demoralised by pay offer

[MrsMiniver]

I discovered some time ago that my colleague (female) who does virtually the same job as me is paid about 20% more (our manager left a spreadsheet on her desk and I'm only human so had a peek). I asked for a pay rise but of course didn't allude to being paid less than her and simply tried to demonstrate how my responsibilities had increased and gave examples of what I'd achieved. Management came back with a derisory offer, I expressed my disappointment but they won't budge.

Any ideas on what to do? I'm pretty demoralised but like the job and don't particularly want to leave.

That must be difficult knowing that you have the same job but get paid less. I think you did the right thing in showing how and why you deserve a pay rise but obviously that didn't go too well. I'm guessing they just raised it a token amount to show willing.

I'm not an expert but maybe you could try and ask them what you would have to do in order to gain a larger pay rise. I would be tempted to mention that you are aware other colleagues are paid more and you feel that you bring just as much as them to the company. You do not have to name names, although this may be difficult in a small company. The other option is to look at similar roles elsewhere and use them to justify an increase in pay.

Thanks Cookie, a good idea to ask them what I need to do to gain a larger rise.

Has she been there longer? Have more qualifications? More length of experience? No two jobs are exactly the same.

Personally my salary is approx 30% higher than my colleagues. Our roles are basically the same except I pick up more shit than she does and run the office when our boss is off.

I've also 8 years experience to her 2

Knowing other peoples salaries is never a source of happiness

Sorry, posted too soon.

Having been given a rise, it's hard to see what else you can do without admitting what you did (which was very naughty). As ithers have said, is there a reason you can think of - was she recruited externally while you've been the a while? Do you get more generous benefits like a better pension?

Apply for another job, then if you're offered it with the salary that you'd like, tell your current work, and ask if they can match it. Obviously you'd have to be happy to take the other job though!

Don't sit around feeling under-appreciated though - tell them why you think you're worth more, show them that you are worth more, and if that doesn't work, find another job that pays you more .