Is this fair? You be the judge.

~ Hetty Eliot

As you don’t recall, I have had a steady upward trajectory of wage changes over the years. In fact, they have skyrocketed with my time and experience.

I used to make 6.6% above minimum wage, now I make 1.5% (4/17/21)

I went from 6.6% to 1.5% to 18.1% above minimum wage. (8/8/21)

But it gets better.

So, for two months of experience, they give a seasonal hire 20% over minimum wage for a permanent selling position one rung above cashier.

For eleven years and three months of experience in a position with a high enough responsibility level to have access to the cash vault, timecards, paychecks, and personnel software, they give me 5.3% above minimum wage.

I’m curious if you notice any discrepancy?

I’m not unique in this situation; old-timers have gotten screwed royally with increased minimum wages. New hires are routinely hired at higher hourly rates than existing workers.

I must say, I’m impressed with myself that I managed to drop from 18.1% above minimum wage to 5.3%.

But before you tell me to request a raise, consider the following.

I don’t work nights or Sundays. I have the cushiest schedule in the building.

I’m super annoyed about the wage thing and want to bring it up. BUT I’m thinking it’s better to sacrifice the money in order to fly under the radar. If I make a fuss, they’ll start with that. They know my schedule is cushy but if I say something about how much I do, they’re going to sit down and really look at it in order to contradict me. So for now, maybe I should just swallow my anger and accept it.

I’m Catholic, so I embrace the suffering. In silence, of course, as long as everyone knows about it. They know this about me and they know that I am conscientious and will do things purely out of a sense of duty. (I think people like this are referred to as “chumps.”)

BUT it’s hurting my bottom line. So it’s more than just an ego thing, it’s a practical issue, too.

The argument against giving me more money is that customers are the most important thing and I don’t wait on customers. The store manager is incapable of realizing, after forty years in retail, that there are behind-the-scenes operational tasks that need to be performed in order to help keep the business running so that customers can be waited on at all.

Would you tell the receivers who unload the trucks that they don’t deserve a raise because they don’t wait on customers, ignoring the fact that you can’t sell anything if nothing is taken off the truck?

It’s like telling the cook in a restaurant that they can’t have a raise because they don’t serve food to customers, not recognizing that someone needs to cook the food in order to serve it to them.

(All of these examples are beside the point because none of us in these jobs are getting raises anyway.)

If my work is so insignificant, why does my direct manager call me on every one of my days off? She’s been there over a year and still calls me every day. There are days when I take up to six or seven calls and have to walk her through things just from memory. “Okay, scroll down… look at the bottom left… click the three dots… scroll down again… no, don’t click on the person icon, click the three dots… uh oh, what did you do… no, you’ve got to get out and start all over now… send me a screenshot.”

Part of me wants to snarkily say, “How come you gave so&so that much money an hour? Oh, I guess he’s a guy so he needs it more than I do.” Now, I’m not one of THOSE women, but I’m kinda curious what would happen if I opened that can of worms. Let’s see how woke you REALLY are, you stupid corporation.

58 thoughts on “Is this fair? You be the judge.”

    1. Oh, the guilt! I always feel guilty that I’m not doing enough. The thing is, I really like my direct manager. And she keeps in touch with me on her day off, too. She always calls me first thing in the morning if she’s off and I’m on, even on her vacation. I only call her if I have to make a decision that I think I should have permission for or if something really crazy happens and I just have to tell her. She always has my back even when the store manager shits on me. The scariest part of this: they’re best friends for the last three decades!!! I don’t understand!! I might have written about this, I’ll have to dig it up…

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  2. Last year I went in to negotiate a pay increase and my boss but a number on me. He said I was worth X. Then he proceeded to pay everyone more than me. I froze him out for 8 months, he knew it but he couldn’t work out why. It wasn’t about the money though, it was the fact he doesn’t value my contribution and that’s because I’m the back room. I just pay everyone, chase the debts, pay the bills, maintain the quality system etc.

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    1. No one cares about the back room people even though they’re the spine of the operation. It is upsetting to know your contributions aren’t valued. My boss doesn’t see what I do because everything gets done silently and smoothly. She only notices when I’m melting down, not when I’m handling everything so it doesn’t escalate to her.

