Real life MMD: Snooping revealed I'm underpaid - should I ask for a rise?

tweety78

I am very interested in this. I am not British and I have always been puzzled at the secrecy behind wages. I was not aware that it was actually illegal to find out this information (good to know!).
I have always shared this information with my fellow 'foreign' colleagues because we find it useful and it gives you an idea about the strength of the company you are working for. However, none of us think someone should get a pay rise because someone else earns more. Your pay should reflect what you bring to the company and with regards to this we are not all the same. It's definitely wrong to ask for a pay rise for no other reason than greed.

cheerful

This demonstrates the standard "divide and rule" policy of most companies. They pay each individual the least they possibly can even if they all do the same job. The best solution would be for all the cleaners to join a union so that they can negotiate for the same decent wage for them all.

JayD

If you feel you deserve a payrise then ask for one and explain in what ways you feel you deserve it. Perhaps you have done sufficient service to be considered more experienced now, maybe you have taken on more responsibilities since your most recent rate of pay was awarded, or do harder work or slightly longer hours. If you have a contract, maybe you could check to see if you now do anything over and above what is laid down in it. If you feel you are a more reliable, valuable member of the team now and maybe oversee or help train new/inexperienced staff or step in to fill the gap when another is away, then that would also work in your favour. But I don't think asking for a payrise based on what you have seen someone else is getting is a valid reason at all.

crimson.addict

All i can say is that will teach you to keep you nose where it belongs! If you didn't snoop into other peoples personal documents you wouldn't know and you wouldn't be unhappy with the amount you are paid! What if it was the other way round and you looked and saw they were getting less than you. Would you want a pay cut/them to get a pay rise. No, you'd no doubt keep you mouth shut! That's my input anyway.

chog24

This is a tricky one. I don't believe that there's anything in law that says that two people doing the same job should be paid exactly the same wage (gender and race equality aside, of course). It would be pretty limiting to employers if such a law did exist because they would not be able to recognise more skilled, experienced or dedicated workers in terms of financial reward.

Many companies have clauses in their contract which prevent people from discussing their salaries (I've worked for a company in the past were people were sacked for snooping on what people were paid).

That said, there's no reason why one shouldn't ask for a raise at any given time and there's nothing to say you have to have snooped and found out that others are getting paid more than you in order to do that. Does it hurt to ask without revealing the snooping? The employer can only say no.

Mitonski

I would just point to the comment that says "all the girls sneakily check each others' payslips." So perhaps this was a concious decision of a group of friends to share this information between each other and maybe not a case of snooping on other workers.

But I agree that the course of action should be to make a strong case of reasons why a raise is deserved rather than just because someone else gets more.

Primrose

If they've been snooping, they've been guilty of misconduct and are liable to dismissal as cleaners are expected to be trustworthy. They should research comparable rates of pay outside the business, and if higher than theirs, ask their employer what extra they can be contributing to the job to earn a higher rate.

bogwart

Nothing good can come of this. And by sneakily checking private information they are breaking all kinds of codes, if not the law. She should stay well clear of this kind of activity. It doesn't say much about her colleagues, does it?

eurovision_fan

If you can get the colleagues to confess their pay packets (and they're in the same age Min Wage Bracket) then you have a valid claim to request your wage to increase since you're on the same grade.

happyinflorida

How have they got the information?

What else are they doing that they shouldn't be doing?

I think it'd be a good idea to let your employer know that some of you are totally untrustworthy - anything gone missing from the hotel as well?