Colleague doing same job has double my pay..

I work with 2 others my age earning 10-15k more than me for the same job. One's been here 6 years, one 3 years and myself nearly a year.

Salary has nothing to do with ability, it's what you were on before you came here. I was on a poor rate and they took advantage of it, but now i'm in a position to look at 30k a year jobs elsewhere.
 
I don't think it is correct to say salary has nothing to do with ability, while there might be some favouritism or subjective bias in dishing out bonuses and/or pay rises (and perhaps other factors like someone leaving and so making sure the remaining person with skill X is taken care of etc..) the top performing people will tend to get better payrises and better chances at promotion - but sure, it certainly isn't the only factor

there generally isn't much harm in asking for more when moving jobs or getting promoted or even within a job where you feel under paid - generally the worst case is simply them saying no, on the other hand you can end up with additional pay which you'd not have got if you hadn't asked/pushed for it.... I'd say moving jobs is a key area where pushing for a bit more can be the equivalent to a couple of year's worth or standard pay rises or so... and of course the following jobs are often partly based on your previous salary - so a couple of jobs down the line from graduation you can be several years further ahead in terms of pay than someone who just accepted what they were given and perhaps a decade or so further ahead than someone who not only accepted what they were given but also just stayed in the same place and just got standard annual increases.
 
Loves Love Island said:
Well that is nonsense, it is his business whether he's paid appropriately.
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Well duh.

What’s none of his business is the salary of a co worker. Particularly one that has clearly not revealed it.

It’s only as difficult as you make it, you’re either happy doing what you’re doing for the pay or you aren’t.
If you aren’t, ask for more or leave. You cannot use “Well X gets paid Y and they do the same”

That is nonsense.
 
HoneyBadger said:
Well duh.

What’s none of his business is the salary of a co worker. Particularly one that has clearly not revealed it.

It’s only as difficult as you make it, you’re either happy doing what you’re doing for the pay or you aren’t.
If you aren’t, ask for more or leave. You cannot use “Well X gets paid Y and they do the same”

That is nonsense.
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Why isn't it his business once he's got that information? It is an additional data point regarding what the company is prepared to pay someone in that position. And he absolutely can use it, it is a legitimate point to make and if he has the correct figures then they know full well there is an issue there.
 
Loves Love Island said:
Why isn't it his business once he's got that information? It is an additional data point regarding what the company is prepared to pay someone in that position. And he absolutely can use it, it is a legitimate point to make and if he has the correct figures then they know full well there is an issue there.
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Rather than racing to counter argument, think about what you’re saying.

Hint: You’re wrong.

As I know you’ll be racing to reply to this, I wouldn’t bother as I’m really not interested in your POV on this subject moving forward.
 
HoneyBadger said:
Rather than racing to counter argument, think about what you’re saying.

Hint: You’re wrong.

As I know you’ll be racing to reply to this, I wouldn’t bother as I’m really not interested in your POV on this subject moving forward.
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Perhaps you could do the same given you provided no argument there.

Lets say you buy a house, you're about to put in an offer you're other wise happy with but then you note the identical house next door just sold for 50k less. Following your logic this is "none of your business" and you should just submit the offer you're happy with - IMO you've got yourself another data point and you perhaps might want to reassess what you're happy with given that data point. I'd argue that knowing that data point is now relevant to you and ignoring it could cost you money.

Sure house prices are public knowledge anyway but the principle is there - if you like then we can substitute for another example like buying something from a supplier you've not dealt with before - you were happy with X but then you find out your competition is paying 0.7X - again following your logic you were happy and that additional data point is "none of your business".

It is quite a silly approach, why ignore additional data that can help you?
 
Loves Love Island said:
Perhaps you could do the same given you provided no argument there.

Lets say you buy a house, you're about to put in an offer you're other wise happy with but then you note the identical house next door just sold for 50k less. Following your logic this is "none of your business" and you should just submit the offer you're happy with - IMO you've got yourself another data point and you perhaps might want to reassess what you're happy with given that data point. I'd argue that knowing that data point is now relevant to you and ignoring it could cost you money.

Sure house prices are public knowledge anyway but the principle is there - if you like then we can substitute for another example like buying something from a supplier you've not dealt with before - you were happy with X but then you find out your competition is paying 0.7X - again following your logic you were happy and that additional data point is "none of your business".

It is quite a silly approach, why ignore additional data that can help you?
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The main point as you say is house prices are public knowledge, salaries are not. The OP doesn't even have proof, he's just "come to believe" he's paid a lot more. He's also no idea of the other persons starting salary, experience, knowledge etc. They may be doing the same role, but are they doing it at the same level?

