Hi all! So I am relatively a new graduate (3 months prior experience) before landing a job at a SNF. I have only been there for a week and although I was told during the interview that I would be working nights, my manager wanted me on the 3-11 shift to learn admissions for a month. I've been working with this RN for about 2 days now and shes really nice. We talk about out personal lives and etc. (For example she had a daughter by someone who is the same ethnic background as me..etc). So I'm explain my experience from my last job at a large teaching hospital and simply mention that I am taking a pay cut but its worth it because I want the experience. She then asks "Oh what are they starting you at." I stupidly tell her my wage (37) and didn't think anything of it. I explain that I usually leave the part on the application where it says to put your desired wage blank but this time around I put a high wage (I was getting paid 5 dollars more at my last job than this one.) She then says oh wow your very lucky and that they didnt start her at that wage and she put 38 on her application but management told her that they couldn't afford to pay her that. Anyways she says I'm lucky and we leave it at that.
My next day, I notice that she is acting a bit different but didn't think anything of it...it is a stressful job however. I do notice however that we dont seem to see eachother at all and that she didn't teach the the computer system (the most important part) but is teaching the other new hire the computer system. When I sit down to observe so I can learn the phone rings. She quickly looks at me and says "Can you answer the phone in a dismissive tone." Again, didn't think anything of it.
When night shift comes on, one of the night nurses says its her last day. No body knows why it seems very VERY abrupt because nobody talked about it before. I see her and this other nurse(my preceptor I suppose) kind of talking privately. This nurse that resigned was a nice girl and I ask "Oh where are you going?" All she says is "Somewhere." which again I thought was a bit odd.
The next day my manager comes up to me and asks me to meet him in his office. By his tone I can tell something was wrong but have no idea. He asks me if I told anyone my wage and I said yes to my preceptor. He then informs me that 1 nurse (the night nurse) quit because of it and that 2 more are considering quitting. I explain that it was naive and I didn't know i confided in her. He tells me she is not your friend, she went and told everyone and that she is already treating you differently. He then says next shift you will be on nights, I need to get you away from them. EVERYTHING now makes sense to me.
Sorry for the long post but what should I do or is there anything that I can do to rectify this situation. Should I confront/talk to this nurse who went and talked about me to everyone? I do not know how much the other nurses are making and had NO IDEA I was even making more than them. IDK if its because I have my BSN or bc they knew I wouldn't have accepted a job or a wage any lower when I was making $5 more at my last job. I feel HORRIBLY about this especially because our SNF is already so short-staffed.
She then asks "Oh what are they starting you at." I stupidly tell her my wage (37) and didn't think anything of it.
So you're saying that you blabbed about your wage rate when you shouldn't have and then did it again here on an open public message board? Nothing is as anonymous as people think and you just told not only your company, but the world. Not the best move IMHO.
I've noticed an increase in the number of over-sharers in the workforce over the past few years. Over-sharing is also known by another name: boundaryless sharing.
Our personal information is too valuable to share with people who have only known us for a day or two. Save the chatter for those who are worth our time, such as family and real friends. Healthy boundaries can serve as a deterrent to spilling the beans.
I think this comes out of the Facebook Generation or whatever you want to call people who are continually shocked to find that what they put out there publically can and does come back to bite them in the orifice. Social media sites make people think it's ok to tell the whole world every private detail of their lives and then they can't believe that there are consequences to that.
It's against federal law to fire someone because they disclosed their pay rate to coworkers, so that's pretty unlikely.
When you work in a at-will state there is no protection from an employer firing you for any reason they want to as long as it's not violating laws against discrimination of specific protected classes.
don't kid yourself into believing that the OP can't be fired for this, not that I think she would be, but if she did get fired it would be because they say she is difficult to work with, or that she creates a hostile environment, or that patients have complained or who knows what other reason they come up with.
You can fired for anything as long as they call it something that makes that firing legal!
it looks like I'm in the minority here but I think the OP should never have opened her mouth about her salary. it was foolish and bad judgment on her part. I don't know what culture people are referring to when they say they don't know why it's not ok to discuss salary openly, because I was raised with the understanding that my personal business, especially something like salary, is not for public knowledge. All that can come out of someone crowing about how much they make is to make someone else possibly feel badly about it (if you're lucky) and downright resentful and punitive if you're not.
