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Dr. John Burton teaches Ethics at the Schulich School of Business at York University in Toronto, Canada.

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About Dr. John

"Making the Grade"

February 10, 2003
Dr. John,

I've been asked to support the CFO of my company, but the company has rejected my request for a pay and grade increase equivalent to the person I'm replacing. I've been with the company for three years and have always exceeded my quarterly goals/objectives. The excuse given is that there aren't many assistants that hold that grade level. I took the information to HR and informed them that, according to the job descriptions, any assistant that supports an executive committee member is that particular grade level. What they have done is increased my salary by 5% and made no changes to the employee database showing me as a direct report to the CFO. I also took a huge step and informed HR that according to EEOC, you shouldn't transfer a minority into a position and not give them equal pay to the person who has left. This is an opportunity that I've worked very hard toward and I feel cheated.

Are there any other steps that I can take? Also, did I cross a line by mentioning the EEOC?

CFO Support

Dear CFO support,

What concerns me in what you have reported here is the failure of your HR department to accurately reflect the job you are filling. If you are now filling the role of someone who was classified in a higher grade than you are classified and HR is fudging on changing your status, that requires explanation.

I'd suggest that you have a second conversation with HR and if you receive no satisfaction I'd pursue the matter with EEOC.

Thanks for writing,

Dr. John


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