How To Deal With a Fucking-Big Pay Gap
So I was at the pub after work a while ago and one of the guys in my team was there. He started big-upping himself before telling me how much money he was on. Exactly how much. And it is $65,000 MORE than me AND we have the same role. He is a total douche by the way and I know I do a way better job. We’ve been here about the same amount of time but he left the business for a while to kick around South America before bouncing back here again.
Now that I know about the gap, it’s been making me feel more and more negative and resentful towards my manager and the company. TBH, it’s eating me up. What’s worse is that 80% of the staff is female and the business is largely run by women – including my manager, the head of HR, and the business owner!! They are constantly promoting female empowerment and how inclusive and positive the company culture is which is just a TOTAL joke in reality. I couldn’t be more disappointed and I feel really stuck. I love my job but I just can’t get past this. What should I do?
Hey Lady,
Well, I haven’t felt this incensed in a long time. I am desperate to know where you work as I would like to out this place and have their 80% female workforce all wise to this eye-watering injustice, before setting fire to its HQ. But like most acts of amateur vigilantism, that would be satisfying for all of a few minutes, so I’ll try and wrestle down my rage in order to focus on you, glorious, soon-to-feel-more-empowered you.
First, let me also be hyper-rational for a sec: are you as sure as you can be that this intel is accurate? Was The Douche on the beers and just big-upping himself? Only you can answer that so let’s move on. You say yours is a privately owned company which makes this situation a tricky one and despite our shared desire to torch the place, we must be practical. Which means that you, dear Lady, must accept that no matter what the outcome, speaking up could be a career-limiting move. Sad but true; they will not thank you for shining a giant spotlight on this explosive intel. And even if they pay up, it’s likely they’ll hold a perma-grudge that will be tattooed across your employee file.
In a (twisted) way, it’s kinda like telling a friend their partner has been cheating on them; he/she/they will never look at you like this 😍 again, nor will your friendship ever be quite the same. Yet in your case, you also know that doing nothing and stewing in professional silence will only curdle your guts and twist that beautiful brain of yours. In fact, this is a caps-lock moment: IF YOU JUST QUIETLY ACCEPT THIS, IT WILL EAT AWAY AT NOT JUST YOUR FUTURE BANK AND SUPERANNUATION ACCOUNTS BUT THOSE OF EVERY GAL (AND FUTURE GALS TO COME).
Doing nothing is not an option so here are a few ways to take your power back:
1. Do a brand audit
I’m talking your brand. Update your LinkedIn profile before you make any kind of move. Make sure all your wins/skills/extra-curricular amazingness is au courant and then sit back and admire yourself for a second. Now search up The Douche’s LinkedIn profile but do this in stealth-mode obvs. [If you don’t have top-shelf LinkedIn privileges, jump onto a friend’s to check him out without outting yourself.] Get crystal on his experience, skills, and time on the tools comparative to your own. I bet you $65k that HR attempt to justify the gap by saying he is brighter, shinier, and more experienced than you. Be ready to upturn that bullshit quick smart.
2. Check your market rate
It’s never a bad idea to get wise on where your salary sits vs the current market rate. Spend some time on recruitment sites like Glassdoor and SEEK or touch base with a recruiter. However, it’s the epic gender pay gap that is the pearl in this festering oyster and this should be the prime focus of your conversation.
It will be near impossible to remain in a place run by women who silently screw other women while loudly demanding empowerment for all.
3. Book in a strategic sit down with your manager
This may seem pointless given she has essentially enabled this great salary divide but I would encourage you to do so, if only to tick the professional-courtesy box. It doesn't hurt to have committed a mini highlight reel of your wins and team contributions* to memory and have it ready to roll if you need to remind her of your awesomeness. But remember, eye on the pearl.
Calmly present the facts that have come to your attention (do NOT mention the pub scenario) and stress that you wanted to come to her first. She will probably drill you for your source. Dodge that neatly by staying on course and asking her why there is such a significant pay gap given you share the same role and have similar tenure. [Yeah, except for the fact that you didn’t leave and boomerang back at significant cost to the company!] End with a question that hangs loudly in the air and requires a response. Like: So where do you suggest we go from here?
4. We go to HR
Be gracious no matter what; HR types appreciate that as they’re constantly faced with a lot of misdirected aggro and all shades of uncontrolled meltdowns on faces that have never played poker before. Not you. You are a poker champion. Thank those assembled for their time and explain that this has been difficult for you to raise with them. Be agreeable but assertive. [My HR friend Ruby told me to tell you that]. Deliver the facts very clearly, concisely, and unemotionally. Do not burst a blood vessel. Do not mention the Equal Opportunity Commission, the Ombudsman, or that your Dad is a lawyer.
If HR don’t present you with some satisfactory next steps (like: ker ching!) then you can politely request a formal investigation into this gender pay gap. [HR friend Ruby told me to tell you that too]. If that sounds a bit heavy for you or your style of workplace, then simply suggest that you think this situation requires further review and ask for a date when they think that could happen. And pause. While HR and management scramble like fashion interns at a sample sale, keep your head down, yourself to yourself, and focus on doing the excellent job you already do, powered by the knowledge that you’re taking action.
5. Remind yourself that you backing you will always be your best move.
And in this instance, backing you is backing women, everywhere. Because the latest figures** show that — brace yourself — the goddamn gender pay gap has widened in the last year to 14.2%; women working full-time are earning $261.50 less per week than men, and it will take another 26 years to completely slam it shut. [Let’s all pause for a sec to fully process just how completely shit this is…]
Now, time for another reality check: this story may not end with an extra $65k p.a. in your bank account and a simultaneous spike in your super fund. I really hope it does. However, there’s a chance you could find yourself deeply dissatisfied with their response and quickly seeking a career outside of this faux-empowerment empire. Good! It will be near impossible to remain in a place run by women who silently screw other women while loudly demanding empowerment for all.
Once you’ve secured that shiny new gig, don’t leave this one before politely sharing your disillusionment during the last dance that is your exit interview. If it were me, I’d go one step higher and do the same with the CEO, if she’s relatively accessible or you have any kind of relationship. She needs to know about this appalling salary gap…and even if she knows, she needs to know that you know, you know?
If you don’t feel comfortable asking for face time, write your CEO a note thanking her for the opportunity to work for the company. And neatly explain how you’re reluctant to leave but feel you must in order to chase your dream: working for a company that really, truly, actively empowers its own women before all others. A company where a woman will be paid as well, if not better than a poorly performing, professionally indiscreet man.
Kind Regards. And mic drop.
*FYI for the rest of you: https://www.peptalkher.com is a cute little app designed by former journo Meggie Palmer who is determined to help us all close the gender pay gap and it’s totally worth a download. It prompts you to track your work wins as you win them so you’re ready at all times for these kinds of scenarios. LOVE this for us.
** Source: The Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA), August, 2021.
Image: © Irving Penn
