by Finally pay parity?
During my annual review last week, my boss admitted that two senior managers, including myself, have been paid less than our colleagues with similar experience and backgrounds for years. I have been with the company for 12 years, starting as a junior manager and working my way up to a senior role for most of the last nine years.
I feel gutted knowing that despite my hard work and consistently great reviews, I have been underpaid for so long.
My former boss, who swapped roles with my current boss and is now our vice, is probably responsible for this, but my new boss still consults closely with him before making any decisions. While my current boss has said he plans to increase my salary to help close the gap, he has not committed to fully bringing it in line with others or addressing years of inequality.
I’m not sure what my options are at this point. I don’t want to seem too demanding, but it’s hard not to feel like I’m being too accommodating. When they admit to underpaying me so casually, they still seem to view me as going along and low risk for them. Which really makes me angry.
– Anonymously
You haven’t been too accommodating all these years – because you didn’t know you were unpaid. Let’s get that out of the way first, because it feels to me like part of you is blaming yourself for… what? The fact is that nothing from the past was your fault or within your control; It seems like the blame goes to your former boss for 1) not rewarding the quality of your work and 2) not making your salary commensurate with what other people at your level were and are making.
I’m curious how your current boss communicated the news to you that you were underpaid. Was it a slip of the tongue? A confession? Was it said apologetically? With shame or regret? I have to imagine that if your current boss revealed this information to you in an apologetic manner, it may indicate a willingness on his part to make things right.
On making things right: I’m troubled by the reluctance – or unwillingness – to fully align your salary with that of your similarly situated professional colleagues. Have you asked your current boss why he won’t make things right in this regard? Have you asked him explicitly about tackling inequality in a back-pay way?
As for your options, well, you have the right to come across as demanding or, at the very least, persistent and assertive on the matter. They’ve been paying you for years. Years! I’d be angry too (I’m already angry on your behalf). And don’t think for a second that I didn’t notice that both your former and current bosses are male, and that, based on the name in your email, you’re female. Women still earn less than men – 84 percent of what men are paid, and this is without regard to race and ethnicity – and they suffer from societal assumptions that they will harbor, thanks to the ways we are socialized as girls. (I’m writing a book about this.)
I’m curious: What did you say in response to your current boss when he told you you were underpaid? Have you taken notes? Then or after? Have you spoken to the other underpaid senior manager you work with? What did he or she say? (I’d also like to know if that person is male or female.) (Some states are moving to pass salary transparency laws. Is yours?) And again, have you asked your boss directly to make things right?
I think you should find an attorney and have an introductory discussion with him or her. And, depending on what your employer or boss says, you may want to consider looking for another job. Pay disparities can be exacerbated over the years; What may seem like a small difference in annual salary adds up to much more over the decades because you’ve just experienced it firsthand. Is your sense of being passed around, taken for granted and disrespected to the point of being reduced if your salary is brought in line – or close – to that of others? You’re still trying to discover that. But what you might find is that “accommodation” means accommodating yourself and honor your sense of self-respect. And that you are better off taking your talents elsewhere.
