Career Coach: One of my juniors is paid more than me – what should I do?
Talking about pay can be tricky, but what do you do when you discover one of your own reports is getting paid more than you?
Hi Kate, I recently found out that one of my team is being paid more than me, and I’m their boss! Is this even allowed? What do I do?
I’ll tell you what you don’t do. You don’t storm into your boss’s office and demand a payrise because ‘that’s not fair’, but I’m sure you wouldn’t do that anyway.
I have employed people on more money than me, making me their ‘boss’ as you put it.
I also remember leaving a job because a CEO couldn’t fathom the idea of paying someone more than himself.
In the creative industries, if you are not creating then you are living off of those who are. So paying people more than you, if they report into you or not, is completely irrelevant.
You have to pay for talent.
I am in this position. Sometimes it does urk me, I’ll admit, but I think the important thing is perspective. If you’re worth more then you should be worth more regardless of what those around you earn. If you honestly think you aren’t being paid enough it shouldn’t matter if others are making more or less than you. If you’re being paid a reasonable wage and someone below you is making more then shrug it off, it isn’t your decision and it isn’t effecting you.