My organization (a hospital, the kind that endlessly advertises all the do-good work they’re orchestrating on local television stations) is notorious for underpaying long-term employees.
I’m a program coordinator at my organization, been with the organization six years. They just hired another program coordinator. I’m 99% sure she is making more than me. Would it be totally crazy of me to ask her if she’s willing to tell me her pay rate? I would tell her up front that it is TOTALLY LEGAL to talk about pay, and that I promise not to mention to management who told me.
I know a lot of people would just tell me to leave, if I feel so underpaid. But I have a pretty bad anxiety disorder that makes me terrified of job interviews! I also have a mostly nice manager, flexible work schedule, slow-ish work pace, and generally friendly coworkers.
This is how bad the underpaying is, though:
A coworker told me this story. She applied for an internal position and was accidentally cc-ed on an internal email about pay. In it, HR was trying to decide between her and another candidate. They said they would pay her x amount of money, and that they would give the external candidate four dollars an hour more.
She told HR she had seen the email. They replied by saying that since she had seen the internal memo, they would offer her 70 cents per hour more. That she would never get another offer like this. She declined the internal role.
They suck!
Anyways, if you have any advice (besides to just quit), lemme know