I have often made more money than most people I worked with and there was no way in hell I was gonna tell them that!
it looks like I'm in the minority here but I think the OP should never have opened her mouth about her salary. it was foolish and bad judgment on her part. I don't know what culture people are referring to when they say they don't know why it's not ok to discuss salary openly, because I was raised with the understanding that my personal business, especially something like salary, is not for public knowledge. All that can come out of someone crowing about how much they make is to make someone else possibly feel badly about it (if you're lucky) and downright resentful and punitive if you're not.
I have often made more money than most people I worked with and there was no way in hell I was gonna tell them that!
What ethical reason is there to justify paying employees with equal qualifications different amounts, maybe the upset is the hint that this is an unethical practice? You can see how this practice allows for women to be paid 10% less than their male counterparts right? I can appreciate if an employee does not want their salary to be public knowledge but fixed internal pay structures keep everyone honest.
A position gets B pay structure
C education gives D modifier
E certification gives F bonus etc
Secrecy only harms the employee and allows the employer to engage in unethical behavior.
Actually, SEVERAL people have pointed out that sharing SO much with a stranger you've known for all of two days was a huge mistake. Did you miss those posts?
it looks like I'm in the minority here but I think the OP should never have opened her mouth about her salary. it was foolish and bad judgment on her part. I don't know what culture people are referring to when they say they don't know why it's not ok to discuss salary openly, because I was raised with the understanding that my personal business, especially something like salary, is not for public knowledge. All that can come out of someone crowing about how much they make is to make someone else possibly feel badly about it (if you're lucky) and downright resentful and punitive if you're not.
I have often made more money than most people I worked with and there was no way in hell I was gonna tell them that!
This is an extension of the everyone should get a trophy movement which is fine with me.
But the day when nurses, who own their own businesses, open up their books to potential hires, is the day when business in general becomes warm and fuzzy. Different perspectives will always support different rules of engagement. And that I believe is the way of the world.
I agree with everyone saying that you should never discuss your salary I guess you will not do it again. I do not know if you are aware that some minorities get paid less that caucasians. Or that sometimes females make less than males for the same type of job. Hopefully this was not the case. I am sorry you are going to through this I wish you success :)
People, nurses and not, are denied employment, mistreated snd fired EVERY SINGLE DAY in this country for less than what the OP did, including things which are illegal under law to be prosecuted for. Religion, accents, medical conditions, personality features, everything. As long as it can be appropriately politically colored, it is ok, unless the victim has either a whole lot of money, a whole lot of local community influence (and so the power to seriously harm business), or both. And pretty much unlimited time, support, strength and courage in any case.
It doesn't matter that the OP was a bit too open and too trustful. It matters that now she works on gossip factory where nurses have nothing else to do except discussing each other's lives.
IMHO, the best answer would be resignation note, before some other dirty surprise come about.
This is not your problem, this is a company culture problem.
There are more and more companies moving to an open salary culture which I think is fantastic. This is no different than the government sector where you can look up anyone's salary.
Secrecy allows for discrimination and other unethical behaviors.
Agreed. I work for the government and have for my whole adult career. Every RN is assigned a graded salary based on job title. Those salaries are scaled based on geographical location and cost of living in that area. Then as you get more experience you get step increases. If you're a new employee coming. Everyone knows the system. There's no room for favoritism. Anyone can look up my salary online.
Actually, SEVERAL people have pointed out that sharing SO much with a stranger you've known for all of two days was a huge mistake. Did you miss those posts?
no but I didn't take an exact poll! by the time I was ready to respond it looked to me like most people thought the OP didn't do anything wrong in blabbing her rate of pay. I guess I could go back and count lol I just didn't think it was that important.
Extra Pickles I did think long and hard about putting my actual wage on this board and did it simply to later ask if this seemed like a "higher than usual" salary for a SNF. Primarily bc my sister would say that it is. At this point I can care less if any of my coworkers saw this forum, at least they would see it from my pov. Ive seen plenty of posts on here where people have told numbers.
Extra Pickles
1,403 Posts
So you're saying that you blabbed about your wage rate when you shouldn't have and then did it again here on an open public message board? Nothing is as anonymous as people think and you just told not only your company, but the world. Not the best move IMHO.