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.
Confront no one. Focus on doing your job, do not bring it up and if someone confronts you, smile and say, "I'm sorry, I would rather not discuss this." You have learned - don't talk about your salary and don't ask.
In a prior job, I made the mistake of telling a classmate - when she asked - what I was earning for a similar job. She seemed miffed I was earning more than her. I tried to clarify, but she seemed upset. I learned an important lesson.
Sorry this happened to you.. I had something similar happen to me recently as well. I currently work at a doctor's office but I am leaving that job for overnights at a hospital where I will be making almost double.
I had a couple of my nurse co-workers ask what I would be making and I told them. I am an open book and I feel that if someone is bold enough to ask me that question I'll tell them the answer. However, one nurse (I think I know who it was too..) went and said something to the clinical manager. My manager called me back to her office and mentioned that one of the nurses said something to her about how much I was making at my new job and was disgruntled about it. We had a new hire starting that day as well and she told me to be "discreet" about my new job because she doesn't want to lose all her staff because we lost 2 other nurses to higher paying jobs earlier that month. As if the new hires need ME to tell them that their salary at the office is horribly low. Oh, she also told me I "got lucky" with my new job which was super rude.
Thankfully, I am not being treated differently and I am not treating the suspected culprit any differently as well. But it is super annoying when someone asks you a question then gets attitude when you tell them the answer.
Hold your head up high and laugh all the way to the bank.
(P.S. You make more than me! I'm going to go complain to your manager about it.)
You know Op, on second thought despite the majority of posters telling you that you should NEVER divulge your salary to anyone, look at it this way. In doing so it's a very efficient way to weed out the green with envy co-workers from those who can be gracious and genuinely happy for you. Sort of like separating the wheat from the chaff and those you would invite to your lovely home to share in both your victories and failures, the death of your mother and the birth of your daughter. But many people being what they are only see the full-picture if that picture is photo bombed with themselves. I'm glad you are doing well.
This is a very good point. Actually since this I've seen people's true colors but I guess these traits were always present, I was just being naive about it. It's crazy how his things that can perceived as innocent are not when things are out into context.
Confront no one. Focus on doing your job, do not bring it up and if someone confronts you, smile and say, "I'm sorry, I would rather not discuss this." You have learned - don't talk about your salary and don't ask.
In a prior job, I made the mistake of telling a classmate - when she asked - what I was earning for a similar job. She seemed miffed I was earning more than her. I tried to clarify, but she seemed upset. I learned an important lesson.
Thanks for the advice. Glad I asked you guys first, my friend suggested I talk to her. Not "confront" Perse but just ask her why and somewhat guilt trip her into regretting the black lash towards me she caused. Realize that that's not gonna work anyways.
anyways really appreciate you giving me your experience. Much better than just telling me I shouldn't have done it (which is obviously know now)
Sorry this happened to you.. I had something similar happen to me recently as well. I currently work at a doctor's office but I am leaving that job for overnights at a hospital where I will be making almost double.
I had a couple of my nurse co-workers ask what I would be making and I told them. I am an open book and I feel that if someone is bold enough to ask me that question I'll tell them the answer. However, one nurse (I think I know who it was too..) went and said something to the clinical manager. My manager called me back to her office and mentioned that one of the nurses said something to her about how much I was making at my new job and was disgruntled about it. We had a new hire starting that day as well and she told me to be "discreet" about my new job because she doesn't want to lose all her staff because we lost 2 other nurses to higher paying jobs earlier that month. As if the new hires need ME to tell them that their salary at the office is horribly low. Oh, she also told me I "got lucky" with my new job which was super rude.
Thankfully, I am not being treated differently and I am not treating the suspected culprit any differently as well. But it is super annoying when someone asks you a question then gets attitude when you tell them the answer.
Hold your head up high and laugh all the way to the bank.
(P.S. You make more than me! I'm going to go complain to your manager about it.)
wow this one definitely seems more out of line to me. Why would one if your coworkers go to your manager about what you will be making at another job? LOL. What does that have to do with your management? Was she attempting to get you in trouble? Lol I'm so confused.
didnt want to say anything but because of your post I will. Yesterday I got a call saying that I was offered the job to my #1 hospital that I've been wanting to get into since nursing school. It's for overnights as well and I will be making at least $10 more. Laughing my way to the bank indeed lmao, but I defientely don't want to make it seem like it's all about money. Its a very selective hospital and an absolute wonderful opportunity. Again im very distraught about this because I don't want to leave a job I barely started but it's definetely an opportunity I won't pass up. Strong Union. And all of us interviews we're told our salary together as a group before the interview, so we all know what we will all be making ironically. And ironically this offer came at the best and worse time. Ahhh well. Thanks for sharing your experience!!
I kind of want to make it clear to everyone that I was in no shape or way bragging about my salary. We weren't even necessarily discussing the topic of salary. Again I am very young, have never worked at a snf before and everyone there could tell. Many people were asking me, is this your first job? So I was talking about the fact that it was not my first job actually and that I had a bit of experience in the hospital. That's when things went left and when I was asked, I didn't want to be awkward about it...again I assumed I was making same/less than everyone (naive I know).
