This is a long one, but I am really at a loss and have a big decision to make by Monday. Using a throwaway because I plan to discuss this in detail with people who I know have Reddit and I don’t want to expose my main account.
I am a low level supervisor at a day center for elderly adults. We have been very short staffed since I was hired in early 2021 and have consistently struggled to get quality staff in the door.
The resumes I am given from our HR are absolutely atrocious and we have had countless people accept the job offers, then not pass the physical or background check. It seems like a no brainer to me that offering better wages could potentially increase both the quantity and the quality of our pool of applicants, but there has been zero feedback regarding this despite it being a constant topic of conversation and frustration amongst employees.
This week was my final straw. I had an awesome interview earlier in the week that made me feel hopeful and excited for the future of our day center for the first time in a long time, if ever. Then I get the email to make the job offer from HR and it knocked all of the wind out of me.
The rates started to go down for the last few offers that I made, but this time, it was less than the minimum of the pay range that my company advertises for this position. I had sucked it up previously and had made offers for less than what I personally find to be appropriate wages, but the offer being below the minimum advertised is something I cannot accept.
I immediately went to my supervisor and other boss one level above her with a screenshot of the advertised range (they are always CC’d in the offer emails) and expressed that I find this unacceptable and that I am not willing to call the applicant and make such an embarrassing offer. I had little feedback beyond a sickening comment about it being almost double minimum wage, which my state still holds the federal minimum of $7.25, and the minimum of the advertised range still isn’t even double, so it really wasn’t even an accurate statement.
The next day, HR followed up and asked if I was able to reach the applicant to make the offer. I responded that I had not, explained why, then explained that I had followed the chain of command by expressing my concerns where appropriate, but a resolve had not been made, and that I was still not comfortable with making such an insult of an offer.
Towards the end of the day today, I was pulled into a meeting with those two bosses and 2 HR staff were virtual. I fully expected to be written up for refusing my job duty, but could not bring myself to agree to make the call.
I was not expecting the lengths they went through to defend this situation and they were also incredibly offended that I was so insulting to HR by “questioning their expertise and professional knowledge of the market rates”. How dare I accuse them of lying and manipulating simply because I don’t understand an “average range” or that the range doesn’t account for entry level? Clearly, they don’t understand what a minimum is or what the entire idea behind posting a range implies.
I left the room for a bit while they made the call to make the job offer, then they called me back a bit later. Again, I was fully expecting a write up, but instead was offered an ultimatum. If I don’t walk in on Monday and say that I fully trust our HR and agree to make whatever offers they say in the future, even if I disagree with the offer, even if I know that false advertisement for the position is involved, then I forfeit my management position, even if it goes against every fiber of my being and my personal, core values.
They are offering me the potential for a demotion, but this situation has soured me enough to lose all respect for the company. It felt like HR didn’t want to hear any of my points and just want me to bend over and lick the boot. It isn’t that surprising, I know who HR works for, but for a company to just expect managers to essentially pledge to never question HR sounds like a recipe for disaster when things go unchecked for too long, especially when the job involves caring for people who fully rely on these employees, and my experience with the company thus far has just been balls being dropped constantly from all angles.