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prunesquallor

I have consistently performed well in my position and had decent performance reviews. As a developer I've not only been productive but have developed new solutions which are currently in use by the team. At the same time a colleague never goes above and beyond their duties and literally 50% of the time I look over they're messing about on their phone. Yet I find out now that they are on a grand more than me... I have much more technical knowledge than they do and apply myself more. This may sound arrogant but it's the honest truth.

The colleague started a couple of years before me (and her starting salary was lower than my starting) and we're around the same age. So the discrepancy can't be down to length of service or experience. So to me this indicates either favouritism or the manager for some reason wants to hold me down. Or, worse still, both. Very frequently I've worked extra hours from home and have habitually turned work around quickly and to a good standard.

I came home from work today feeling dejected, unappreciated and frankly insulted. To make things worse, I recently received a 9% increase and was feeling fairly chuffed. Now I realise its only purpose was possibly to bring my salary in line with a few others. And even then it's still lower. I also have another colleague who again doesn't apply himself and is often browsing or on his phone. And I know he's on more than me. Again, similar age and I have more technical experience.

Also, they're both strictly 9-5, they never ever do extra hours. And certainly don't do as much work during office hours.

My initial reaction is not to give up but to cut the extra hours and drastically increase my own skill set with a view to leaving. I'll still have to perform well otherwise I create even more problems for myself but I can't remember the last time I felt this down about work. Up until now I've quite enjoyed my work but knowing what I do now, it will be difficult to retain my motivation, even though I know I have to. Still in shock to be honest

tomtontom

I don't see why you are so shocked, people get paid different amounts all the time. Whilst you may be technically more effective perhaps she is a better negotiator?

Is this the job that is at risk of redundancy?

prunesquallor

I'm in a team of around 15 and I believe one of those is at risk - no one has been targeted yet. Trust me, this colleague is not a good negotiator, in fact she doesn't do team work, she's effectively shut herself off for years in terms of working with others.

tomtontom

prunesquallor wrote: »

I'm in a team of around 15 and I believe one of those is at risk - no one has been targeted yet. Trust me, this colleague is not a good negotiator, in fact she doesn't do team work, she's effectively shut herself off for years in terms of working with others.

Well she must be doing something right or she wouldn't be on more money than you.

There are some things in life that you have little control over, and how much someone else gets paid is one of them. Concentrate on your own career, if you think you'd be better off elsewhere then pursue other opportunities.

prunesquallor

The point I was trying to make was that I know for a fact that she does much less which for me raises questions over management of the wider team. Can't think what she could be doing right other than the manager preferring her over me. What's more confusing is that she requires hand holding whereas I am pretty much good to go independently.

pmd123

I agree with tom, in my career there are quite long pay scales, so you can be doing the exactly the same job as someone else in the team, same duties and responsibilities, and you do it 10 times better than them, but they get paid £10k more than you.

You can go home and cry all night about the injustice of it all, or you can carry on working longer and harder, and you'll find somewhere down the line that you get promoted and they stay stuck in the same post.

If you feel there is genuine favouritism going on, cut your losses and look elsewhere.

prunesquallor

I hope you're right pmd123, I'm certainly not going to cry about it. I only found out about this today so I'm just having an evening of sulking but will continue to perform well. You must agree though that the whole issue around performing better and getting less is unfair.

I guess as you say, under performers are more likely to end up stuck. In fact the person in question hasn't increased their skillset whatsoever in the last 7/8 years. Can't be good.

I do suspect favouritism unfortunately so I will have to consider my position. My manager has always sung my praises at performance reviews but clearly they're empty words.

backdoorwarrior

To put into perspective what has sent you into a depression; this person earns 4 pounds a day more than you, or ~50p an hour more

prunesquallor

backdoorwarrior wrote: »

To put into perspective what has sent you into a depression; this person earns 4 pounds a day more than you, or ~50p an hour more

Hehe, that is true and when spread in to monthly pay it isn't a big difference - although before our reviews this year I would have been on a few grand less. It's more the principle of it than the actual amount. Meh.

pmd123

They may not necessarily be empty words, they may mean everything they say and have you earmarked for bigger things, but the opportunity has not yet come up.

As tom says, maybe the other person has simply negotiated a better deal, happened to me once before that someone started just after me, and negotiated a much higher starting salary (I didn't negotiate, they did), I grumbled about it for 6 months, especially as they couldn't do the role.
In the long run, it was actually advantageous for me, as I learned to always negotiate the salary before accepting a new role.

prunesquallor

Earmarked for bigger and better would be nice. Thing is the 2 immediate managers have a history of keeping things as they are. The only reason I have developed is because I drove it myself and early on in my role I had a decent manager who supported us.

But I agree on your negotiation point, although in this case the colleague hadn't negotiated a better starting salary. However, a couple of years in she did get an increase because she was offered another job. I guess if that hadn't happened our pay would be more in line.