Furious about colleague's salary

[fightfirewithfiree]

I am this person's line manager and I just found out she earns more than me.

She does not have any special/ technical skills that I don't - her job role is what I used to do for 4 years before being promoted to management - and she's not even that good at it if I'm honest.

She has been in the organisation a year less than me.

I have been her manager for a year now. My boss is very hush-hush about salaries but I found out inadvertently her salary is £1000 per year more than mine (an administrator/ finance person showed me something she didn't realise I wasn't supposed to see).

I actually think it's ridiculous anyway that I'm her line manager and am not supposed to know her salary. Feel like leaving the organisation, feeling very devalued.

It's a really unpleasant thing to have to raise with my manager, I hate talking about money but if I'm managing someone surely I should earn more than them, I have far more resposibility for all kinds of things.

WWYD?

Entirely your choice, and rightly so

To clarify, the cost associated with this strategy may be that you do not maximise the salary and benefits you can secure.

@FinallyHere you may be right, but probably depends on the situation. If you are leaving a place with no real salary structure which only values you when you want to leave, a higher hike because you found a new job may be a one off, and you might not be able to pull the leaving lever again.
If you are going to a place with a proper pay scale and benefits, you may be better off there in the long run, particularly if your talent is better appreciated.

This ...

Do not mention the other person or that you know their pay, it's none of your business. Look on the Reed website for tips on negotiating a higher salary.

Focus on your strengths, capabilities and why you think you add value to the company and deserve a higher salary.

www.reed.co.uk/career-advice/how-to-negotiate-a-payrise/

www.reed.co.uk/career-advice/7-ways-to-get-paid-what-you-deserve/

www.reed.co.uk/career-advice/how-to-negotiate-salary/

www.monster.co.uk/career-advice/article/how-can-i-secure-a-pay-rise-uk

www.monster.co.uk/career-advice/article/how-do-i-negotiate-a-better-salary

a proper pay scale and benefits,

@mumindoghouse

I've only ever worked for blue chip corporates, who have entirely structured pay scales. We make no bones about minimising the resource bill, which requires carefully weighing up of who is just moaning v who will move if they don't get improvement in their overall package.

It's a constant tightrope walk. An alternative offer is a very powerful chip

An

Did she ask for raise and you haven’t? Bosses usually give a raise when asked. Go and ask him for a raise to bring you above people you are in charge of.

You need to speak with your manager, but the salary of another employee is not something you should discuss or raise - it is irrelevant. What is relevant is your value to the company and the value of your position.

I have been in the position where I have been line managed by someone who was on far less than half of my pay more than once - but I had the skills, experience and knowledge the company needed and nobody else there did.

Not read the full thread so probably already said,

but it’s not uncommon for managers to earn less than their direct reports even in non technical roles.

depending on the company and the role a manager intern doesn’t directly add to the output of work, but helps manage, coordinate and shield the workers from aboves. It’s a critical role but a good team will be able to function without a manager (and a good manager will be able to build a team that can)

depending on the company they may pay the workers more than the managers.

also when someone got hired matters. If yours was a while ago and the new person in the last year then market rate has gone up. Don’t hate them for getting market rate, look at your own position and decide if what you get paid is worth it (regardless of their salary as it’s a non issue) and then if you want more hit the open market

I can totally understand how you feel OP. I wouldn’t be happy if my direct reports were earning more than me either. In my case, none are more experienced or qualified & I do have substantially more responsibility. It is usually me who negotiates their salary increases on their behalf. If they went over my head to the MD to discuss salaries, I wouldn’t be happy and neither would he as it is considered part of my job as their Line Manager. Reading other replies, this obviously isn’t the case everywhere but has been everywhere I have worked.

£1000 extra per year is nothing after deductions. I wouldn’t be annoyed different role/grade/banding or even the company changing pay rates by the time she joined. It happens are you going to the union about!?

Missing the point but how do you keep being accidentally shown information about your colleagues salary.

You work less than full time and you're upset because somebody working full time is paid more than you? If your contract is 34 hours and your job takes more time to complete, then raise it with HR and get the job hours amended, or work to rule?

