Am I being petty?

[PVPD124]

I found out today that a co-worker that was hired more than a year after me is making 30¢ an hour more than me. I trained her and gave up my shift so she didn't have to worry about a baby sitter for her 5 year old twins.

I have 2 1/2 years on the job, maintain the department mail server and website and train all new dispatchers. I am having to file bankruptcy because my take home pay is so low after taxes and medical insurance for my wife.

Am I being petty or not. I don't feel I can go to the chief with this, because the way I found out was not exactly ethical. I looked at her paycheck and I know I shouldn't have but they came in on my shift and on the night shift we are the ones that stuff them in the envelopes. I would expect that the dispatchers that have been there longer than I have are making more because of longevity pay and more experience.

Go ahead and flame on for looking at the pay, I earned it so go ahead. After the butt chewing has stopped I'm open to suggestions on how to approach this with the chief.

[Curt581]

I found out today that a co-worker that was hired more than a year after me is making 30¢ an hour more than me.

I am having to file bankruptcy because my take home pay is so low after taxes and medical insurance for my wife.

An extra 30 cents an hour shouldn't make the difference between having to file bankruptcy or not. It's not that much more.

You're being petty.

[Cat_Doc]

It's not that much more.

About $624 a year, discounting any holiday and overtime pay. (Unless my math skills suck, which is entirely probable.)

In regards to the original question, if it bothers you that much (principal as opposed to actual financial advantage) then just submit a memorandum to the Chief through the chain of command asking for equal and fair pay. What can that hurt?

[Creeker]

If they leave you responsible... or anyone else, for that matter... to stick paychecks in envelopes, of course you are going to see others pay. If it was a state secret, the people in personnel would be doing it before it gets to you.

That being said, I worked with dozens of cops who started much later than I did with fewer credentials, less training and education whose starting pay was higher than mine was as a Senior Deputy. The standing joke was if we wanted a pay raise, we'd have to quit and be rehired. The only thing that ever benefited us was when the County twice did a "Salary study", which each cost them a lot of $, and they discovered that we were being paid too little... which was a real big surprise, and most of our pay jumped quite a bit... I think I went from $12 and hour to $15.50 in the biggest adjustment. But the newer hires were still coming in with the bigger bucks.

[txinvestigator1]

Your displeasure/anger is misplaced.

You are filing bankruptcy because you live above your means. (I imagine if something catastrophic had happened, you would have listed it)

If you could not live on your income, you should have changed your employment and/or standard of living.

It matters not what others around you make. The question is are you being paid a fair wage for the job you do. Going to the chief and complaining that someone else is making more than you or that you cannot live on your pay is not a good way to get a raise.

Would $624, before taxes, have kept you from bankruptcy?

http://www.daveramsey.com/

[srz]

I think the way to go about it is to just plain ask for a raise. Don't state that she makes more than me, just I do A) B) C) and D) here and I"ve worked for X number of years and I am always on time, do my job well and I believe I deserve a raise.

That is the best way to handle it.

Srz

[txinvestigator1]

I think the way to go about it is to just plain ask for a raise. Don't state that she makes more than me, just I do A) B) C) and D) here and I"ve worked for X number of years and I am always on time, do my job well and I believe I deserve a raise.

That is the best way to handle it.

Srz

Being on time and doing your job well are requirements to KEEP your job, not get a raise. Just saying YOU believe YOU deserve a raise is not enough either. You must SELL yourself. State what you have added to the organization that is unique to you. What job related extra skills, training and education have you obtained to become more valuable?

[freshgirl]

I understand being angry about it. We had a similar situation happen when I worked as a Humane Officer/ACO. We were part of a union and when everyone was hired, we were told what the starting pay would be. Shortly before I quit (this was not the reason, but was a symptom of the bad morale in the dept), during our contract negotiations we found out that one of the ACO's was making significantly more than everyone else. He was low in seniority, not a high performing employee and most people thought he was an idiot. Obviously he was smarter than all of us because he negotiated a better salary for himself when the rest of us just assumed there was a standard starting rate.

I’m not sure how your department works or if you are union or not. Before you make a big deal out of anything look through your employee manual or policy handbook. See if there is anything in there that outlines a pay rate for training other employees or performing other duties outside of your job description. While you’re at it, find out what your job description is. Usually they will give you a copy of this when you were hired or during your evaluations.

If you are suppose to be paid extra for these duties, ask for it. If not, document all the work you do and bring it up during your performance evaluations and ask for a raise. If these extra duties are not included in your job description and they do not want to give you a raise, don’t do them. (I will warn you though, most job descriptions say something at the end like ‘and other duties as needed’) If you are a union department and this is not covered in the contract, ask your union rep to include it the next time you go in for negotiations.

