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

dalore

I don't understand why it's a big deal for employees to share pay information with each other and use it to collectively argue for pay increases. We did it all the time in Australia.

I've even had someone try and tell me it was illegal to share pay information with each other. What BS.

Keeping mum about pay helps the employers. If the employees share the info with each other they have more power to get better pay.

Brian_Steele

I don't know how this info was obtained, so you need to be careful that you do not get caught snooping, or looking at other people's confidential property.

There are many reasons why different people get different rates of pay - length of service (not a discrimination, just the fact that they have been around for more annual increases than you) or perhaps simply that they struck a better deal than they started. After all, starting wages are part of the job negotiation and a company will strive to pay as little as they think an applicant will accept and some will take what is offered and others will want more - particularly taking into account what they were getting for their last job.

Significantly, the right to share information for the purposes of seeing whether certain employees are getting more than others is protected by law (under the Equality Act) so the company cannot stop this information being shared for that purpose. Thus while you may have come across the info by questionable means, the fact that you know it is not in itself something that should automatically get you into trouble.

Talent

I've got an idea, offer to give your boss a body part for a pay rise and job security....

onesixfive

pennypinchUK wrote: »

No. 1 rule of working life. Never ask a colleague how much they get paid. Never. It only creates jealousy and bad feeling. There are many reasons why one person may be paid more than another. If you were content with the rate you're getting before you snooped you should leave well alone. At your next review you've got the opportunity to pitch your worth, and if that gets you a higher increase good luck to you.

For almost 30 years I worked in the public sector where everyone from the cleaner to the manager knew (by the published grade of job you were in), what your rates of pay would be.
Re-grades (& therefore pay increases) were, eventually, made performance-related based on an annual appraisal.
When I moved into the private sector I was totally shocked by the secrecy around pay. Its a totally taboo subject.
It would avoid the need for such snooping if elements of the Private Sector adopted a similar grade/pay system.

Augustus_the_Strong

Ask for a rise without saying you know other people are getting more. You probably won't get one anyway, but you won't get the sack either.

milvusvestal

Be careful here - this could simply be an administrative mistake in the Accounts department.

Having said that, it does seem very strange that staff on the same grade are being paid differing hourly rates. If you press your enquiries, it might reveal that those on a better rate have been overpaid, in which case the employer has every right to recover the overpayment, even though it was his error. On the other hand, it could be that employees' pay within a grade is based upon length of service as well, and that will always vary between employees.

So long as those involved understand the possible consequences of opening this can of worms, I think you should leave it to them to enquire why they are being paid more than you and the others are.

BNT

sng165 wrote: »

It would avoid the need for such snooping if elements of the Private Sector adopted a similar grade/pay system.

There is no need for snooping anyway. Regarding my pay, what is relevant is that I am paid what I negotiated and signed up to and that any variable element is performance-related and fairly assessed. What my colleagues are paid is completely irrelevant to me and not something that I should feel a need to know.

1trainer1

I have done this on others and know others who have done this as well, snooping is just inquisitive behaviour and everybody would do it given the chance.

anyway I get paid slightly more that most of my colleagues but it is based on performance and reviews that we have every quarter.

All I see it as is if they work hard then they will be rewarded and same goes for me, If someone was earning more than me then I would try to show my employer that I am worth more by my performance

pennywise63

cheerful wrote: »

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.

This divide and rule tactic has been used since Roman times ,governments always use it .so do unions as well as employers because it works so well. You will also find that the employees on the higher rate will not back you in any sort of pay dispute with the management over your lower rates.

ritesh

Usually it is up to the individual to negotiate their pay when joining the company and putting a strong case forward as to why you should be at the higher end of the pay scale.

As others have said it could depend on a number of circumstances. Also, it depends on the individual's performance. Are they doing the same work as other colleagues, are they providing good level of service, are they pro-active, do they generally go above and beyond what is expected of them. If so, then you should look at what market rates are and then prior the next pay review build a strong case as to why you should be considered for a better pay increase.

However, as i mentioned before if you negotiated very poorly in the begining then you can not expect to go from say £8 p/h to £12 p/h (50% increase in pay) as companies generally have set limits to what they can give