I want to preface this by saying I absolutely do not think experience is less valuable than a degree. I fully understand that someone with more experience and no degree is more knowledgeable than me with a little experience and a Bachelors degree.
I was hired as an accountant for a city right after I completed my Bachelors in Accounting 2.5 years ago. Obviously I have very little experience and I am still learning. I also did Payroll for the whole city (700-1000 employees) until about 8 months ago when they hired a Payroll Coordinator and I trained her for about 2 months before going on maternity leave. The lady they hired was actually an internal transfer; she was in Accounts Payable in the same department. She has been working for the city for 25 years but never in Payroll. She did Payroll for a small business 25 years ago before being hired by the city, so while she does have a little experience, it’s been a long time and a lot has changed.
Our pay is based on a grade and step chart. Payroll coordinator is a grade 10, which was a big promotion for her. I believe she might have an Associates in Accounting but I don’t know for sure. Accountant 1 (my position) is a grade 11. Since I’ve been there only 2 years, I’m still low on the steps. Since she has been there for 25 years, she is pretty high on the steps. As a result, she makes about $3 more an hour than I do right now. I feel in a way this isn’t fair. Yes she’s been there longer, but her previous job duties are not relatable to payroll in any way. Also, I trained her to do my job and I actually kept a couple of payroll-related job duties (month end liabilities and quarterly tax reports). This has been bugging me ever since she started (I was still running payroll so I saw her hourly rate). Would I be out of line bringing this up to my supervisor and asking for more pay?