Wage cap confusion

[FlightTim]

Hello, 

My wife and I are both RN's. I was trying to explain something to her the other day that she just couldn't wrap her head around... then I got to thinking maybe I was nuts and not understanding what I thought was, and that is this: hourly wage caps across a career spectrum as it relates to new nurses vs. very ... long term ... nurses. 

I was trying to explain how we are both started out in a hourly rate range that was much lower 15 yrs ago when we started, and that now, with both of us hitting the cap of our pay range, with all the COL adjustments and market increases, a new nurse starting today will be making more money hourly in 10 yrs then we are/will be if we stay working here. And that a nurse who started here 25-35 years ago (which there are a handful) are making less money an hour with their 25-35 yrs experience then we currently are at 15 yrs because when they started, wages in general were way lower and they hit their wage cap long ago. 

Does this all make sense? Am I not thinking about this correctly? Am I correct?

My go to example is: I am part of a flight team that is made up of RN and medic teams. Our longest medic just retired after 33 yrs with this organization. His hourly pay capped out years ago at approx. $21-$23/hr. which meant he probably started out at $10-$12/hr back in the day. The pay range for newer medics that we've hired over the past 5 yrs or so have all started out in the $23-$27/hr STARTING range... which means their caps in 10-15 yrs. will probably be close to $35-$40.

At the end of all this is the fact that my wife couldn't fathom how a 30 yr RN today could be making less an hour than a 2-4 yr RN, 

Thoughts, experience, education? 

Thank you

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

As a general rule, if wage caps are raised, they are raised for everyone, not just those coming in. If I came in making $20/hour and the wage cap was $45 at the time, that doesn't mean I'll never make more than $45 (spoiler alert: I already do). It all depends on the employer structure for raises. What can really affect those nurses with less experience catching up with those with more experience is the percentage of the raise allowed. The larger the wage, the faster it increases. So those more experienced nurses may find those newer nurses catching up faster. This is where unions can come in to help - salaries where I am are based on years of licensure, so a nurse with 15 years experience will never make as much as a nurse with 16 years experience. Although that bit them in the butt one year because they didn't get the COL increase non-union got since it wasn't in their contract.