Another MM win! Correction of salary inequity (Weird update)

[dr.girlfriend]

A year ago (July 2019) a salary inequity was created between myself and a friend/colleague...we were appointed to the exact same position on the exact same date, but for bureaucratic "reasons" (her appointment was a promotion and mine was a new appointment) she got a 10% salary increase, and I got none.  This created a big (five-figure) inequity between our two salaries, which had previously been very commensurate due to some equity adjustments in prior years.

At first I thought it was just an oversight, but in emails with our business administrators over the following month or so it became clear it was not.  In August of 2019 I scheduled a meeting with the Big Boss and raised this issue.  She kept saying it couldn't be true, but when I finally said bluntly "I know her salary.  I know my salary.  It's true." she agreed to "look into it."  That was a year ago and I never heard another word.

My annual review was a few weeks ago, and I raised this issue again.  Yesterday I got my salary letter for this fiscal year (we go July to July) and there is a BIG correction in it!  They actually seem to have "overcorrected," giving me a 15% increase even though no one was supposed to get any increases at all this year.  I was really worried about advocating...our hospital has a big shortfall this year due to COVID, and no one is getting raises or incentives or anything, and they are encouraging people to use vacation or take furloughs.  But, on the other hand, it's not my fault they futzed around for a year before addressing this, so I figured I'd take a shot.  Also, my DH went to part-time in this COVID era, and so I'm also not in the mood to be generous and leave money on the table.  I'm wondering if they thought a 15% increase would make me happy enough to not try to get the correction retroactively for last fiscal year (they would be right about that).  Cynically, I think it also looked really bad in the current climate that the only difference between myself and my colleague is that I am a PoC.

Anyway, another thanks to MM, because I think I wouldn't do any of this stuff without you guys!  Also, a plug to try to talk openly with coworkers about salaries if possible because I think it really helps everyone in the end.  I was lucky because we were friends beforehand -- we trained together and I actually recruited her to come work here (she even introduced me to my husband 18 years ago!) -- so it was easy to check in.

Weird update:  Okay, so it turns out that they actually bumped my salary up in NOVEMBER 2019 and just never thought to let me know, and *that's* why my July gross pay was the same!  Ridiculous, but I guess awesome that I got it for most of this fiscal year without knowing?  I probably figured any bump in my take-home was due to maxing out on social security withholding, which normally happens near the end of the year, and the new appointment came with a whole new payroll system that I've never quite figured out how to see my paystubs in.

[sexycarrot]

Congratulations! Good for you for pushing through. You deserve it.

[mommin]

That is awesome! Congrats! DH's company delayed their COL raises by a few months back in 2018 and instead of giving the raises retroactively they decided to increase the percentage instead. Mathematically, this is better for the employee than the employer (compounding raises year over year and all that) but DH just took the extra money and shook his head. If the big company couldn't figure that out he didn't want to tell them.

[simpsongal]

That’s awesome- I’m glad they did the right thing!!

Unfortunately, I tried the same years ago but the rules for fed salaries are ridiculous. but I did keep things relatively balanced on my last hiring action. I could have offered way higher but it would have put the new hire way above commensurate pay in the group. HR and my bosses didn’t seem to care about potential inequity. I know it’s poison to a group (our salaries are public) and just plain unfair.

[ellipses84]

That’s awesome for you! My mom works in higher ed and had the same thing happen recently. She was surprised but glad they finally corrected it.

I’ve definitely seen a push from MM people on social media to talk openly about salaries. The only ones that benefit from employees not talking are the companies.

[keh2oblue]

Congratulations and way to advocate for yourself! I took a 9 month course entitled “Finding Your Voice” a couple years ago and also pitched my case for a year for a title change/increase. I didn’t end up getting either, though I did end up with an extra 3%, but I was proud of myself for going for it, and you should be, too.

[flatlan]

Congrats!! I’m proud of you for advocating for yourself!

[dr.girlfriend]

Hmmm...except now I looked at my paycheck for this month and it was exactly the same for gross pay. And then I looked at the offer letter and it specifically mentioned the salary change was effective July 1. Hopefully they'll apply it retroactively next month? I'll wait at least until my paycheck at the end of August to see.

[winecat]

dr.girlfriend- I hope they fix it!

[tcu2003]

Congrats - that’s awesome! Way to advocate for yourself!

[SusanBAnthony]

Aug 1, 2020 21:35:46 GMT -5 dr.girlfriend said:

Hmmm...except now I looked at my paycheck for this month and it was exactly the same for gross pay. And then I looked at the offer letter and it specifically mentioned the salary change was effective July 1. Hopefully they'll apply it retroactively next month? I'll wait at least until my paycheck at the end of August to see.

This happened to me and an email to my HR person got it fixed right away. They probably just didn't process the he paperwork in time.

[dr.girlfriend]

Aug 3, 2020 6:28:47 GMT -5 SusanBAnthony said:

Aug 1, 2020 21:35:46 GMT -5 dr.girlfriend said:

Hmmm...except now I looked at my paycheck for this month and it was exactly the same for gross pay. And then I looked at the offer letter and it specifically mentioned the salary change was effective July 1. Hopefully they'll apply it retroactively next month? I'll wait at least until my paycheck at the end of August to see.

This happened to me and an email to my HR person got it fixed right away. They probably just didn't process the he paperwork in time.

Thanks, that's reassuring!