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?

Are you entirely sure it was her salary figure and not eg on a budget statement as total cost to the employer including employers NI and employers pension contributions that don't go into the salary itself?

Missing the point but how and why wouldn’t you know the salary of people you manage?
One of my team members earns slightly more than I do but she’s worked for the company since I was in primary school😅 also I’m about to ask for an increase in my end of year review which will take me above. You should be benchmarking based on skill set experience and seniority and if you are underpaid, make a case.

Her salary is none of your business and should not be used as a weapon to up your own.

If you are unhappy with your salary, regardless of what anyone else’s is, you need to negotiate a pay raise.

If you have never done this because you “don’t like talking about money” then that is on you and nobody else.

You say you are a manager yet you can't even speak up for yourself and negotiate more money!

If you actually read my comments you will see I have negotiated.

But as someone above said, why should I have to negotiate in order to be paid more than someone less experienced and less skilled than me, whose role I did myself for 4 years and was promoted from, and who I actually line manage?

I'm not 'on a high horse' at all and don't begrudge my colleague anything, but this is a ridiculous situation.

A company I worked for were exactly the same.
I was in a clinical role that took years of training to become qualified.
Because the receptionist threatened to leave they upped her pay to more than me. I left.

They were not devaluing me like that.

One organisation I was employed in I was paid more than my manager when I started. This was because salary levels had increased since he was employed so they had to pay more to get me. He found out, wasn't impressed, but later on negotiated a pay increase for himself. If you've been in an organisation for a while I don't think it's that unusual for a new hire to be paid more due to market forces.

Missing the point but how and why wouldn’t you know the salary of people you manage?

Well quite, @Bensteeth Last time I accidentally saw this information, my own manager freaked out about it. I have access to where it is all stored but I've been told by my manager that it's confidential and I'm not supposed to look at it, so I don't. Obviously the reason is that she's approved this pay rise and knows it is unfair.

@PinkButtercups just because the my were valuing her did not mean they were devaluing you though!! A good receptionist was obviously hard to find

Ah, I see. Thanks for explaining! I think it's the same in lots of places - the more senior you are, the more you're expected to stay behind and finish the job. I've never really thought about how that affects hourly pay before! Overtime pay must be a major complicating factor.

It’s not ridiculous at all. She recently asked for a raise and got it. You haven’t. It’s that simple.

You should be furious with yourself for not trying.

Been there. Unfortunately it’s how businesses work, you pay the salaries you think you can get away with to keep staff happy. Maybe she asked for more money at interview stage. Leave her out of discussions and focus on why you need more money, do some research in what other organisations are paying people in a similar role to you. If you aren’t happy, look for another job. Moving is often the easiest way of getting a pay rise.

No, she was in a completely different industry before.

But they did devalue every member of staff. I wasn't going to put my whole work story on here.

One of the huge reasons for the gender pay gap according to an article I read is that women HATE these types of convos. I know it’s rubbish but you have to go for it.

And the fact that the company is so bad they have trouble recruiting staff in the first place!

So she has obviously gone to my boss/ gone over my head in this past year, and leapfrogged me, and I haven't been informed.

You sound like an absolute nightmare. You’re acting like it’s a personal insult she’s asked for more money when really it’s just a sensible thing to do. I hope you don’t take your rage out on this poor girl.

My viewpoint is that perhaps your colleague isn’t overpaid and rather that you are underpaid?

Also if you line manage this colleague, what are you actively doing to make her better in role? Remember as a line manager, the capability and conduct of your team is reflective of you.

Again, read my comments.

I'm not annoyed at my colleague. I like her, I'm glad she's getting what she deserves, and even if I didn't like her why would I begrudge her that? It's not about her.

I'm annoyed at my boss for the blatant unfairness that she pushed someone's pay up past their manager's, and the only reason I can see for it is that they get on well.

I earn £ 43.997 as an 8a on 34 hours contact at bottom of scale. You have to work for 5 years to go up an increment. As it an 8a I carry far more responsibility and cannot clock off on time and my working week is usually way more than full time hours.
A full time Band 7 at top of scale earns £47.637. Most of my 7's are top of scale so earn more than me and also work less hours in reality. 🙁

Ask your boss to benchmark your salary against other similarly experienced employees at your level internally. Explain that you feel you’re underpaid relative to those with similar skills and experience in the market and would like a salary review. If you are underpaid relative to peers then you should find they offer you a pay bump to meet the average salary for your level and experience internally.

Its very standard practice. If it’s a relatively large company you won’t have any issues in my experience.

Ask for more money. If you don’t get it leave. Don’t take it personally, a business is always going to pay the minimum they can get away with.

the only reason I can see for it is that they get on well.

No. The reason is that she has the balls to negotiate a pay rise and you don’t.

Being someone's line manager does NOT automatically entitle you to know their salary.

You sound really childish, petty and stroppy. You're now inferring that there's some kind of cronyism at play between this person and the boss! You really need to calm yourself down. It's pretty standard advice that a person should negotiate their own salary with reference only to themselves and what they bring to the organisation. It's fairly unprofessional to bring someone else's salary into it, it's none of your business. Grow up.

Assuming you are in the UK there is no legal requirement that you are not allowed to discuss salary. Payroll information does fall within GDPR so there could potentially be a breach there if you saw the information. However, as a manager I readily have access to my teams pay so again I don't think there is an issue.

I think your best bet is to be open with your manager or look around for other roles and see what the salary grade is. Most companies benchmark salaries at certain grades. So either she is at the very top of hers or you are at the very bottom of your grade. You can ask HR what the salary grades are and then you have all the information to go to your boss and discuss.

Ultimately you cannot be made to feel bad about knowing the salary - and if you are made to feel bad about having the discussion then it doesn't sound like a company I would be happy working for.

Ask for a raise!