Page 2 | To wonder if manager did this deliberately

Eastie77Returns · 2023-01-26T22:38:05+00:00

I had my annual pay review today over a call. My manager opened the document up on a shared screen and began talking me through it. It was immediately clear to me I was looking at someone else’s document and the base pay was completely different to mine. Overall this person is paid £80k more than me. I was so stunned at this discrepancy I could not register what my manager was saying to me. After a few minutes she ‘realised’ the mistake and shut down the document. She is usually meticulous and can’t believe this was an error so I think for some reason she wants me to know. She made a point of telling me at the start of the call that she had just finished ‘Jane’s’ pay review (my colleague) so I don’t know if I’m suppose to conclude this is Jane’s pay. Needless to say I am job hunting. I am so confounded by this whole situation, I am just in a daze. I knew people in my team were paid different amounts but never dreamt the discrepancy could be so wide. I think I am probably the lowest paid member of the team.

ShandaLear · 27/01/2023 01:33

Your boss want you to ask for a pay rise - she’s showing you what’s possible.

GatoradeMeBitch · 27/01/2023 01:51

Don't just strop off looking for another job, ask for an equivalent rise to what this other person was getting in your position. There's every chance this was your manager showing you what you could ask for. (In a very incompetent and probably illegal way.)

And if not, if she was stirring, you have something on her! All the more reason to go in and ask for a raise. How will it look if you tell "Jane" you know her salary because your manager showed it to you? If negotiations don't seem to be going well, there's your trump card.

MrsMikeDrop · 27/01/2023 01:54

I doubt it. I'd be mortified if that happened. Unless you're completely useless and she wanted to give you a very big hint, but I doubt it.

Trez1510 · 27/01/2023 02:04

What does Jane do to earn £50k more than you in commission?

Are your allowances the same or are they based on base salary, commission or both?

Slobbet · 27/01/2023 04:04

Ask for a pay rise and look for jobs.

MichelleScarn · 27/01/2023 04:19

How easy is it to get into what you do? That base pay difference is more than my band 5 starting salary was! What was yours? (Not nosey at all!!)

Coffeecreme · 27/01/2023 05:22

i think it was an error as she was talking to jane before.
but why not use the information to ask for a pay rise

Aprilx · 27/01/2023 05:22

No I don’t think for a minute that she did it on purpose, what a strange thing to think. She has potentially caused herself quite a bit of trouble over it.

A lot of the difference isn’t commission which presumably is variable and depends on performance, perhaps she just had a very good year this year?

Divamuffin · 27/01/2023 05:39

YABU - you don’t do the same job and she is more senior than you.

PAFMO · 27/01/2023 06:01

It's very doubtful that it was done on purpose and it's not a data breach. It's a mistake.

It's upsetting to think that someone who you believed was on the same salary as you, and doing the same job isn't.

Obviously, look for another job if you want to, or ask for a further meeting to clarify your role and salary + extras. I'm presuming you don't actually know the exact terms of the other person's contract, or how they came to earn so much more in commission than you, but obviously, you can ask.

Plbrookes · 27/01/2023 06:09

GatoradeMeBitch · 27/01/2023 01:51

Don't just strop off looking for another job, ask for an equivalent rise to what this other person was getting in your position. There's every chance this was your manager showing you what you could ask for. (In a very incompetent and probably illegal way.)

And if not, if she was stirring, you have something on her! All the more reason to go in and ask for a raise. How will it look if you tell "Jane" you know her salary because your manager showed it to you? If negotiations don't seem to be going well, there's your trump card.

Great idea if you want to present yourself as embarrassingly unprofessional.

PAFMO · 27/01/2023 06:09

PS could the fact that Jane has now been promoted explain the difference in her earnings (sales of some kind? people who sell more = earn more commission get promoted quicker?) Or that the summary you saw didn't include some of the recompense for her new role?

Some of the responses you've had are bizarre. You work in an industry clearly where performance = pay. You'd be hard pushed to prove unfair treatment unless there's something specific written into your contracts about minimums/maximums and differences thereof.

I wouldn't say much about the manager's mistake in showing you the document either. You say yourself you didn't point out to her that it wasn't yours, but read it quite closely before she realised her mistake. (nothing illegal either on her part or yours, but you noticed first and should have said something)

Shoxfordian · 27/01/2023 06:09

It sounds like most of the difference is commission - do you also earn that in your role?

Judgyjudgy · 27/01/2023 06:20

GatoradeMeBitch · 27/01/2023 01:51

Don't just strop off looking for another job, ask for an equivalent rise to what this other person was getting in your position. There's every chance this was your manager showing you what you could ask for. (In a very incompetent and probably illegal way.)

