourself, not with her. She didn't negotiate by saying "I don't care what you pay me as long as it is more than Notreally gets". My ex-boss should have been angry with the firm for advertising a job she would manage in the same pay band as she was already in, not with me for just turning down the job offer til they were paying me more than the company I was leaving.

SomethingBorrowed · 24/02/2017 15:51

When you did negotiate your pay for your new position did you make sure you weren't getting more than the people who already work there?

PebbleInTheMoonlight · 24/02/2017 15:51

Hourly rate might be better but if you've been at the company a while I bet there are invisible benefits that you don't get confirmed until you get your contract that your replacement doesn't get which will mean the company are saving money compared to your contract.

Things like holiday leave, type of pension plan they are eligible for and holidays are common clauses to be reduced for new employees.

For example, my job is worth 7k per year more at market value than I currently get.

However I'm on a protected legacy contract with almost 20 years service and a healthy defined benefit pension scheme. I also have childcare perks and increasing holidays. No one entering my business could negotiate those clauses but they could negotiate market value for my contract because it's cheaper than the deal I have.

It's all balance, no company would willingly pay out more for the same role so they'll be saving somewhere.

In the meantime, head held high, train the replacement to be competent (they can figure out excellence for themselves) and best of luck in your new role.

flowersalloverme · 24/02/2017 15:55

I am so curious as to how you found out about your replacement's pay......!!

But onwards and upwards, and wishing you well in your new job.

Let it go and move on to better things with a flick of your hair and a Sayonara.

Quartz2208 · 24/02/2017 15:59

It's normal. I have been at my company 15 years and since then the starting salary for my job has gone up 60% and our pay rises are always a salary percentage. I stay due to the flexibility and the fact it fits around my life. My husband is the same he was promoted internally and external candidates come in on more. He does ask and they do pay rise him

khajiit13 · 24/02/2017 16:02

I don't see the issue. Are you unhappy with your pay? Have you negotiated with them in the last year or so and got turned down?
While it's crap, it's on your shoulders. It's not your replacements issue that she negotiated a good wage which happens to be better than yours and I don't see many companies offering to throw money at employees for no reason, you have to ask for it.

Want2bSupermum · 24/02/2017 16:19

I agree with others who say you need to leave every 2-3 years to get your salary up. It is so annoying but it is the only way. You whore yourself around and can always point and say 'Hey I will walk if you don't pay me' once you get to your final role that you want to stay in.

DH is currently having a very hard time with an employee who is great. She has been with the company for 2 years and has taken on more responsibilities while in the same role. They awarded her a 1% pay increase when everyone else, who is crap, got 0.5%. DH knows they are going to lose her and is trying to find a way to move her around internally and give her title promotions so he can increase her pay.

sirfredfredgeorge · 24/02/2017 16:21

The person you should be angry with is you, when you didn't negotiate the pay rises over the last 10 years that you should've done.

Gottagetmoving · 24/02/2017 16:29

Worrying how people are saying this is normal and standard procedure and accept this. It shouldn't be!

It's a bloody cheek your employer has not valued you or that you should have been expected to fight for more pay. Where has their loyalty been?
It's no wonder employers behave like this when people just accept it.
You are well rid.

EnormousTiger · 24/02/2017 17:00

As someone said above have you therefore ensured in your new job you are not above anyone's pay? You just have to keep moving in some jobs to get rises. My daughter moved jobs at the end of each year and got higher pay. every 2 years or so is necessary in some careers.

trixymalixy · 24/02/2017 18:01

I once was temping and all the staff were horrible to me. They all went out for lunch on my first day and didn't invite me. They weren't interested in helping to train me and blanked me.

It was baffling until I found out they knew I was being paid more than them. Difference was they were permanent and I was a temp.

They are such bitches to take it out on me though. It wasn't anything to do with me and they should have taken it up with their boss.

YABU to want to take it out on her.

Happyandhungry · 24/02/2017 18:14

I would just be nice to her as its not her fault but just to spite my company i would maybe tell her how to do a few things wrongly? Haha just joking! It probably suggests you should have asked for a payrise sooner before you left, now you're leaving who cares! Just remember this for future jobs and ask for payrises.

Original poster
Notreallyawaitress · 24/02/2017 18:23

Thank you for your viewpoints. My next job is as a manager of a brand new business, so clearly my pay is more than those with less responsibilities but I am expected to 'prove my worth'.
I have tried in the past year to renegotiate my hourly rate but have been fobbed off with excuses. It would seem that loyalty goes unrewarded. The irony is, that I would have been overjoyed with a much smaller increase than they are paying my replacement.

OP posts:
TheCraicDealer · 24/02/2017 18:31

There's a recruitment firm on the same floor as our office and I overheard them talking about a client once- "they want someone with at least five years experience in personal lines, plus some commercial experience, for £17k. I had to tell him that's about ten grand PA less than the going rate".

I think employers of smaller firms often get a shock when they go to readvertise and find out what people's expectations are. That might be what's happened in your place.

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