Bias may cause pay discrepancy

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Dear Joan:
My annual performance review will be coming up soon. I would appreciate your thoughts on how I might approach a particular situation.

I work as a product manager at a 30 million-dollar manufacturing firm. Approximately one year ago, I accidently received one of my co-worker's paychecks, which I mistakenly opened.

I have been with this company 5 years, my co-worker has been with the company 2 years. We both have similar educational backgrounds and, from what I can tell, have comparable job responsibilities. We also both sought jobs with this firm through headhunters. In other words, this company did not have to entice us away from other firms. The only difference that I can see in this situation is that my co-worker is a man. As such, he makes approximately $15,000 more annually than I do.

In addition, I supervise a salesman for my product line who makes twice my salary. I understand that people in sales often earn more than people in management. The problem is that 25 percent of the sales are accounts that I pursued without any involvement of the salesman. And yet, he makes the commission. By the way, none of the other product managers have direct sales responsibilities.

I tried approaching both of these subjects with my boss to no avail. I also went to personnel and they did an "investigation" into the salaries of the other product managers and said that my salary was "somewhere in the middle" of my co-workers, whatever that means.

I'm tired of struggling financially while one of these men has a wife who stays home and the other one has a wife who works part-time. I feel jealous and resentful that they can enjoy financial security and be compensated well on the job. What should I do?

Answer:
Either you are not being fairly treated or you are missing some important facts. Let's take a look at the fairness issue first.

Over the last year, a few women have told me that their bosses said, "You are making less than Pete because you are single and he is the breadwinner," "Sam is divorced and has to make child support payments, so he needs more money," "Your husband is a doctor. Why do you need more money?"

Surprising isn't it?

Obviously, in order to be fair, pay must be based on the job itself instead of individual family circumstances. If the opposite were true, all single working mothers would automatically qualify for a raise.

It's possible that you are being discriminated against but since the personnel department investigated and found your pay to be fair, relative to your co-workers, you need to pursue more facts before you jump to conclusions. For instance, your job could be smaller in size and consequently, his salary range could be higher. Also, performance could be a factor.

Job evaluations measure the size of a job in relation to other jobs in the organization. The size and pay of jobs are determined by several factors such as: independent decision making authority; the amount of money you are accountable for in your budget; the kinds of educational background and experience your position requires; the technical or specialized skills required for the job; the number -and kind- of people you supervise; the interdependencies you have with other jobs, and the amount of money you directly or indirectly bring into the company.

For instance, you need to point out to the personnel department and your boss that you are responsible for the sales function for your product- a significant responsibility and something for which the other managers have no accountability.

Since you not only supervise a salesperson but you are responsible for 25 percent of the profits in your product line, your salary should either reflect those responsibilities or you should be entitled to some portion of the commission you bring in on your own.

Bring up the issue at your performance review and request a re-evaluation of your job by the personnel department. Suggest that since the other product managers have different responsibilities than you, it may not be appropriate to lump all of you together.

Be persistent in your requests and ask to see the job descriptions of your peers so that you can understand how your job duties compare. Ask your boss to tell you exactly what the salary range is for you and the other product managers. (He won't be at liberty to share their exact salaries.) If all of you are in the same range, ask why there is such a large discrepancy.

Examine your performance carefully. Perhaps your peer is a much stronger performer. Ask your boss if there is anything wrong with your performance that he has not told you about. Remember, length on the job is not as important as size of the job, impact on the bottom line and outstanding performance.

If you discover that your job is the same or bigger than your peers; you are an excellent performer; you have similar credentials and former experience; you have been there longer and, on top of all that, you have responsibility for sales and are still paid $15,000 less than your male peer, something is wrong. Then your choice will be to push hard for equity, consult with an attorney or leave. If you don't resolve this issue, your resentment will eventually spill over into your attitude and performance.

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