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Colleague with less experience being paid more than me

8 replies

mooneus · 11/11/2020 23:43

A few months ago the company I work for took on a new hire to work alongside me. I sat in on his interview and we discussed his salary expectations which were more than what I was being paid. Now I have no idea what his final offer was but I assume it was what he wanted or in the ballpark.

I shrugged it off initially as I thought he may be able to offer something new to the role. But now we're a few months down the line and he's not really grasping the role. he's need a lot more support and direction than my direct report and it's a worry.

Our boss has pulled me aside and asked me to take him under my wing as she has also noticed he is struggling. Which I didn't mind doing in the beginning but we are several months down the line and his work is still sloppy, needs pointing in the right direction more he should. And now I'm at the point where I don't want to spend my time helping him out on stuff he should already know - especially if he is being paid more than me.

I already told my boss that I really shouldn't be helping him as much as I should as we're on the same level. My boss agreed but she is going on maternity leave soon and that was one of the main reasons for his hire. She wants to give him a chance to succeed before giving up on him. I totally understand but my big pain point is why is he being paid more than me??

I'm now at a situation where I want to ask for equal or more pay than him. However as its really none of my business what salary he is on - I just happen to know this from the interview, how do I address it.

Normally I don't care what others are paid but I just find this demotivating to find that someone who hasn't shown that they're good at their job is being paid more than me, and we do the same job.

Has anyone had a similar scenario and how did you address it? I just don't want to sound like a brat in front of my boss.

OP posts:
LouiseTrees · 12/11/2020 00:05

I think you say to your boss that you have effectively been his boss and that you will need to be the one to step up to cover this newbies mistakes etc. As such you feel put out that this person thought they could command a higher salary than you and make the point that clearly they aren’t very self aware. Say that if you have to continue coaching this individual then to stay motivated there has to be some return from it- whether this is an increased salary, a bonus , the chance to get a salary bump by covering your bosses role on temporary promotion. That way you are making it clear that the salary bump is for the extra elements you’ve had to take on and not a jealousy thing.

FieldOverFence · 12/11/2020 08:50

Are you sure he actually got what he asked for in the interview ? Could that have been negotiated down during the offer stage ?

mooneus · 12/11/2020 09:03

He may not be on what he asked for but in my experience most people get what they asked for or there abouts.

OP posts:
FieldOverFence · 12/11/2020 09:19

@mooneus

He may not be on what he asked for but in my experience most people get what they asked for or there abouts.
Proceed with caution so, because as long as you're not 100% sure you can't really use inequitable pay as a reason to ask for more money

You'll need to defend your request with things like taking on extra responsability (and you can work in some of the coaching tasks you've been doing with new colleague here), getting better results, market pay levels for your skillset, etc.

Make it about you & your performance, not about how much someone else might be getting

Gettingthereslowly2020 · 12/11/2020 09:27

Don't mention his pay at all. You don't know how much they are paying him.

Absolutely ask for a pay rise for the additional training responsibilities you have taken on. If you are spending time helping and supporting him then it would be reasonable to ask for a pay rise.

museumum · 12/11/2020 09:34

Are you not hoping to do your boss’s maternity cover? If not who is? I’d try to sort out a responsibility allowance at least for the period she’s off and particularly if the nat leave cover is coming in from outside as you’ll be the continuity.

Autumnblooms · 12/11/2020 09:36

Ask for a pay rise, don’t mention his salary, you should be asking because you are confident in what you do, not because Timmy gets more.

Gizlotsmum · 12/11/2020 09:43

I would ask for an increase based on the fact that you are supervising an additional person.

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