Work Advice: My younger colleague is doing the same work for more pay

Work Advice: My younger colleague is doing the same work for more pay

Reader: A few months ago, I joined a global company with a reputation for being a nice place to work with good people.

My co-worker “Jane” started on the same day I did and is 20 years younger (she’s under 40 and I’m in my late 50s). She just shared that she’s making 20 percent more than I am for the same job and benefits. We’re both women and both work from home, although with different territories under different managers.

This didn’t sit well with me, but I assumed she just negotiated a better deal. I had my reasons for making the deal I made, and I just need to hit it out of the park this year and look for other jobs within the company. Then I consulted someone on the employee council and was told: “Yeah, that happens here.”

Meanwhile, a friend approached me about a role at her new company, offering a higher base salary. I’m exploring this new role, but I wouldn’t be if I didn’t know about the salary discrepancy between Jane and me. It’s a new business with a different product.

Assuming I get an offer from the new company, what’s my ethical responsibility to my current employer, and how do I balance that with my responsibility to myself? Would it be dangerous to mention the salary discrepancy to my manager and give him the chance to bring me up to par with Jane?

Karla: Sure, people doing the same job often earn a range of salaries based on intangibles such as their haggling skills, geographic pay differentials or market demand. But all else being equal, 20 percent seems a big discrepancy between two people entering the same job at the same level.

If this were early in your career and you were otherwise happy, I might say to stay in your lane and ask for a raise after a year of tail-busting, with a reminder about comparison being the thief of joy. But at this stage, you probably don’t have decades to spend catching up on your earning potential.

Frankly, if there’s no other job-related distinction between you and Jane, I can’t help but wonder if your ages might be an underlying factor. Age discrimination is both rampant and hard to prove, but an hour’s consultation with an employment lawyer would tell you whether it’s worth investigating that possibility.

Otherwise, this could just be a matter of “you get what you ask for.” But by that logic, if your employer was willing to pay Jane more just because she asked for it — before she even started working — surely they won’t mind giving you more if you just ask, right?

I know, that’s not how capitalism works. Salary negotiation is a “gotcha” game; you get what you ask for only at your moment of maximum leverage. Once you’re locked in, conventional wisdom says the only way to get a two-digit percentage raise is to change jobs.

But a “nice place to work with good people” might have a more flexible outlook. What you owe your employer, if anything, is an opportunity to do right by you before you bail.

Start by just asking. “My research indicates that my salary seems to be at the low end of the range [employer] pays for this position. What would you need to see from me to justify an additional X percent within the next year?” No, you shouldn’t have to offer more work, but it’s a diplomatic and effective way to keep the discussion open.

Avoid naming Jane at this stage. She’s done you a favor by revealing her private pay information; don’t repay that by dragging her into the discussion unless it becomes necessary.

If just asking doesn’t work, ask again later with leverage in the form of a better job offer. But don’t pull this trigger until Job B has made an official offer that you are ready and willing to accept. Also, make sure you’ve done your due diligence on Job B so you don’t end up highly paid but miserable.

If Job B is at your friend’s company and you value her friendship, do your best to avoid misleading her. Be transparent with her about your business motives so she doesn’t take the outcome personally and put herself out further than is prudent for your sake.

Pro tip: Check out the Work Smart salary negotiation courses from the American Association of University Women (AAUW.org) to help you find the appropriate wording when speaking up for yourself.

Speaking of jumping to a bad Job B, here’s an update from our reader who recently wondered why his old company rejected his attempts to get rehired. After he tried without success to get a response from his former manager, another ex-colleague clued him in that people who left that company were “dead” to management.

“Apparently the managers were overheard making jokes about my wanting to come back,” he said in an email. And the colleague who had said the company was looking to hire “boomerang” employees? “Just naive, I’m afraid.”

Ouch. But while the door at his former employer has closed, his extensive network has opened another: He said he is “in final stages for a new role at a company that will be a good fit.”