Hi all— this is a vent session, but I’d be super appreciative of some advice.
Last June, I started at a new company. I initially tried to negotiate my salary knowing it was under market average, but was told the company enforces equal pay per a position (aka me and two others make the same amount, it’s a small company). I accepted it anyways, because it still was a huge pay bump for me. Fast forward to the start of 2022 and my two coworkers and I (one on my team, one on a different team, and I’m close with both coworkers but they aren’t close with each other) start discussing how we are paid under market average. My coworker and I on my team go to my boss to request a market adjustment, and our other coworker goes to their boss for theirs. The two of us mention to our boss that we “think so and so coworker on the other team is also going to their boss regarding raises” (since it’s pay transparency, we figure, this doesn’t matter since regardless we will all get the same pay and helps get the point across of a market adjustment for the role rather than just a raise) Fast forward to today, and the coworker on the other team texts me I need to ask for more money, and I should be asking for market average “at MINIMUM.” They won’t tell me how much they got, but that their raise went through and has already taken effect and emphasized market average as minimum. (Which means more than a 30% raise) They also told me to not tell my other coworker on my team or my boss this info, because apparently my boss already went to their boss saying we were in a “coup” over raises and doesn’t want to stir the pot further (unsure how that’s possible if we are an EQUAL pay company with TRANSPARENCY) but acknowledged that I had way more experience than them and been putting in far more hours (even though they’ve been with the company for almost two years longer) and should use this info to advocate for more money and know it’s not impossible. Meanwhile, my raise is still “under review with HR likely through May” according to my boss. So what do I do with this information while respecting my coworker? I feel like my boss is sabotaging our raises if my other coworker’s boss already helped them get their raise and it’s more than my coworker and I are asking for on our team. (My boss made a few comments about how this is more than they made coming into work after grad school with another degree) I’ve just been thinking about asking for an update from HR and asking if “equal pay per role is still enforced by HR” to hope that implies I know something without saying it explicitly. Do I go back and just randomly request more money? Do I stay quiet and wait to see what happens even though I am frustrated my coworkers raise has already gone through? Do I loop in my coworker on my team for a salary update from our boss or just go at it alone now? Thoughts?