Not sure what to do with an issue I have with my supervisor.

[afarmer]

Hi,

I'm a relatively new nurse, I'm coming up on my one year anniversary at the hospital I work at. That being said, I've recently had my annual review. It was positive all around, I was pleased, and then came time for our raises. We were told there was a 2% cap on the raises. When I received mine, my supervisor told me I only received 1% because I hadn't been there for a full year, which, although it was disappointing, I understood. We were told to keep them confidential, but that didn't happen. I have learned that another nurse, who started at the exact same time as I did, had received the full 2%. I then learned other nurses earned a 3% raise. I am fairly upset. Do I have the right to be? Should I question my supervisor about it? And If I do, how do I approach the subject. Thanks for reading!

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

The manager who lied to you is lame but be prepared for a rocky road. I still would hesitate to listen to your cohesive crew.....you never know their motivation. Hospitals don't like employees that rock the boat and in this job climate they tolerate it even less. Talk to HR and an inquiry but I would caution you not to make yourself a target.

Is it fair no....it this reality? Yes.

[imintrouble, BSN, RN]

Don't let the satisfaction you feel for what you have, be dependent on what someone else has. I don't know if that makes sense or not.

Life isn't fair, and somebody is always going to do better than yourself.

It sounds like you were ok with your raise. You wanted the 2 %, but was satisfied with what you received, until you found out someone had more.

It will make you resentful and angry.

Been there done that. The only one miserable is you.

[ddunnrn]

This kind od management deviousness is one of the main reasons I think nurses should be unionized. I have worked in union shops for about half of my 27 years as an RN, and there was much more fairness in compensation and other work issues where here was a union. I have seen management do some pretty despicable things, even with a union, but at least a union can help stop some of the more egregious practices. Of course your management wanted a gag order--they knew what would happen if the truth came out; on the other hand, it's interesting to me how management secretly tries to divide and conquer by causing suspiciousness in the ranks.

[Kooky Korky, BSN, RN]

Start a rumor saying you got 4%. Deny it up one side and down the other if your boss says anything to you about it.

Just kidding. I wish I had an answer for you but I don't.

You have received choices in the above responses.

Now, what do you think you will do?

[mazy]

You got a raise, which is good. If they really felt you needed more improvement you would not have gotten a raise. You did not get docked, you got a raise. Not the raise you were hoping for, but it was a raise.

A lot of people, myself included, have not gotten a yearly raise because in this economic climate facilities are cutting back on things like staffing and hours, and they can get away with murder when it comes to compensation. We have been told flat out at my job, there will be no raises. For anyone.

Now. I know full well that some people are getting raises. But mostly that is because they are taking on responsibilities that no one wants, or they are able to negotiate taking x shift or y unit or some such other weird thing into a bump in pay.

But that's life. It's the politics of the work place. It's the same everywhere.

I would not stress about this too much. People are not always honest about compensation, even with themselves, and every facility can be counted on to have layers and layers of secrets. You may think you know something to be true, chances are you have no idea of all the back story that is behind everything you hear about.

[Wet Noodle]

Where I one worked, the average raise was a function of the inflation rate and how well the company was doing. A department's overall average raise was supposed to match the company-wide average raise.

The raise an individual would get was a function of where he was in the pay grade, and how well his performance evaluation went. Someone with an average review who was in the middle of his pay grade would get an average raise. It was a simple formula.

The only subjective component was the performance evaluation. It didn't leave much for employees to complain about with respect to raises. It left little motivation for employees to discuss raises with one another. It would over time (sometimes quite rapidly) move employees' salaries to where they belonged in their labor grade's pay scale.

Why don't all but the smallest organizations do it that way?

[redhead_NURSE98!, ADN, BSN]

Do NOT talk to your supervisor about this.

Nobody... nobody is supposed to be discussing these things.

You will look foolish and further lay damage on your work environment.

You could easily get in big trouble if you come off wrong in speaking to your supervisor about it. For one, you should not have any knowledge of a disparity, so, your bringing it up puts you at fault right out of the box.

Not disagreeing with anyone's advice, but just so you know, it's illegal for an employer to forbid discussing wages. It's lovely that they'd "like for them to stay confidential," and you can see why. Not legal to ban such discussion though.

[redhead_NURSE98!, ADN, BSN]

Some facilities have a 'do not tell' policy that can get people fired if they reveal their salary. Be very careful where you tread.

Those facilities would do well to check out federal labor laws.

[cclash]

Finally, a sense of reason. I cannot believe the resposes you got. This is just not right. You have every right to be outraged. Here are some questions I have for you, Have you been in trouble in any way? What did they do about it? How was your evaluation? This is what I would do. I would ask for a meeting with the supervisor, and her boss. Take another worker with you. Tell them what you know. Ask why you didn't get the same. It is your right to have another worker with you. They won't like it, and may give you a hard time because you are bringing a witness to the conversation. Before I do this I would be on the look out for other positions that are available. Do yourself a favor and look at unionized places. When I went to work in a unionized hospital I was scared to death. All I thought about was going on strike. Could I do it? I thought no. The truth is we only came close once, and it was regarding staffing and being able to give proper care to patients. We negotiated to agreement and in 35 years there we never neglected patients, workers got fair treatment because we had back up. It was fair. If you don't talk about what you make they will single out workers and give them as little as possible. Change that, you've already started. Go forward with patient care as yur key issue, but equal treatment of all workers. Find the job you love. If you don't look elsewhere. Find the job that you can call "The best job in America." It is out there. Good luck.

[Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN]

The other nurse and I were both new grads when we started. I wouldn't have such a problem with the disparity if I didn't feel like I had been lied to. I almost wish I didn't know, because now I feel like I'm being singled out.

The fact that you two started at the same time doesn't mean that the other new grad doesn't have skills/abilities/certifications/prior healthcare experience that you are not aware of, or that their performance wasn't better than yours in some aspect(s).

And as others have said, people have been known to be less than truthful regarding what they make in salary.

As far as what you should so about it...I honesty don't know. If you do decide to pursue this with your manager/HR/etc., just tread carefully. It's not likely that you'd be fired for talking about your salary with coworkers or questioning your raise...but doing so is not going to make you many friends in management either.

[wooh, BSN, RN]

Perhaps the other nurse would have gotten a 6% raise if she'd been there all year and you would have gotten a 3% raise if you'd been there all year. Your performance might jot be as good as hers, thus your portion of a full raise is less than her portion of a full raise.

There could be career ladder things that she's done. There could be experience she had before joining.

Is THIS something worth risking your job when you don't know the whole story?

While I agree, they can't fire you for discussing pay, they can make life at this job difficult, and more than likely find something that they CAN fire you for.

If you're going to pursue this, pursue with caution.

[joanna73, BSN, RN]

Salaries are supposed to be kept confidential. Unless of course, you're unionized and rates are common knowledge. Since your supervisor has had a discussion with you regarding your salary, there is nothing you will gain by debating the issue. And, as others mentioned, your coworkers could be lying, just to make themselves look better. Who knows? Leave it alone.