Jobs

If I saw a similar role within my company advertised for a higher salary than I make, can I ask for a salary adjustment?

Elaine Varelas guides on what to do if you see a similar job posting for your company with a higher salary than you make.

Ask the Job Doc. Boston.com

January 31, 2024

3 minutes to read

Q. Although I’m happy in my job of four years and am NOT job searching, I have a few job alerts set up on LinkedIn just in case something interesting pops up. I recently got a job alert for a similar role in my company, and they listed the salary range which is WAY higher than what I make. Can I ask my manager to match my salary with the advertised role?

A. As more and more job postings are including salary ranges and more states are adopting pay transparency laws, these discussions will become an issue which organizations will need to deal with on a more regular basis. When companies start offering higher salaries to potential new hires and these salaries are close to what current employees earn, this can cause salary compression. Salary compression always causes significant controversy within organizations. When companies need to be competitive in their recruiting, it’s frequently the case that a new hire’s compensation is close to what retained employees earn. Identifying what the “way higher” salary range you mention becomes important. Some people think 5% is “way higher”, when professional advice is that changing jobs for anything less than 20% would be considered unreasonable.

You seem apologetic for having alerts set up on LinkedIn, when it’s reasonable to stay aware of market activity. These job alerts can provide valuable information about types of roles and the benefits available at other organizations, to compare with what your organization offers. Before you talk to your manager, you need to have a clear view of the expertise and education required for the job along with information about the full benefits package, not just salary to capture total compensation. Because you have longevity with the company, your benefits package may make up for any salary difference listed. You might even ask Human Resources for the job description.

Pay transparency laws are becoming more common and help reduce wage gaps and promote fairness. There are numerous reasons these laws have been put into place. They help people returning to the workforce get a salary that’s commensurate with their experience, not necessarily commensurate with what they made in previous years, they help reduce the gender pay gap, and address any instances of pay discrimination. And while pay transparency laws are different than pay equity laws, they are connected and share the goal of advancing pay equity. According to ADP, “Pay equity is the concept of compensating employees who have similar job functions with comparably equal pay, regardless of their gender, race, ethnicity or other status.”

Managers must be trained in how to deal with these conversations about salary with employees, and Human Resources owns that training. With this kind of preparation, you can approach your manager for a professional conversation. Make sure you review your job description and anything you can get on the new listing and the requirements for the job. Don’t forget to include bonus potential when you look at total compensation and contributions to health care and retirement. Being inquisitive might help you from appearing angry in conversations with your manager. “Can you tell me more about the role I saw listed? I’m interested in the responsibilities as it looks very much like my job except for the compensation, which is significantly higher.” Then wait. Let the person talk and see what is similar, what the plans are for the role, and why the compensation is higher. Your manager knows your real question. They will let you know if this is different than your role, more senior, or something you should apply for or try to get promoted into now or at some point in the future. If the manager questions how you know about the opportunity, you can just say it’s public information. You don’t need to identify that it was a LinkedIn job posting. Most organizations are required to post their jobs internally before advertising the position externally.

There may be some hidden skills or experience that you don’t have in this position, but if not, asking your manager what it would take to get you to that compensation level is a reasonable conversation to have. If your manager tells you that they don’t have control of that, continue the question and ask who does. Is it their manager? Is it HR who sets the pay bands within the organization? And while that is the person that you want to talk to, your manager should be your advocate in terms of helping you identify whether this is a realistic next step for you or not. Prepare for these conversations by researching salary benchmarks in your industry and having a list of contributions you’ve made in your role. These things will all help your case for your employer making a salary adjustment.