On jobs and wage gaps.

[agent_dani]

As you may or may not know, I'm presently employed by a state government by way of one of that state's universities. An effect of this is that many things about my job are legally public information, including annual pay. A local newspaper has decided they will query this each fiscal year (FY - runs 1-JUL through 30-JUN) and post it. For the past couple years I've used this to check on the personnel in my department and see where I stand.

This year, in general, the pay gap in the department was reduced. In fact, it shrank for all but one person...me. As it now stands, on average (arithmetic mean) my coworkers are paid nearly 40% more than I am, with the next lowest being 26% more than I am. Putting this into calendar terms, in order for me to have earned the average pay for my department in FY 2010-11 I must work until October 18 of FY 2011-12. Nice birthday present, that. (If you remove my salary from the calculation then the date is November 13.) It's enough that if I had the difference between my salary and my next lowest coworker I could pay for surgery within 3 years.

I've asked about it in the past and been told there is nothing that can be done. Thus, the approach I am taking is to apply for other jobs and try to get out of there. It's clear that, as long as I am in that department, I'll face different rules (i.e. if I go to lunch with coworkers and it takes over an hour I get a reprimand and they do not) and less pay than my coworkers.

One coworker asked me if I thought it was discrimination. I'm honestly not sure.

Comments

[sabowin.livejournal.com]

It very likely to be discrimination, but could probably also be legit. What is the pay scale based on? I could see a scenario where every other person had 10+ years of seniority on you, and that's why your pay is lower, or if everyone else had higher levels of education/certification, or other legit differences pay might be based on. My co-worker, who is male, and I do very similar things for slightly different areas of the department (he focuses on AR, I focus on AP, we both do a bunch of general accounting and pseudo-supervising of the two who do both AP and AR), but he makes 45% more than I do. I have more seniority in the company (and in the career), but he has a degree, so until I get my degree in December, I'm letting it go for that reason, but if the discrepancy doesn't get resolved soon thereafter, I'll be asking some "interesting" questions.

Good luck!

[agent_dani]

I do have the fewest years as a state employee, but comparing the others it's all over the map, e.g. the next least for years of state service is tied with the one with the most for second-highest salary and is ahead of two with many more years of state service. I also have a higher level of degree completed than that person (he went for his Bachelor's and did not complete it; while that is also true of me I did complete an AA along the way.) That person also has fewer years of industry experience than me - we both began our careers about the same age but he is several years younger than me.

Currently, it's based on the banding classification of my position, which is really the tail wagging the dog. In a reorg I was moved out of my previous position and given an entirely new job description but salary was untouched (my pay was on par with coworkers in the previous department, but I no longer do what I did there.) This is a common situation in the state system: that if the person isn't changing positions by their own volition then they retain the pay of the previous position. It has gained a lot of public attention over the years due to situations where the reverse happens, i.e. a manager no longer is but retains their previous position's salary (that is the case with one of my coworkers - he was my manager before the reorg and is currently paid 58% again my salary.)

Edit to fix a couple errors in sentence structure.

[cmcmck.livejournal.com]

This side of the pond it certainly would be discrimination and illegal.

[rleyser.livejournal.com]

As I recall, your treatment by your manager started before you transitioned, so I don't think it could be considered discrimination.

Lousy management? Oh hell yes. A reason to talk to HR? Probably. But based on discrimination. Based on general unfair employment treatment.

But I am not a lawyer. Does your campus have a legal aid or other type thing for students/staff?

[agent_dani]

I'm not certain it's necessarily either/or, but that fact is definitely why I'm not going toward that conclusion. There are some things that have become more restrictive in the recent months, though.

I need to talk to our HR person about an unrelated matter anyhow...