Touchy subject

[Nerm]

During a recent conversation with a colleague she accidentally let her current salary slip. Now the reason I am bringing this up here and why it concerned me was how little she makes. I now feel that my employer may be taking advantage of her. We aren't talking about making less than a senior because she is a junior level position kind of situation. She is in the junior network tech position that I started at with the company over ten years ago. She has now been in the position for a couple of years so just inflation alone I would think she would be making better than I did in that same position ten years ago. Sadly she is making more than half what I made in the same position all those years ago which is also way more than half the fair market value for this position.

Why I am seeking advice is I feel that she is getting shafted for lack of a better term and I don't know if I should say anything or not. Is this something I should bring up to my boss (owner of the company), mention to her, or just leave it alone and hope for the best? btw, I should also mention that she is a good worker so it isn't like she is being punished for being a poor performer or anything like that in fact I feel she has the capabilities to someday be my replacement.

[icecream-guy]

Personally if I were in that position I wouldn't make it any of my business. It could make more trouble than it's worth.

[deanwebb]

You're right, this is touchy.

I could say that I make $X for salary and then, immediately, people with more/less experience will be judging me and why I earn more/less than they do. If I say I earn $XX,000, some would say I'm underpaid. If I say I earn $XXX,000, those same people would say that I'm overpaid. All I did was add an X! We're not even talking real numbers here!

You are right about employer lowballing of salaries. If they started with "Would you accept $XX,000?" and she agreed, then that's that, negotiation over. If she had declined that and then they came back with $XXX,000, obviously, she'd be in a better state than she is now.

If she's an H1B worker, then the company that placed her there may be taking a chunk of the salary. Same for a contract employee. I've seen abuse in both those worlds before.

Now, if you make her aware of the situation, you can't control what happens next. If she demands a pay rise, your name may come up as the guy that encouraged her to get one. If she walks over to a better job, your name may come up as the guy that gave her info that made her unhappy where she is.

If you buy a burner phone and then call her up, posing as a recruiter, and then offer a role at double her pay, you'll get the message across... but you better have a job ready for her, in case she accepts.

There is no easy way around this, short of steering her towards anonymous salary survey information. Even that tends to be jacked up when it's not corrected for experience or location. 10 years experience in NYC at a major bank is going to pay way more than 10 years experience at a medium business in Chattanooga, TN.

I already know that, as a networker, I'm pulling down more salary and benefits than most of my sysadmin counterparts, even if they have more experience than I do. I also know that I work at a big pharma company, so there's a bonus to pay there, as well. I'm also awesome at what I do, so there's that. 

Ristau's right. Could be waaaay more trouble than it's worth. 

[Nerm]

I agree that it isn't any of my business and I should just forget it which is probably what I will do. I cannot however help feeling sorry for her. Honest to God she could probably make just as much flipping burgers.

[dlots]

I made crap for quite some time (less than 40k with 3 CCNP lvl certs) I knew I was under payed then and I would assume she does to.  I am odd in that I prefer to be open about how much I make, if everyone is honest about what they make it ensures that (at least for the most part) people are payed about the same for the same work, as it is currently with it being a socal no no the only ones that win are the companies ripping the employees off.

Honestly if I were to talk to her would depend alot on how much I trusted her, can I say to her "you didn't hear this from me but your not making what your worth and you can probably get a big raise with a new job" with out her going going to the owner and saying "Nerm told me your ripping me off and I should quit... you scumbag".  I have a guy here that I think with a little knowledge of how stuff works could be pretty good, but I'll never help him cause I think he'll throw me under the bus by saying something like "Well dlots said I should help this other guy 1st cause he's good to work with and your a jerk who often swears at people who are trying to help you."

[NetworkGroover]

That's a dangerous conversation that can land you in hot water.  If she wants to vent you can be an open ear, but I would 'not' take any action on it whatsoever - though honestly, the "proper" thing to do is to stop her in her tracks and let her know it's not an appropriate conversation to be having in the first place.

It's her choice - I'm sure she's a smart girl and can figure out that if she's unhappy, she needs to go elsewhere.

[deanwebb]

"Hold on there, female co-worker! It is inappropriate for you to tell me that you earn 40% less than market average for a person of your skill level and experience!"

[NetworkGroover]

"Hold on there, female co-worker! It is inappropriate for you to tell me that you earn 40% less than market average for a person of your skill level and experience!"

Exactly - in that 60's era training video style.

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/video/watch/972440/

[wintermute000]

Depends what kind of relationship you have with your paymasters.

But in general best steer clear. But if it comes up of course back her up with your recommendation.

Remember it's management's job to extract the most out off as little as possible, I've had some excellent bosses who happily "underpaid" certain staff and guess what, at the end of the day, those guys kept on working so the boss did the right thing by the company.
Also in this current market, juniors are expendable. Sad but true. 
At the end of the  day like others have said she accepted the terms out of her own free will and she's able to go find something better if she wants.
Tbh it blows my mind how anyone remotely competent would settle for 50% market rate especially in the internet age where these things are easily researched. Ffs just look at random ads

Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk

[hizzo3]

My take on it... There is a sucker born every minute. Each of us are responsible to ensure our own pay is fair for the work we do. If you don't, you lose, that is capitalism. Its not like today it is a hidden world. Sites like glassdoor are great for checking offers if you aren't sure. And maybe you never know, but there may be more to it. I'd stay out of it. If she is happy, then why fix what ain't broke? This isn't a belkin switch tucked away in a corner as a core switch....

[Nerm]

This isn't a belkin switch tucked away in a corner as a core switch....

[Otanx]

Also there may be other considerations that you don't know about. If I told you what my wife made you would think it is low, but she gets a lot of other benefits that others don't. Maybe that is the same with your coworker. Instead of taking cash maybe they are giving her a bigger portion of the training budget, or flex hours, or stock options, or a company car, or free health benefits, etc. So she gets less cash, but her total compensation is just fine.

-Otanx

[deanwebb]

Yeah, what if they gave her like 50% ownership of the company with profit-sharing?

Then it is YOU who is getting screwed, my friend. It is YOU.

[SimonV]

http://thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=hire_women

[NetworkGroover]

http://thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=hire_women

I completely forgot about this website!  Thank you, and shame on me!  *looks for his book on manhood*