I need help--don't know what to do

M

Maximus

Cathlete
I work for municipal government & last Saturday the governing body discussed requested raises for the upcoming year. Myself & the IT manager, who started a week after me, had both requested a $15k increase.

The IT guy has less education, less experience, & works WAY fewer hours than I do. But he got the full $15k & I got half. I just can't figure this out. Other than a certain appendage not swinging between my legs, I am much more qualified than he is. What the heck is going on here?
 
I'm sorry that hardly sounds fair . I hate to say it but your right ,I'm sure its discrimanation !! (Spelling ?). Good luck And if it were me I would throw that word at my boss !!!! }( }( }(
 
Maximus,

You might ask your boss or someone in the governing body for a rational of the raise amounts. I work for a state school and have had to request and negotiate raises for my staff.

There was a pretty clear system based on position, grade level, salary range for similar positions in the region, experience, etc. Also, do you know what his previous salary was? Having this info would give you some good backing in the case that this was unjust.

HTH
 
Max - you're HR, aren't you? I think that you definitely have cause for concern and if I was you, I would ask for an explanation. If it's not rational - call your lawyer. Just the threat of a lawsuit might make them pay up.
 
Maximus,

I would jump to the same conclusion as you, if it were me, but Gayle had a very good point. The company I work for looks at the regional market value of the skill as well.

It could be that a Human Resource manager average earnings is lower than the IT guy. At my company, IT is considered technical where HR is is not. The technical pay scale is higher.
 
Maximus --

Did anyone give you an explanation regarding why you received only half? What criteria do they use to decide? Is it based on performance reviews? Grade level? One person's opinion?

Honestly, I cannot help but feel that it may be discrimination. I know we are supposed to be living in a country that treats women as equals but the sad truth is that we don't. Discrimination is still around; it is just more insidious. Just ask Larry Summers, president of Harvard. Just ask every man who simply assumes that women should take care of the household duties and the children.

I'm sorry Maximus. This really makes me mad!

Shonie
 
Not as mad as me Shonie.

So I talked to my boss this morning & he said the rationale was the market--that the IT guy could go out & make much more money than he makes here. I said so could I (let me just point out here I've done more than $3 million in grants in my 2 1/2 years here, & yet the boss claims the IT guy's accomplishments are quantifiable while mine aren't). He said he doubted it. He claims that while there were disparities in pay with both of us, his disparity was wider. I disagreed. I said I worked 65-70 hours a week while this guy works 35-40. The boss said oh no, he works from home. I said working on your laptop at home is much different than attending meetings in town hall. He disagreed. I said I have an MA from one of the top 20 colleges in the country, the IT guy has a certificate from a trade school. The boss said that doesn't matter. I said I have 5 years more experience than the IT guy. The boss said it doesn't matter b/c his skills set is different than mine. I basically got nowhere.

Now I'm wondering why the he!! I even bothered to get an MA (that BTW I'm still paying a pretty hefty monthly fee for). Evidently it's entirely useless in the real world & has done nothing for me.:(
 
Reminds me of a quote I read in my local paper (Woman's section) this AM. I don't remember who said it, but it was in reference to the class action discrimination suit brought against WalMart. The woman was stating that "we must not let fear get under our feet in these situations". If I were you, I'd go first to my boss to give him/her an opportunity to justify or correct. If that proves unsatisfactory, I would go straight to the HR department. The last thing any company needs is a discrimination suit. Oh yes and most importantly, DOCUMENT EVERYTHING. Good luck.
~ Kim
 
I'm not sure why it is but there still tends to be a huge difference between men and women's wages. I work as an administrative assistant and yesterday I found out the janitor gets paid more than I do!!!???!!! We gotta fight girl. If we don't our poor daughters will have to!

Trish
 
Maximus -

I don't know about your situation but I work in IT so I felt like I had to support the IT point of view which may or may not apply to this guy who received the larger salary increase so take it for what it's worth. Maybe I just need to vent;-)

Anyway, many times in IT we are called to fix problems that happen off-hours. Over the past 2 weeks I've been paged in the middle of the night 4 times. Four times I had to get up from the comfort of my warm bed, dial in, and fix the problem. It might take 10 minutes to fix but most of the time it's at least a half hour. (I usually end up skipping my workout that morning when this happens, too. x(

The next day at work, all is normal. The users have no idea there was a problem in the middle of the night which may have affected their ability to signon, get their reports, view email, etc. And this is as it should be. I'm not saying I'm not well compensated but at least for most people who work more than 40 hours per week, they get to pick the hours they work. I can't tell you how many times a family event or other plans have been spoiled by something that came up at work.