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  3. I’m a lot like you, so it’s difficult to give advice that would go against my own feelings–why do SOME people get to toot their own horn and it works for them? Because they’re not Catholic, or the Middle-Child, or a child of an alcoholic, or some other debilitating condition. For most of my career I was a union member, so the union did all that for me. I was lucky.
    Someone, above, said to document. My experience, that is essential in order to address management–because they DO document, or at least pretend to, so their “word” is better than yours.
    Hope you find a comfort zone. At the very least, learn to quit helping them for free and not feel guilty about it. And for what it’s worth, I think if you’ve been there the longest, you should get the best schedule–it shouldn’t be a trade-off thing or a bargaining chip. Loyalty is a two-way thing.

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    1. In business loyalty counts for nothing except in rare cases. The old adage about “the one with the best notes wins” is true. Yes I did do your effing report. A week ago, dropped it in your basket at 1:15 and checked it off my list. Go through your in basket again when the coke wears off and if you still can’t find it call me back.

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        1. The company does this mind-fuck where they make you believe that you can’t make it anywhere else and they’re doing you a favor by employing you. Some people are impervious to it but the rest of us drink the Kool-aid and give up our lives for that shithole. I’m happier to see money that doesn’t belong to me than my own paycheck!

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    2. I don’t help for free, my manager does input time on my card (I don’t think enough lol), but I just want ONE day where I don’t think about that place. When my phone rings I know she just got to work. I don’t begrudge her because she helps me, too. No one toots their horns, though. There aren’t any horns to toot. Everyone’s just trying to outrun the freight-train (our boss) that’s coming to run us all over and to throw as many other people under it as possible. I think I mistitled this post. It’s not so much a question about its being fair (obviously it isn’t), the question is about whether to start something and then get the smackdown and be forced to work a schedule I don’t want. In retail, there is no such thing as paying your dues. You don’t get perks for being there a long time. In fact, you get taken advantage of even more. I haven’t been there the longest, though I’ve outlasted everyone who has to work near her.

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      1. I understand. But–answering the phone, even if you are paid for time spent ultimately, is giving a great deal of payroll advantage to the company, for which you are probably not paid enough. They need you, that’s clear. Just the more or less informal agreement to answer the phone when you’re needed is worth something right there–in addition to actual time spent. Maybe it’s akin to trading favors, but it sounds like you’re getting the short end of the stick.

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        1. Not only does everyone get the short end of the stick there (there are a lot of sticks), they beat us with them, too! She even treats her best friend like shit. Despite saying I do nothing, my boss knows she needs me. She’s actually a little afraid of my temper, believe it or not. I made her cry once. Not lying.

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              1. She continues to be a doozy. She’s never going to change. All the jobs I’ve had in my life, I must have left behind dozens like her, but thankfully the memories of the specifics have dimmed over time like algebra.

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  4. In silence, of course, as long as everyone knows about it. Your $5 is in the mail. Work out how some people get paid, the schedule, the stress level and your head will explode. Ask for a raise. Next time, after a day off of dealing with idiots, say, “I need a raise. What can you do for me?” If they say no, stop answering your phone on your day off. The first time they spend three hours on the phone with corp IT it will hit home. Whether you get a raise or not, you made your point. Day off means day off. I used to help a guy I freelanced for with his computer stuff. From wire runs to driver installs and cluster fuck chasing. One day I told him tech man rates aren’t scanning dude rates. He said never mind. He wrote a couple of $60 an hour for an afternoon checks to Jim Bobs with Computer Dude magnetic signs on their pint size pickup trucks that took four hours to do what I did in one (because they were getting paid, duh) and we went to a job based fee. He still owes me $981 pre pandemic dollars. Think I’ll ever see it?

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    1. I’m going on vacation for two weeks starting Sunday (the week before and the week after my wedding), but I’m sure my boss will be fine since I don’t do anything there at my desk anyway. I answer my phone because my manager does the same for me and I do like her very much. Even though the boss is her best friend, she has never thrown me under the bus one time and has always defended me to her. In reality I probably could get another nickel (or maybe even quarter if the planets align), but I’m thinking it isn’t worth calling attention to the fact I have a better schedule than everyone else. I do far more than my job description, but there’s a pesky line at the end of it: “All other duties as needed” and that’s where they’ll really screw me over.

