I work in Specifically a mixed Retail/Healthcare environment.
I was hired two years ago at 11.50$ an hour to start, as a receptionist. I've since climbed through the corporate ladder and now sit as a Assistant Manager (as high as I'd like to go because I do not want to be Salaried, I work too much overtime for it to work in my favor.) I only make 17$ an hour right now.
I found out that my brand new receptionist makes 15$ an hour to start. Has no prior experience. He is planning to climb through the ranks as well, and when I got wind of this, I was upset. Then they told me my raise would be soon, and things subsided for the time being.
I got the call about my raise, and they only upped my wages by 3%. I was even more upset, and brought up the fact my coworker was making 1$ less than I was at an entry position.
Everything went quiet for about two weeks until another employee quit while I was on vacation. I went away for a week and came back to a bunch of drama filled tales of him walking out. Then I get called in to make a Formal H.R. statement about what had happened. My boss tells me it's because he quit due to me talking about my Raise and my other employees compensation in comparison to my own. I was making fair points, but the DM and my GM were both on the call that was made to make a Formal HR statement.
They tell me they really went up to bat for my 3% raise. They tell me I have no right to be upset because when I'm making my bonuses I make an extra 6$ an hour. (Since writing this hasn't happened in about 3 months cumulatively.) But they still wrote me up for “Initiating employee insubordination” even though I wasn't there and this is the first time I've ever had any issues. I was pretty sure discussing wages was my Right, but I was told I wasn't allowed to discuss with employees “beneath me.”
Am I wrong to feel like it's retaliation against me for discussing wages to write me up for another employee quitting, even if it isn't on paper?