Privy to some information

[Newnameneededforthisone]

I have been helping out in a different department at my work as they needed some admin help. The manager in this new job isn't the best and is quite indiscreet and shared a document with me that sets out the salary grades for the whole company - not the numbers, just the grades.

In my normal job I work for a very good manager - she is thorough and well respected in the business. Anyway I can see that she is being paid a grade below some of the people who come to her for help and advice and it seems unfair.

I know I can't do anything about this really as it will open a can of worms and it will end up
Me who gets in trouble but I am so cross on my manager's behalf that she's being taken advantage of and people who are nowhere near as good as she is are earning a lot more.

Has anyone got some wise words to
Make me get over this and somehow forget what I know. I'm also cross that the manager in this interim role has made this information available to me as now I feel in an awkward position and as though I'm somehow letting my real manager down by knowing this about her.

Anyone? Would really appreciate some wise words.

How frustrating @Newnameneededforthisone , I can see why ou feel put out. Yes you probably shouldn’t say anything, but if you are close to your manger and trust her to be discreet I would probably explain what has happened, tell her how bad you feel about being caught in the situation and you felt you had to let her know, so at least she can decide what to do, but to please keep you out of it.

If you really can’t then you’ll just have to accept that she is negotiating for herself and must be ok with her salary or she would do something about it,and you’re only going to make her feel bad by giving her the information.

That's the thing isn't it? If I tell her and cause her to feel resentful of the situation and then she'll be upset too. And I really don't want her to leave if she does feel fed up about it. I really wish this buffoon of a bloke hadn't shared this info with me. If he wasn't so lazy he could have just deleted that column from the spreadsheet and I'll just have had the info I did actually need.

It seems unfair, because it is unfair.
This is not your problem to solve.

Are the people paid above her all men or is it a mix?

They're a mix. So no angle there unfortunately as if definitely have to say something if that was the case I think.

Oooh I'd be VERY encouraging to her to ask for a pay rise.

You don't need to say why.

I hadn't even thought of this! So just mention it to her in a 'look what a valuable employee you are' type way, and then drip, drip. Genius! Thank you!

Just be careful you haven't been shown this "accidentally on purpose" to deliver someone else's dirty work. Don't say anything that can land you in it.

Are you taking into account all of her responsibilities, or just the day to day you see in relation to your work? Sometimes it’s not quite as black and white as it might initially seem.

Differences in pay can be legally justified if they are based on factors such as experience, qualifications, or seniority, If one manager has more experience or is performing additional duties - do you know that she is doing exactly the same job for less money?Does she manage the same amount of people? Would this info be private re the grades - would it not be advertised when the job were?

The best thing you can do here is to say absolutely nothing at all. Forget you saw that document.
Do you know the precise ins and outs of how people are graded and when/why they might move up? Do you know the complete background, education and experience of the other people to qualify where they are on the pay scale? Just because they’re asking one person for advice doesn’t mean they’re not more experienced in something else specific. There is likely something in the mix that explains this. Else maybe the document you saw was incorrect (not outside the realms of possibility).
In any case you’ve been privy to GDPR information and should absolutely not be sharing it. With anyone. If it got back then you’d likely come under gross misconduct and could lose your own job.

Saw a slimy scumbag do this once - the document shared was a fake, the person passing on the information got fired ... and a child of the scumbag's friend got the job.

I would report this to HR

Thanks. Lots of good points here to consider.

I did wonder if there was an ulterior motive in him sharing this information but I would be very surprised as he is slapdash in other ways and it fits his general manner that he's done it thoughtlessly.

Clearly I don't know the workings of why and how HR work out the gradings but there is one particular stand-out role with a smaller team in an extremely similar role with a slightly different focus that really surprised me that my manager is graded lower than.

I think the idea of being encouraging that she should ask for a re-grade is the best option, based on what she would perceive as my personal opinion, rather than any other knowledge I might have, is the way forward. I'll keep this to myself as I knew I'd have to but I can at least be positive towards her and hope that she self advocates.

I would not report it to HR. The person who has given me the document is from HR. I don't want any part in the fall-out from them looking after their own.

It looks like a possible set up to me.
If you break a confidence you'll be the one to lose.
Presumably your boss has the wear with all to negotiate her pay and grading for herself.

This is the best response here. Keep your nose out of it OP, be professional and handle the information you've been privy to in the correct manner.

Do nothing at all.
Where I work, salary grades are wide and someone on a higher grade with less tenure could be earning less than someone a grade below them.
You will only get into trouble if you try to do anything about this.
You must put it out of your mind and move on.

Keep quiet. But be aware, for your own job, that the company doesn't always pay equally.

My DH gets info about salaries blabbed to him from a director. It's small firm. DH then tells me. I'm raging because they wouldn't negotiate salary when I started but have paid well above for other staff, in lower positions, 'to secure them' (staffing shortage). I say nothing to anyone, though.

Now, I'm experienced & reliable, and go way beyond my job description. Just yesterday yet another flakey new hire, who has zero experience in the role, or industry knowledge, and was paid more, quit, for a lame reason.

So, knowing my value is low, they get what they pay for & I'm looking for a new role elsewhere.

I wouldn't do anything

1. it could be a set up (unlikely imo) 2)you would be at fault if you used the information which you had received in error
2. you don't know the reasons for the gradings - its never as straight forward as you see- she may be missing KPIs/focusing on the wrong things/have key qualifications missing etc - anecdotally I know a lot of people for example think one of my juniors is wonderful as she is always willing to help/spend time advising others/give detailed responses- but in reality she is missing deadlines/focusing on the wrong things and getting things wrong..
3. you'll only stir up discontent

if you feel you must do something- go to your mgrs senior (ie her boss) and just say that you have been shown this information and that you are uncomfortable with it being shared

Thanks everyone. I know you're all right and I need to keep quiet about the specifics of what I know and how it was revealed to me.

You've also made me reflect on the idea of it being a set-up as I'd dismissed that completely but maybe you're right and it is some sort of test to see if I can be trusted with information.

Everyone's input has helped me. Thanks.

Maybe he is not as slapdash as he appears on the surface, he also feels it's wrong your boss is underpaid and he is hoping by showing you you will alert her?

But it is a can of worms for you to get involved.

Quite like the advice by a PP of just saying to your boss how valuable and good at her job you think she is, trying to point out key things she's done well, and encouraging her to apply for a regrade herself.

But even then, step with extreme care because of the GDPR angle.

@Newnameneededforthisone When you work in HR, particularly a lower level, you see a lot of personal data due to the nature of the job. I always tried to detached my self from the data by not looking at names unless I had to. I would however be aware of anomalies like this and raise them within HR. Usually there was a good explanation.

In some organisations grades and salary rates/bands/ranges are not always fixed, you can be a lower grade on a higher pay rate. If your organisation does link them then the starting point is not pay but grade. As a pp said, at an appropriate time suggesting they request a job evaluation of a post is the best way to approach this. Be very careful as a pp said this could be a test or just carelessness.

I am surprised your organisation is not transparent about grades. Surely when a job is advertised you state the grade, so everyone knows.

It's odd as some jobs the grade is mentioned in job adverts and others it isn't. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to it. I'm assuming that if you apply for an internal role then they tell you if it's above or below your grade. The most useful indicator is if they advertise a job with an agency and then you get an idea from the agency's job advert. Our company frowns upon people talking salaries, which is a red flag if ever I saw one!