I caught up with cooks from a locally owned but massively popular restaurant that I left a little over 2 months ago and during tax time they found out the 20 year old that was part time for 2 years was at $14 even after becoming full time in January, her dad that was with the company for at least 3 years was at $12, the other cook (mid 20's f) that was there for I think 2 years was at $18, me (26/ftm) and another ex employee(30's/f) that started last summer were at $16, and their long term dishwasher turned prep person is at $20
That restaurant is currently under investigation for mishandling tips too
When I worked hospital food service we found out that they pulled a sneaky move and made the one neurotypical cishet white guy think he was making more than everyone else who was some mixture of brown, visibly queer, and/or clearly neurodivergent but he was actually making less
When I was with a big name tire company I was at $16, the 19 year old who knew more about cars than me was at $13.50, and the other guy they hired into our entry level/no experience required position was at $15 and if I wasn't just biding my time there until I got the surgery I wanted with their insurance I would have gone to management with them and spoken to them about it
With a bakery I made $2 more than the person hired as my manager which is why I put up with doing as much management as I did and she refused my offer to go to the guy who hired us to get her wage fixed
If you make more than someone in your position and it's not justified or if you just barely pay your bills and wonder how they squeeze by on what they make go to your boss with them and talk about it. If they threaten to fire you over it document things and if they are dumb enough to put that as your termination reason then you have an easy case with the NLRB
Also, periodically check what your job is offering in their ads to make sure you're making at least that much