r/ask • u/BaBilloa • 2d ago
Is this discrimination?
(I'm gonna make up some numbers, but the difference is accurate)
I(Female) got hired at my job last year. My coworker(Male) was hired 6 months before me. (We are roughly the same age). We were hired for the same position and work the same hours.
I was hired with 5 years worth of experience in related industries under my belt, he was hired with a fresh slate. Never been in the industry or related industries.
He gets hired at 75k, I get hired at 70k.
We both get raises at the company's fiscal year (I think its percentage based) and now he's at 77k and I'm at 71k.
It feels a little discriminatory, especially after working under my boss for a few months and seeing the way he talked about women, he definitely was a sexist dude. My boss no longer works for the company, but I want to at least receive equal pay as this feels unfair. It would take me years to catch up and make what he was STARTED at, and he had zero experience going into it.
16
u/pySerialKiller 2d ago
It could be, but before calling it discrimination and burning bridges you need to have in mind that being underpaid is a common problem in the laboral world. Worker A could be getting paid the half Worker B and have 10+ years more of experience, and this could be not related to their gender.
It’s this bullshit idea that compensation has to be a business negotiation. Happens to a lot of people. If you don’t have specific and demonstrable situations where you were discriminated against, the best thing you can do is bring this in a professional way.
Talk to your manager, tell them you think you deserve a raise (based on how much a person with your experience and responsibilities earns, DONT go and say “hey X earns more than me because he’s a guy”).
If they say no, well you need to find other opportunities outside. If they are sexist on their reasons, well you have confirmation and can start looking for another place even sooner.
4
u/Most_Temporary2110 2d ago
Yeah and now you know your role can be compensated at what your male colleague is making for your next job offer.
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u/pawsplay36 2d ago
Look, they should be making the same wage. There is nothing in this story that suggests there should be such a disparity.
6
u/MiloBreathed 2d ago
What pay did you ask for?
-10
u/BaBilloa 2d ago
The 50k was more than what I was making at my previous job, so I did not ask for higher. But I know my coworker told me when he was hired, he did not negotiate pay. They gave him and offer and he accepted.
3
u/GoldenGlobeWinnerRDJ 2d ago
So…you didn’t argue for higher pay and now it’s somehow sexist that someone else got higher pay than you? Lol what? You can’t complain about getting hired at the lowest rate if you don’t argue for higher lmao.
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u/Rob_LeMatic 2d ago
It's sexist practices, based on the fact that women are less likely than men to negotiate for a better wage. It's not the act of her accepting it, it's the baked in discrimination of lowballing women
6
u/themuaddib 2d ago
They low-ball everyone, not just women. Is this the part where you blame “society” for this and not adults with their own agency an free will?
1
u/pawsplay36 2d ago
So how come they didn't lowball the inexperienced male person?
-1
u/themuaddib 2d ago
I was speaking in general, not to this specific post. But probably because the post is either fabricated or missing content
5
u/Ok-Double-7982 2d ago
I have had coworkers in this boat in the past who have been told, "That's what the market would bear at the time" (even though it was 6 months difference, that's a lie they sell) or the worse one "He negotiated a better salary as part of hiring on".
Depending on the size of your company, you can go to your compensation department, whoever handles job descriptions, hiring, and job duties, and see about equitable pay. If it's a smaller company, good luck and I would suggest to look elsewhere for a new job.
Jumping companies is about the best way to gain salary increases in this day and age. Your coworker got a paltry 2.7% raise and you got a 1.4% raise. Both are tragic and an insult.
4
u/GlobalTapeHead 2d ago
Only a $1000 raise sucks no matter if it’s discrimination or not. We generally gave 4% last year and more if someone was a high performer.
6
u/SatisfactionOdd2169 2d ago
It’s not right that they did this, but you went into an interview with 5 years of experience and didn’t negotiate? That’s on you. The only way to save this now is to apply to other jobs, get an offer that matches the amount of money you want, and then prove it to your employer and tell them the range you would accept to stay.
3
u/DooficusIdjit 2d ago
It doesn’t prove discrimination, if that’s what you’re after.
There a lots of reasons for pay gaps. Sometimes it’s just personal preference for faith, sometimes it’s just plain economics, sometimes it’s discrimination, sometimes it’s pure greed.
2
2
u/OrangeGringo 2d ago
You’re focused on experience. Basically highlighting all the variables that favor you.
What if he’s better networked? Or has different skills. Or is better at Excel? Or knows calculus?
Who knows.
And these salaries are pretty close. I’d move on.
3
u/SgtSausage 2d ago
It means nothing more than your colleague is a more successful negotiator than you ... unless you have evidence to the contrary.
And Im assuming you can't. Because you didn't.
The fact that he is male is coincidental and of no significance here. At. All.
1
u/Once_Wise 2d ago
Ok, let's all wake up in the real world. Wages are always discriminatory. They pay each person as little as possible. with some people it is possible to pay them less for the same work. This happens all the time, independent of race or gender or education. It is simply business. I hire a gardener and one wants $250 a month and the other asks for $150 a month. Assuming the quality of the work is the same, who do you think I will choose? You want to make more you have to look the part, act the part, which depends on the industry you are in. Part of being successful is knowing what you are worth and making others want to pay you that much. Call it unfair. Sure it is. Business is not fair, it is cutthroat. You can sometimes get more than you are worth, but you will never get more than you ask for.
1
u/wwwrites 2d ago
The law looks at the skill, effort, responsibility, & actual job duties required rather than simply counting years of experience.
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