It is called being professional.

Regardless of how it happened, you report the data breach immediately and it will be investigated.

If someone shows you a file with information you should not see you don't look any further at it as soon as you are aware of what it is. You tell the person you shouldn't have access to the information and you need to report it.

If one persons salary was stuck under you nose and you couldn't avoid seeing it, after reporting, you can have an open conversation with your manager if you think it is relevant.

I know what should be done re reporting etc .
I was just musing about how it happened to the Op twice , she was accidentally shown this person's salary details once with a lower salary and then a second time with the pay increase.

OP either shouldn't be in management or has a lot to learn if she hasn't reported either of these data breaches.

Her salary probably reflects her obvious lack of management acumen. It is likely her team member is better at their non-management job than she is at managing.

I think what I am most annoyed about is that a new 8a gets paid £17 a week( before tax) more than a senior Band 7 and does not get an incremental rise for 5 years.
Yes I could work to rule but I have a job to do and want to do it well.
What I have decided as a result of this thread alongside a consultation at work, is that I am going to return to full time hours again so I get renumerated for at least some of the extra hours I work

I feel for you OP. This is a failure of management to be decent. It's not your fault for not negotiating hard enough, nor your employee's fault for being a better negotiator.
From what I read: they are less qualified, have less experience, new to the industry and not been in the job long.

You have 4x the experience (in years). That does not add up to being paid £1000 less than anyone. That's unfair in my eyes.

As for the thread of "that's a breach" because you saw numbers - no it's very much not since they have given you full access to the folder of files but your manager has said "don't look". That's a guilty conscience right there.

WWID: Be objective. Are they paying you market rate? Check online - there's two good websites I used: www.payscale.com and salaryboard.com/.
They are good free to use and ask questions and then give a good report of your rough worth compared to others doing the same job.

Print (or PDF) them and use them as backup proof and then book a meeting with your boss. Be objective as you can muster and give evidence of things you have delivered in the last year. Prove how much value you bring to the company. Give them no excuse to refuse. If they still prevaricate, hit the job boards. That's the sign they don't value what you do. I get the feeling you have "quiet quit" already because this type of thing is de-motivating.

For me, this is about trust. You trust your boss to pay and play fair, and they trust you to deliver work that creates profit. Once they start being tricky, it's time to leave as the relationship is no longer professional - it's abusive.

I speak from experience and don't want to see others suffer.

I don't know your industry but there's lots of jobs out there that offer work-from-home work now and it's almost guaranteed they will offer 5K more too.

@MrsDoubtfiresDD

This is a failure of management to be decent.

Well, that pretty much sums up capitalism, doesn't it?

Good management is about minimising costs and maximising revenue.

It sometimes looks as if trust and fair play have a role, but it honestly only happens when the available jobs outstrips supply of people prepared to do the jobs.

That's when wages go up.

Imagine a sudden influx of trained staff, wages will tend to go down, at least for new opportunities. Existing wages won't tend to go down, but not rise til they are back in equilibrium.

IMO, raising expectations c
that employers should be trusted to pay good wages is one of the many factors contributing to women on average being paid less than men. Let's make sure we are well paid by negotiating hard and finding alternatives which are well paid.

Good management is a balance of providing pay and conditions sufficiently decent to retain good staff. Even the decent employers are really just responding to these pressures.

Pay too much, your costs are higher than they need be. Pay too low and staff turnover will increase.

As in any market, different people negotiate different rates.

Pretending that you do not have agency to set the rate at which you are prepared to work does you a disservice. Having an alternative, higher offer in writing is a powerful bargaining chip.

OP, I know you’ve bowed out of the chat but just wanted to say I get it. Totally understand why you would be upset. I would be too. I suspect the same is happening at my job. I hope you find yourself in a position in which you are valued. Good luck.

I bet she negotiated. My DH fell foul to that once as he didn’t realise you could negotiate (only ever worked in the NHS where you can’t) He need up second lowest paid in the team with some people paid £9k more than him! It was only aligned when his organisation merged with another one after about two years. Definitely speak to your boss.

its awful feeling undervalued