One other thing to consider, often part-time employees make more hourly than full-time employees because they do not receive benefits.

[SSA1811]

I agree with what the other Forum members have recommended - focus on your strengths, and highlight your contributions to the Department, and respectfully ask for a raise.

If you are "responsible" for maintaining your Departments computer e-mail system, as well as its internet website, I would say those duties are above and beyond that of "Dispatcher". What would it cost the Department to hire someone else to to "maintain" those systems?

Also, as freshgirl mentioned, make certain your are comparing gross salaries not net salaries ..... you may have more deductions, exemptions, and other items being withheld than your co-worker does.


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[mcsap]

Since we had our first kid in 1987, my wife has stayed home. She has not been employed since. I was making about 18K that year and although I now make much more, we somehow survived another kid, paid off our mortgage 6 yrs early( at age 40) , are 100% debt free and manage to do OK.

I drive a 1992 car , not because I have to but because it runs OK and wont quit. It isn't pretty and it uses oil but it has faithfully gotten me to work for the past 8 yrs. When it finally dies, I'll buy another 8+ yr old car and see how long I car run it.

We coupon , shop specials and otherwise spend frugally so we can afford to go to Florida several times per year.

I do not know your overall finances but I have seen a LOT of people , including those I work with who have to have 2 new cars and a nice BIG house with the boat, ATV's etc. All they can do is both work full time to try to keep up the payments.

And where does this leave the kids ?

Where does your money go ? CATV ? Sat TV ? eating out ? , car payments ? vacations ? 2nd loans ?

[mxwelch]

I found out years ago that I guy I was training was making a dollar more an hour than me. I was responsible for everything he did. I asked them to make this right. They had a fit that I knew and refused. I gave them my notice on the spot. No regrets, and I agree with Tx. Today, .30 is nothing. It won't make that much difference in the grand scheme of things. You may have to change jobs or even careers unless you want to make other adjustments. It sucks I know, I had to put my pursuit as a LEO on hold, maybe permanently, because of finances.

[PVPD124]

You are filing bankruptcy because you live above your means. (I imagine if something catastrophic had happened, you would have listed it)

Looking back on it I did leave an important fact out. My wife was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and her medical bills have been extremely high. one medication alone (Avonex) is $1,700.00 per month. That is the reason for the bankruptcy.

Living above our means is not happening. My Gross pay is $1,280 per month. 1,280 X 12 = $15,360. The national poverty guidline for a family of 4 is $20,650 so we are sitting well below the guidline.

[mxwelch]

Looking back on it I did leave an important fact out. My wife was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis and her medical bills have been extremely high. one medication alone (Avonex) is $1,700.00 per month. That is the reason for the bankruptcy.

Living above our means is not happening. My Gross pay is $1,280 per month. 1,280 X 12 = $15,360. The national poverty guidline for a family of 4 is $20,650 so we are sitting well below the guidline.

Ouch!! My wife has several hundred a month just for prescriptions and another several hundred a month for doctors apps. I know how you feel. It sounds like you need to leave there and get a much better paying job in the IT field.

[SSA1811]

PVPD124,

I am sorry to hear about your wife. I hope the medications are keeping her stabilized. I have a close friend with Multiple Sclerosis and he has good days and bad days. We all pray his good days will always outnumber the bad days, as I do for your wife.

Returning to the title of your thread, "Am I being petty?", given your circumstance, I believe this is less of a monetary issue than it is an issue of dignity, pride, self-esteem, ego, and/or respect (all in the best sense of those words).

freshgirl and mxwelch alluded to it in their responses, and I have seen it happen too often: it is about an employee being "dissed" or disrespected, and his/her seniority and contributions to the organization being ignored in favor of the next "golden boy", "fast tracker", or younger employee. I have gone nose-to-nose with several SAC's about this issue, but that is for another thread ......

You appear to qualify for Food Stamps and other financial assistance, so I hope you are taking full advantage of all of them. You would be surprised how averse employers are in having it publicized or made well known that their employees need supplemental assistance just to survive.

You appear to be a very intelligent and articulate individual who should, in this society, be earning much more than below poverty level wages. Do yourself and your family a favor and look around for other employment opportunities. My sincerest best wishes to you and your family.


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[PVPD124]

Well, I found out today what's going on. It was told to me that this co-worker transfered in to the pd from another department in the city, so they couldn't reduce her pay. It sucks though that a golf course employee pays better that a dispatcher.

Thanks for all the responses.