Hello everyone,
Background: I work at a department store and I feel that I'm currently being underpaid for the work I do. Here are some important pieces of background information:
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Company Hierarchy. The department manager runs the department I work in (head honcho pretty much has a few managers above him) he will be referred to as the #1 from here on. Next we have the #1's assistant he'll be called the #2. Then we have the next step down who generally can do everything the #2 does but lacks a bit of tenure, he'll be called the #3. Next is the two shift supervisors whom we'll call PICs. In between PICs and the next category are specialists that hold no authority over the lower but have more responsibility. After that we have young adults that fill the position of clerk. Finally we have parcels who are similar to clerks but are underage and as such don't do everything a clerk does.
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Pay Scale. My store is unionized and therefore we only have 3 steps for people below PICs and specialists. The steps are as follows: $16, $12.50, and $11.60. Typically people starting out get paid the $11.60, Journeymen (clerks who are pretty much on par with specialists but aren't specialized and have been with the company for a good while) are paid the $16, and anyone in-between is paid the $12.50. Furthermore, I believe there is an hour limit tied to each of these pay steps thanks to the union.
My Gripes (or why I feel I deserve a raise):
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The #2 and the PICs all say that I do amazing work, agree that I'm one of the hardest working clerks, and that I'm underpaid. I don't normally work with the #3 but he seems pleased by my work too. I rarely if ever work with the #1 because he typically opens and I close therefore he doesn't have much of an opinion of me. The #1 is also the person I would have to negotiate a raise with.
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One of my coworkers is a clerk and paid at the $12.50 step. The #2 and the PICs also say that I outperform him by a considerable margin, to the point that I almost do twice the amount of work he does. I think he is only paid this next step because he's been with the company for awhile and started at a parcel.
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I have an associate's degree and no one else in my department has a degree of any sort. Also going into my fourth year of college but still have two more years due to the postgrad work I'm doing.
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Another one of my coworkers who got hired the same day as me and at the same pay step just got a promotion to a specialist position and getting paid at $16.
Conclusion: I think I deserve to be paid about $14 but as I said before there is no such pay step due to the union. I firmly believe I should be paid than the coworker who is a clerk alongside me. Am I justified in these beliefs? Do I ask for journeyman and if I don't get it start looking for another job? How should I negotiate a raise?
Submitted July 16, 2018 at 12:00AM by TheBigRedTank https://ift.tt/2LijQWO
