Tough Question...one has a degree one doesnt...

[jhermiz]

What is the name of your state? MI

Hi,

I have a pretty good question. Let's say you have 2 employees, one has a degree in a specialized field (lets say computer science) and another employee has no degree. Both employees are programmers, both are pretty intelligent and both do the same amount of work. The employee with a degree makes 7k more than the employee with only a high school diploma.

I know this is legal since it does not discriminate based on sex, ethnicity, age, etc. But what is the legality of this? If the employee without the college degree insists he should make just as much what are my options? I mean I know he / she has no business of knowing what others make, but lets say he / she heard it through the "grape-vine"..and now I'm being pressured to hand out pay raises. What is my company's legality here...how do we approach this issue? What can we say to this employee?

Thanks
Jon

 

[I AM ALWAYS LIABLE]

My response:

There is no "legality" about it. As long as you're paying minimum wage, pursuant to Federal law, then anything above that amount is because you want to pay it, and based upon the "traffic" and "wages" and, other business considerations, in comparable companies.

In other words, you have the right to pay whatever wage you want, and based upon your own criterion.

Of course, you also risk losing a good employee, too. So, you have a bit of a balancing act to do. Here's a hint - - after a certain amount of time and experience, and all other things being equal, then it doesn't matter that one employee has a degree or not.

IAAL

 

[jhermiz]

Understandable...

But if I were to have to present a case as to why one employee with a degree makes more than another without a degree what could I actually say? I mean one thing I know for sure is that future talents with the one employee that has the degree. He / she has some comfort in using our next line of tools...

But If I were to explain to the employee without the college degree what exactly could I say? Is there specific reasons I can give he / she that does not have the degree?

Thanks again,

Jon

 

[cbg]

You say, "What other employees are reported to be paid is none of your business. What you hear on the grapevine is not necessarily correct, and even if it is, other employees' pay has nothing to do with you. Get back to work."

The last thing you want to be doing is to be justifying Employee A's pay to Employee B. Not a good practice. Don't let he, she or they pressure you into doing it.

 

[jhermiz]

ok...

So...what are the companies legal obligations?

 

[cbg]

You are legally obligated to pay minimum wage or above.

You are legally obligated to pay non-exempt employees overtime if they work more than 40 hours per week.

You are legally obligated to make sure that your pay scale is not based on gender, race, national origin, age (over 40) religion, disability or pregnancy (that is, that one employee's pay is not more or less BECAUSE OF their membership in one or more of these groups). Your state may also protect other groups such as marital status, sexual orientation or smoking/non-smoking status. NO state protects educational status.

You have NO legal obligation to pay all employees doing the same job exactly the same wage, as long as the differences are not based on one of the protected groups above.

You have NO legal obligation to EVER give a raise unless the employee is working for minimum wage and minimum wage is raised by either your state legislature or an act of Congress.

And you have NO legal obligation to justify one employee's wage to another employee.

 

[bini]

I am just curious. Why are you paying the college graduate more in the 1st place?

Bini

 

[kwalla]

I thought I would share my experience with this situation as at one time I was "the employee without the degree".

In my case, I could factually support that I out-performed their "degree" employee in every aspect of the position. The company accidently sent me this person's benefit package, which showed how much he was making a year.

It was a 10k difference between us. I was the only woman working in this position at the time and it was hard not to feel like this pay issue was a "female" thing.

I did approach my boss with the paperwork from the company in hand. There answer was that at the time this person was hired, he negotiated a higher salary than I did. Basically, you are getting paid your salary because you took our offer.

Now, in defense of the company, the next merit raise I received was 5 1/2 percent my salary, while the top reviewed employees only received 3 percent. In my opinion, that was a fair and honest way for the company to close the gap between us.

I still work for that company. I am loyal to them because of how they handled the situation. In no way was I expecting them to give me the full 10k difference and I thought their way of handling it was commendable.

We all know that a degree does not make an employee smarter or a better performer than an employee without one. If you want to retain a great employee, treat them with respect.

 

[jhermiz]

I agree sort of...

Being educated is not a simple thing. I mean everyone seems to say, "just because you have a degree doesn't make you better or smarter", that's true however I don't feel the person's strength whether it be directly work related or not is exactly the same. We don't spend 100's of thousands of dollars going to college to just be a nobody. I agree there are some lazy students out there...but just the fact that a college student has to take various courses in various subject matters leads me (And this is my opinion) to believe that we are more diverse students (don't mean to offend anyone) in various subjects. I'm not saying a student without a degree is worthless or does not have what it takes to complete a task and deliver some sort of deliverable. What I am saying is if you've put the time into education and schooling than you are at an advantage.

Thanks for all the replies on this topic and the personal experiences as well.

Jon

 

[cbg]

Just as an FYI, I can speak to the opposite side of kwalla; that of being an employee with more education, experience and higher qualifications than another employee and have the other employee make equal or more than I did. I had three years with the company; a college degree; was a recognized specialist; and was being paid $5000 less than a new hire with no previous experience with the company or in the field. I only knew about it because I was training her and she let it slip - possibly on purpose. The company's explanation was that "she's going to be doing something different later on". Two years later she was doing nothing that I didn't do; she was doing measurably less of it; outside representatives were asking - and in at least one case demanding - to have me work on their cases instead of her, and she was still making $5000 more than I was.

We were saying about treating employees with respect?

I'm not saying that Jon SHOULDN'T give the employee without a degree a raise; that's for him to decide. But there is nothing illegal about rewarding someone for achievement

 

[HomeGuru]

What is the name of your state? MI

Hi,

I have a pretty good question. Let's say you have 2 employees, one has a degree in a specialized field (lets say computer science) and another employee has no degree. Both employees are programmers, both are pretty intelligent and both do the same amount of work. The employee with a degree makes 7k more than the employee with only a high school diploma.

I know this is legal since it does not discriminate based on sex, ethnicity, age, etc. But what is the legality of this? If the employee without the college degree insists he should make just as much what are my options? I mean I know he / she has no business of knowing what others make, but lets say he / she heard it through the "grape-vine"..and now I'm being pressured to hand out pay raises. What is my company's legality here...how do we approach this issue? What can we say to this employee?

Thanks
Jon

**A: why did you not tell us that your post was for school homework?

 

[cbg]

Ah, Jon, if I'd known this was for school I wouldn't have answered. I did my own homework when I was in school - I don't think I should have to do yours too.

 

[HomeGuru]

Dear Jon,
here is a dear Jon letter.
wishing you luck with your homework assignments.

signed,

The Gang at FA

 

[jhermiz]

Ah, Jon, if I'd known this was for school I wouldn't have answered. I did my own homework when I was in school - I don't think I should have to do yours too.

This was a serious question and it has helped me. At work i have a degree. The guy next to me has school (high school) education at most. He makes nearly 7 bucks more an hour than I do. However, he has a bit more experience (4 years). But I think that substantial difference is too large. I myself did not know what the legalities and obligations are.

Sorry about that wont do it again.

 

[jhermiz]

Lordy you tough crowd...

You helped but I did need to understand these differences and I thank each and everyone of you. Especially those who gave personal experience with problems such as these. I myself could not understand how such pay justifications could be made. I always thought pay was confidential...at least it should be.

Sorry again