And NurseGirl525 the nurse who quit wasn't the one that I told it was a different nurse. I know the one who I told prob wants to quit too but shes probably smart enough to try to get another job lined up first. Again, not saying they don't have a right to be mad, it just sucks on my end and its not like ive built up rapport with anyone yet...additionally Im suppose to be learning from them which can pose an issue as well. I can already tell that this particular nurse has avoided teaching me certain things, well guess im thankful that my manager is moving me to nights
Makes you wonder about the one who quit immediately. I mean, I can see being perturbed by finding out a relative newbie us making more than you but there had to be more to why she left. Maybe this was the last straw after previous issues at the facility. I just cannot imagine quitting like that SOLELY over this. Am I wrong? Maybe the woman just has poor impulse control. Who knows.
I'm with the posters who've said talking about salary shouldn't be off the table. I don't walk around talking about it, but if conversations about equity and pay come up I'll disclose it. My point when I talk to people about it is always the same - knowledge is empowering. By knowing what people are making we're all empowered to negotiate better.
When I was a student I asked my preceptors to talk about salary with me so I could get a sense of the market rather than depending on my employer to tell me what I'm worth. The phrase, "my market research has shown me that nurses are making X," is a surprisingly effective bargaining tool. One didn't want to discuss it, and I left it at that. The other agreed with me and asked me to keep in touch. Her information helped me negotiate for better salary, and in turn letting her know the outcome of my negotiations helped her in her next renegotiation. We both benefited. My cohort also shared information on our Facebook group so that we all had access to real-time info about what people were getting offered.
I don't care if other people don't want to tell me their salary, and it's not something I drop into conversations, but in the context of helping each other out I'll tell anyone.
religion, politics and salary. 3 things to keep to yourself. This too shall pass though.
Unfortunately, discussing these topics is best left outside of work. It is never considered a good idea to discuss salary with co-workers. This is a shame though, because fair pay is fair pay. One should not be getting a different salary than another doing the same job with the same experience and responsibilities.
However, since their are discrepancies in Non-union pay scales, you can see how this can cause problems. You are now being treated badly, because the management apparently wasnt paying equally/fairly. You are not to blame for the bad attitudes, but I hope you learned how messy these things can get. DO NOT open any more cans of worms here by discussing this with anyone there besides your manager. If anyone asks about this, just tell them you are unable to discuss it. No matter how "friendly" the person may be, they could be "fishing" for the information for themselves.
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!
At-will employment states are not exempt from federal employment laws. What at-will employment means is that an employee can be fired for any reason so long as it does not violate any laws. The NLRA specifically protects all employees rights to discuss their work conditions including pay.
Definitely think there were other issues and this was the thing that tipped her off the edge. I overheard her saying "enough is enough" and speaking about staffing issues prior to this. Additionally my manager said she was very rude/blunt about everything.
Makes you wonder about the one who quit immediately. I mean, I can see being perturbed by finding out a relative newbie us making more than you but there had to be more to why she left. Maybe this was the last straw after previous issues at the facility. I just cannot imagine quitting like that SOLELY over this. Am I wrong? Maybe the woman just has poor impulse control. Who knows.
I'm with the posters who've said talking about salary shouldn't be off the table. I don't walk around talking about it, but if conversations about equity and pay come up I'll disclose it. My point when I talk to people about it is always the same - knowledge is empowering. By knowing what people are making we're all empowered to negotiate better.
When I was a student I asked my preceptors to talk about salary with me so I could get a sense of the market rather than depending on my employer to tell me what I'm worth. The phrase, "my market research has shown me that nurses are making X," is a surprisingly effective bargaining tool. One didn't want to discuss it, and I left it at that. The other agreed with me and asked me to keep in touch. Her information helped me negotiate for better salary, and in turn letting her know the outcome of my negotiations helped her in her next renegotiation. We both benefited. My cohort also shared information on our Facebook group so that we all had access to real-time info about what people were getting offered.
I don't care if other people don't want to tell me their salary, and it's not something I drop into conversations, but in the context of helping each other out I'll tell anyone.
I agree with all you said. Just something to add for others less experienced in the professional world... The problem for this person is that she is now being treated poorly by her co-workers that she depends upon for orientation and so on. It is all misplaced anger by these co-workers to be sure, but in the mean time she cannot afford to be thrown under the bus at such a vulnerable time in her career...for several reasons. So, for others out there, when you are in this type of situation, it really is best to not go into this topic until you learn more about the facility and how they do "business". Also, it is more important to focus on your knowledge and skills development, get to know your co-workers and vice versa in order to develop mutual trust, in general, before delving into topics that can be sensitive.
The question that I've been so desperately trying to find out is WHY. Simply why would an employer pay a newbie with the same or even less experience more than experienced employees. What incentive do they have and what sense does that make?
The only thing I can think of is desperation. As in the other employees were hired at a time where they weren't as desperate for a lower wage and that at this time they were willing to up the anty based on "my desired salary.", which I put as higher than what I was offered. However what I will say is that this coworker who I originally told said she put a a desired wage that was high as well but the company told her that they can't afford to pay that.
Thoughts???
I wish I could like this a hundred times. Back in a previous life I worked in the corporate world. They did this crap ALL OF THE TIME. They would hire someone new to do the exact job (no prior experience) and pay them just as much or even more than someone with seniority. Then they would threaten with termination if you ever mentioned salary or bonus amounts with others. The whole idea of secret salaries is just a way to underpay those with the most experience.
chacha82, ADN, BSN
626 Posts
Confront no one. Focus on doing your job, do not bring it up and if someone confronts you, smile and say, "I'm sorry, I would rather not discuss this." You have learned - don't talk about your salary and don't ask.
In a prior job, I made the mistake of telling a classmate - when she asked - what I was earning for a similar job. She seemed miffed I was earning more than her. I tried to clarify, but she seemed upset. I learned an important lesson.