And if not, if she was stirring, you have something on her! All the more reason to go in and ask for a raise. How will it look if you tell "Jane" you know her salary because your manager showed it to you? If negotiations don't seem to be going well, there's your trump card.

Erm I think that's called blackmail?
How can someone in the same role earn that much more than you OP? We need to know more

Aprilx · 27/01/2023 06:26

GatoradeMeBitch · 27/01/2023 01:51

Don't just strop off looking for another job, ask for an equivalent rise to what this other person was getting in your position. There's every chance this was your manager showing you what you could ask for. (In a very incompetent and probably illegal way.)

And if not, if she was stirring, you have something on her! All the more reason to go in and ask for a raise. How will it look if you tell "Jane" you know her salary because your manager showed it to you? If negotiations don't seem to be going well, there's your trump card.

I think you are watching too much bad TV.

There is not every chance this was done on purpose, in fact I would say that is a preposterous idea. And if a member of staff ever threatened me like that, they would be on a disciplinary.

Believeitornot · 27/01/2023 06:28

Well did she seem particularly bothered by what she has done???

just ask for a payrise. Unless your performance review was bad.

daisychain01 · 27/01/2023 06:29

MichelleScarn · 27/01/2023 04:19

How easy is it to get into what you do? That base pay difference is more than my band 5 starting salary was! What was yours? (Not nosey at all!!)

It's IT so it's far more likely the OP can get another role - whether it's "easy" is relative, but if the OP has professional qualifications that most people in the IT industry have (ITIL, PM, Business / data analysis, programming, testing etc) then not difficult at all.

as the OPs role is stated as having commission attached, that is less clear what the role is, unless it's some sort of consultancy service...... or selling laptops lol

Pleasebeafleabite · 27/01/2023 06:33

How do you know it was not the manager’s own pay letter? Surely that’s more likely than a colleague

Hoplesscynic · 27/01/2023 06:42

YABU for your entirely unfounded assumptions!
Just because your manager mentioned Jane's review does not mean it was Jane's salary on the screen. Anyone can make a mistake, even meticulous people.

She could have opened ANYONE'S file and 80K is a huge difference so most likely paid to a much more senior person than you. But you have decided it's Jane's and are now consumed by the idea that you've been shafted and owed 80k!

snowlolo · 27/01/2023 06:50

Hoplesscynic · 27/01/2023 06:42

YABU for your entirely unfounded assumptions!
Just because your manager mentioned Jane's review does not mean it was Jane's salary on the screen. Anyone can make a mistake, even meticulous people.

She could have opened ANYONE'S file and 80K is a huge difference so most likely paid to a much more senior person than you. But you have decided it's Jane's and are now consumed by the idea that you've been shafted and owed 80k!

This. You have made a pretty huge assumption here. You might be right, but you might well not be.

Aprilx · 27/01/2023 06:59

snowlolo · 27/01/2023 06:50

This. You have made a pretty huge assumption here. You might be right, but you might well not be.

Show quote history

These letters usually have a name on them and I assumed OP knew it was Jane’s. But reading again, you are right, it could have been anybody’s.

HotSauceCommittee · 27/01/2023 07:03

How did the conversation go after this, OP?
Did you use this information to negotiate a good raise for yourself?

Bpdqueen · 27/01/2023 07:13

It doesn't sound like your actual pay is much difference considering she's had a promotion, what is different is the commission which I'd based on how well your doing if your hitting targets ect. I would say your boss showed you it to show the potential of what you can earn if you hit your targets, make more sales ect

Ahnobother · 27/01/2023 07:19

I'd schedule a follow up call with your manager today.
Assuming it was 'Jane's' info, I'd
Write out all the points you want to make:

saw the information yesterday
given you do the same job and to a comparable standard
astonished at the salary discrepancy
asking for it to be addressed

You could ask for a sum or let your manager come back to you with one

I had a similar experience years ago when a colleague who was leaving the company told me her salary. It was 20k more than mine and we were doing the same job on different teams.
I went in to work after a very sleepless night and told my boss what I knew and that I felt it was wrong as we both brought in the same amount of money doing the same job and that I was being taken advantage of.
The next week I was offered a 30k pay rise.

WindscreenWipe · 27/01/2023 07:20

You don’t know who’s file it is.

Option A: it’s some above your station (like the manager’s herself) so should be much higher than yours.

Option B: it’s someone on your level who is earning far more commission than you and is, therefore better than you and more valuable to your employer.

Either way, they deserve more than you. YABU