You can compare your salary to the average in the job market, that's the best way of seeing if you're under or overpaid, comparing it to colleagues nearly always causes upset and unrest in one of the parties involved.

You talk of data points, but data points should be based on actual hard data, not guesstimates.
 
AHarvey said:
The main point as you say is house prices are public knowledge, salaries are not.
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No that isn't the main point, it was the principle being illustrated there and like I said substitute in the supplier example instead if required...

The OP hasn't provided further details about how he's come to this knowledge. If it is a colleague he works with then he'll have some idea of whether they're working to the same level - I mean if they're two developers say then they probably inspect each others code and or fix bugs in code previously developed by each other etc..

As for proof, he doesn't need it and the employer isn't forced to match it in the first place - how does proof help here if he knows the figure? The employer is also well aware of the figure too.
 
He doesn't need proof that a data point you are telling him to use is accurate? if you can't prove it's accurate you may as well not use it. Using your supplier suggestion, again, agreements between suppliers and clients are often confidential so that wouldn't be public knowledge like house prices are.

I've worked with and managed people who think they are the dogs danglies, in reality, they are sub-par and despite criticising everyone else's work actually have no idea on what level they or anyone else is working at.

You don't think proving data points is important, you are basing your argument on things like house prices and supplier contracts when in reality you've no idea on the reality of the situation and only the biased side of the OP.

As @HoneyBadger said, I'm out, pointless discussing it.
 
Why are you asking a question that has already been answered? Yes he doesn't need proof in this situation - you've avoided answering my question "how does proof help here if he knows the figure?"

I've used house prices and supplier contracts to illustrate my point/highlight that the statement that this is none of his business is flawed.

It isn't pointless discussing it but it is perhaps pointless if you ignore what has been posted.
 
sentinelstrike said:
Hi,

I've come to believe that one of my colleagues who does exactly the same job as me, earns almost double what I earn, they have been with the company for 20 years, I've been there for 5. d!
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sounds fair, in 15 years you will likely be paid the same as he is now whats the issue?
 
We have a difference in pay between people that essentially do the same job.

We have those that do the bare minimum and see to go out of their way to be awkward and they get the lowest rates and then you have the guys that go way out of their way to pull you out the **** when stuff goes wrong and they get the highest rates.

Then we have the guys that go off "sick" with the slightest issue and guys that will work with an arm hanging off.
 
edscdk said:
sounds fair, in 15 years you will likely be paid the same as he is now whats the issue?
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I would expect someone with longer to service to be paid slightly more, I have issue with the difference being so huge! I often have to help this colleague with thier own work and often get none of the credit! They seem to do the bare minimum and I work my A** off!

This person also has no valid certs whereas I'm being pushed to take more exams!
 
sentinelstrike said:
I would expect someone with longer to service to be paid slightly more, I have issue with the difference being so huge! I often have to help this colleague with thier own work and often get none of the credit! They seem to do the bare minimum and I work my A** off!

This person also has no valid certs whereas I'm being pushed to take more exams!
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Simple then, without mentioning the other persons salary, approach your boss, say based on the market rate you feel you aren't being paid enough for your role, given your qualifications, and that you are having to dedicate your time to managing / helping the other person and feel you arent being compensated correctly for the role and you feel it should be closer to X figure.
 
kindai said:
Simple then, without mentioning the other persons salary, approach your boss, say based on the market rate you feel you aren't being paid enough for your role, given your qualifications, and that you are having to dedicate your time to managing / helping the other person and feel you arent being compensated correctly for the role and you feel it should be closer to X figure.
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I would never mention that I know anyone else's salary, it just gives me an idea of what my salary could become, how high to aim is my next decision.

Huge range of answers on this thread!
 
Ask your self the question: Can you see further personal growth at current company which builds on your skills and which commands a larger pay package.

If the answer is no and your just coasting at the moment then I think it's time to look for a new job anyway.

The point is, this then gives you leverage if you DO actually want to stay to tell your employer you have an offer on the table which you are thinking of immediately accepting.

Of course when they ask you how much are they offering add 3k to it and see what they have to say.

Your offer from other company will probably be more than what your currently on so your gonna get your self a nice wage increase whether you stay or leave.
 
PaulCa said:
Check your contract. Normally your salary and that of others is confidential with stated grievance policy for breach. In other words by revealing you know his/her salary you could be putting yourself in risk of a verbal or written warning. Possibly the same for them for revealing it.

I would leave his/her salary alone as none of your business and ask instead of how you can work towards a pay rise.
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Issues of confidentiality aren't here nor there, employees have the legal right to discuss salary for the purposes of determining whether "unfair pay" (gender discrimination etc) is occurring, which basically renders clauses relating to the discussion of salary moot.
 
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