Like I said, I don't know this IT guys' situation. We have some people here in IT who NEVER work more than 40 hours and never get paged. My boss also recognizes this (fortunately) and takes this into account with salary increases and flex-time.

Anyway, hope your situation works out. If the salary increase was strictly based on him being male, then I would be ticked off.
 
You might check out salary.com to see your approx. worth. then you can run it on the it guy and see what it says for him. (maybe you've already done this).

You might want to speak to a lawyer - see if you have grounds/documentation/etc for a case. I don't know if they charge for a consult or not. Would be excellent if you have any friends that are lawyers and would help you determine if you can make a case against the company/boss. before you spend $.

This might be useful: http://www.eeoc.gov/abouteeo/overview_practices.html
You may have already checked it out.

Good luck, we are totally behind you girlfriend! Please keep us updated.

-Kelli
 
The truth is we're both on call 24/7. This is town government--when sewers back up or a major crime is committed or there's a big fire then I get called out. I have to go to every single council meeting, which includes committee meetings that usually occur at night. I average about 2 evenings a week, he averages one a month.

For the most part I don't deal w/internal problems, other than the personnel issues. I deal w/residents whose trash isn't being picked up, people who are having their service interrupted by the water company, traffic concerns, interagency issues, lots of economic development stuff, & pretty much anything the town council needs.

The truth is I don't begrudge this guy his raise. I truly believe he deserves it. I just don't think he deserves more than I do.
 
Hey Maximus,

You bothered to get an MA because that's what an intelligent woman like yourself wanted/needed to do. It is not useless and I believe it *does* give you credibility. So please don't let the current situation overshadow your accomplishments. An education is one of the most important things we can do for ourselves.

I'm still paying off my loans too (8 years to put myself through for an MS in Engineering Management and a BS in Computer Science). I'm also quite sure that I work with men who have lesser degrees but are making quite a bit more money. For me -- it is something I have simply decided to live with for now.

I also admire the fact that you say you do not begrudge this man his raise. So I guess you have to decide to fight it, to live with it, or to move on.

take care,
Shonie
 
Sorry you are going through this, it is frustrating.


When you first posted, I thought you both were IT, it was just the way I read your post, and I thought you had a case, unless there had been a big previous salary disparity...but since you are in two totally different career fields, I don't think you have a sex discrimination case (just my opinion, I am not a lawyer). I just don't see how you could show that. Your boss is privy to the quality of the IT person's work, and he is trying to keep a good person from leaving and going elsewhere in a very competitive IT-employee world. I am sure you are also doing a fine job and he is obviously willing to risk having you go elsewhere rather than give you the same raise as the IT guy. He feels he can hold on to you with a $7,500 raise based on your career field, not your gender.

You may have to change jobs to get what you feel you are worth. I'd start looking if you feel you are being underpaid.

Different career fields have different pay ranges depending on their value to the market. It is not "fair" but that is just the way it is. Post grad education can have varying impact on your income based only on your own career field. As I am sure you know.

Starting working on the old resume! The salary survey idea is also excellent....I'd do it now and show it to your boss.

Changing jobs I have found is a great way to get a nice jump in pay. Having a nice job offer can also give you bargaining power if you decide you want to stay.

HTH and I didn't offend anyone with my opinions. It is frustrating. Hate jobs.

Jen

PS By the way IT and other software type folks often have to worry about their jobs being farmed out to 3rd world countries, so all career fields have their ups and downs.
 
The Truth is also Its not you co worker doing this to you Its The Place you both work for .... So go for it . It shows alot that you don't Begrudge the guy . I have so been in your spot ! . Keep your chin up and fight ! Good luck You go Girl :) :) :D :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Our Newsletter

Get awesome content delivered straight to your inbox.

Top