What can be done if I'm below my company's salary tier? [duplicate]

Question

My boss called me into his office and happened to have his computer screen on showing the other supervisors salaries (4 total). I have the most supervisor seniority, but I am paid the 3rd lowest. I talked to the HR manager today, he looked up my salary and stated that I was a level 2 and was about $5000-6000 below the minimum for my level. That being said, he is going to try to bring me up "closer" to the level's minimum.

Guess my question would be is there anything else I can do to have my salary up to the level's minimum? I don't think in the legal sense there is anything (back pay, etc..) but it just seems a little unethical to me; especially after I was told (by HR) that they know my old boss went out of his way to screw me over and give me bad reviews. My old boss has since been moved. Any insight would be appreciated.

Answer 1

He's mentioned to you what your level's minimum is. You can do your own research to try to understand what the average market rate is for someone with your profile. If there is a big gap, you could use this, combined with any motivating highlights from your time at the company, to suggest closing more of the gap.

Answer 2

Guess my question would be is there anything else I can do to have my salary up to the level's minimum? I don't think in the legal sense there is anything (back pay, etc..) but it just seems a little unethical to me

You should handle this situation like any other raise negotiation; You tell your manager that you want an interview to discuss your salary. You explain that you have gained achievements y and you've reflected experience x at work and that you wish to receive a raise of z% which is u% from the market's average, based on a research which you should always do before a interview as such.

There's nothing unethical about you having a lower salary than someone else since you haven't requested a raise before; you wouldn't find it unethical for someone else to have a lower salary than you if that individual never asked for a higher salary.

Don't concentrate too much on your coworkers, focus on your skills and use them to get the raise you're looking for, just remember that you have to ask for it, no one is going to give you a raise just because.

Recommended reading material.

Answer 3

What can be done will depend on your company's policies, practices, current financial situation, current sales situation, and whether the CEO's dropped toast lands butter-side-up or butter-side-down tomorrow. There isn't really any general advice we can give you other than "work with your manager" and "if you really think you're underpaid, and really think you can do better elsewhere, it may -- or may not -- be time to do some exploratory job-hunting and see what folks actually offer you."

(Several years ago I was about 5% below where I should have been according to the company's mapping of job and performance to salary. My manager told me he'd try to correct that, but he couldn't push me up by more than 1% a year. Unfortunately, after the first 1% the recession hit, and I've had multiple managers since then, and the other 4% never materialized. I've chosen not to make a big deal about it. I basically like my job and I'm being paid enough for real needs (current and future); I'd just like to have the company show it appreciates my work by giving me the financial acknowledgement thereof. Next time my manager's being particularly complementary about something I've done I may bring it up just to see whether we can get something done, but I wouldn't make a stink over it right now. Your situation may be completely different, but I figure it can't hurt to provide another way of looking at it... for the next reader, if not for yourself.)