In a BLR webinar entitled "Where's My Raise? How to Handle Tough Pay Conversations With Employees," Theresa Murphy of HR Partner Advantage and David Wudkyka of Westminster Associates offered this advice when confronted with the pay policy complaint, "I'm making less now than my direct reports!"
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Get Your Report Now!- Confirm the accuracy of this claim before you do anything. If you have a supervisor who's honestly making less than his/her direct reports -- and there's no business reason for the discrepancy -- you could have a serious problem on your hands, especially if the supervisor is in a protected employment class.
- If pay mistakes were indeed made, fix them as soon as possible. If you can't justify the disparity, this may be case where, indeed, you'll have to come up with more money or better non-monetary benefits to bridge the gap.
- Point out any extenuating circumstances that led to the disparity. For example, if the supervisor's direct reports earned more recently due to larger-than-usual commission payments, that's a valid reason for the pay differences.
Theresa Murphy is the principal consultant for HR Partner Advantage, an independent human resources advisory firm based in Raleigh, N.C. She may be contacted at tmurphy@hrpartneradvantage.com. David Wudyka is the founder and managing principal of Westminster Associates, a Massachusetts-based human resource and compensation firm that specializes in pay, performance and productivity issues. He may be contacted at dwudyka@westminsterassociates.com .