Posting on my throw away because I know the company checks Reddit.
When I started in my dept 5+ years ago, the majority had been there for almost a decade, if not longer. Due to some horrible changes in management, I became the senior person this past January.
The third most senior is the youngest in the dept but the way projects got assigned he does the most work (the project didn’t used to be that bad, but it’s harder the more new people there are).
By talking about pay with each other, we learned he’s the least paid out of the entire dept, including those who have been there a couple months with no experience while he has a bachelors and has been with the company for seven years.
So leading up to me taking senior role, every single senior person has brought up how unfair it is, and management has shrugged it off. Well during our biannual review I brought it up again. Shortly before this I was approved for a lateral move, so I gave fewer cares than ever.
Boss – “You guys talk about your pay?”
Me – “Well yeah, it’s the law.”
Boss – “it’s the law you have to talk about your pay?”
Me – “No but it’s the law that we can.”
Boss – sputters and changes subject
Well, that coworker went in after me. Turns out that boss man first told him he was “well paid for his age,” to which he asked if he was well paid for his work too (no answer), then boss man tried to tell him it was unprofessional and that he shouldn’t talk about his pay. He asked if there was nothing wrong with his pay, then why not?
He is looking to move, but it just shows that you have to talk to know if they value you fairly.