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    1. That place leaves everyone speechless. Now that I’m getting more things into place in my life, I feel like I’ll have more options about what to do next. My fiancé lives literally one minute from the mall, which is helpful when you don’t drive. Right now I’m about five minutes. Transportation and being too comfortable are what has kept me there so long. But I do feel a little freer now somehow.

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  7. Acceptance is the key to happiness. Let it go. Don’t fight it, don’t swim uphill. Accept the fact that the Corporate Philosophy is to exploit workers for higher profit. You’re not an asset on the books, you’re a liability. A cost to be reduced. So instead of wasting your time keeping records and notes…detailing this and detailing that, let it go. Be happy elsewhere in your mind. The relationship between you and your employer is that you show up for a day, work…and get paid. Done deal. Concepts like “loyalty” don’t exist. Being Catholic, you would expect some grace or empathy, but nah. It’s all bottom line and there’s someone younger right behind you knocking on the door.

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    1. I think acceptance is the right answer here, not for any lofty reason but just so I can keep having Sundays and nights off. I will say though that there is no one younger than me knocking at the door because the Gen Z fuckers don’t want to work.

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        1. No, trust me, they don’t wanna work, I deal with them all the time. They show up late (if at all), stand around on their phone, and then give you an attitude. It’s a matter of character, in my opinion. Someone who wants to work works hard no matter what they’re doing. I basically volunteer there but I still work hard. They want to make $$$ for doing jack all day. They are scary. Look at a Gen Zer’s eyes sometime, they don’t look right. They’re always downturned oddly. Too much time on TikTok.

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          1. Ok I’ll start noticing. Thanks. There does seem to be a Gen z at my local Starbucks who seems to fit your description. I now go to another Starbucks ’cause this curious pronoun never get’s around to making my drink…and I ain’t got all day!

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            1. a “curious pronoun,” oh that’s too funny! I think it’s a prerequisite for working there. I will say that even though Gen Z’ers are dumb as rocks, they seem to be less cruel than their elders. (Unless you misgender them of course.) They don’t seem to have mean streaks the way I remember as a kid.

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  8. I think it is generally true that companies will pay more to attract employees than to reward or retain employees, even if the latter would actually cost less money in the long run (there have been studies that I’m too lazy to find and quote showing that this is in fact the case) – and it’s not fair. Husband works in a different industry and he’s also complained about the fact that new hires fresh out of school with no experience will get offers for almost as much if not more than what he makes as a professional with 13 years of experience.

    For my field, it’s more similar to your other observation about how the behind-the-scenes operations folks get no respect compared to the customer-facing folks, even though the customer-facing can’t do a thing without the behind-the-scenes. I swear, the marketing folks get promoted for taking a shit, whereas someone in a non-marketing role like me is basically expected to change the world or something in order to get a promotion.

    My unsolicited advice: If you want more money, look for another job. Easier to convince your current job to give you more money when you have data about what some other employer will pay someone with your skills, but honestly, if you get a job offer elsewhere, you’re probably better off just taking it. I feel like there are a lot of retail positions open. With your experience, maybe some HR admin roles could be a good fit too. Just a thought.

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    1. HR admin would probably be the way to go for me, but the name of the company on my resume is radioactive. But you’re right about leaving to make more money. In fact, some people leave, work somewhere else, and then come back for a higher position in the company. These types are only passing through, though. The store level is a dead end.

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          1. Now you have me racking my brain trying to figure out who your employer is? Amway? They have that pretty cultish MLM approach, although I have met a couple people who worked for Amway and seemed normal. You don’t have to tell me, but boy am I curious! Anyway, hopefully you have a little break from them while you get married!

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            1. When I quit or get fired, I shall tell all, but until then, all I’ll say is this–if there is only one department store that you’ve ever shopped at, this is the one. 🤫🤐

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    1. The company offers free education now, not at very good universities, but I think I might go for a certificate or two in something. Once I move out, I’m going to have a lot more flexibility in how I plan out my day.

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    2. The thought of polishing up my resume depresses me. Promote myself? Brag? Bloat the old ego again? I did this, I did that! Who cares? Nah, nah, nah. I’m a bit older and kinda done. Just waitin’ for the ticker to stop I guess.

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  10. “New hires are routinely hired at higher hourly rates than existing workers”- This is so relatable. But I do hate your Manager for calling you on your day off. Our off is holy! 🙂

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