Unfair Treatment, is this a type of Discrimination

[johnlok]

I have been working at my company for 3 years and have 8 year of experience in my field. I work for a very large company; my department has about 40 personnel. All the employees in my department are all salary except for a co-worker and I, who are hourly and have to clock in and out. For the past 3 years I've been asking if I can be moved to salary, but I have been told time and time again by HR other department heads that due to a "law" in California I can not be moved to salary without a Bachelors degree. I currently have my Associates degree and working to finish my Bachelors since, but I recently have found that in fact an employee who was hired 1 year ago and has about 4-5 more years of experience than I and does the exact same work that I do, but just in a different group, has only his Associates degree and is paid salary, this to me seems very unfair. Is this favoritism or discrimination? I show no reason to be considered a bad employee, actually I have been told that I'm probably the best the company has for the type of work that do and it reflects in my reviews. I'm interested to know if this is possible cause for a lawsuit. Thanks in advance for the advice.

 

[mightymoose]

This sounds like a situation where your employer has established guidelines for employment based on education and experience. It is quite possible that the other worker, with the extra years of experience along with the associate degree, qualifies at a higher level. A person with even more years experience may possibly qualify with no degree.

This is something for you to sort out through your HR. You need to find the education/experience requirements for each position. If you find that you qualify then put in for the position at the higher pay, otherwise work on the degree or wait a few more years til you have enough experience behind you.

 

[johnlok]

Thanks for the advice.
I agree that waiting the 4-5 more years will level the playing field, but what I don't believe to be fair is that I'm required to get a Bachelors degree, which unfortunately will take longer than the 4-5 years, not to mention time away from the family, while the other associate was allowed to advance with the same degree as I currently have, and also to go as far as to call it a "law in California" that prevents me from moving to salary.

 

[mightymoose]

Thanks for the advice.
I agree that waiting the 4-5 more years will level the playing field, but what I don't believe to be fair is that I'm required to get a Bachelors degree, which unfortunately will take longer than the 4-5 years, not to mention time away from the family, while the other associate was allowed to advance with the same degree as I currently have, and also to go as far as to call it a "law in California" that prevents me from moving to salary.

You aren't required to get a bachelor degree... you only need the bachelor degree with your level of experience. If you wait a few years then you may not need the advanced degree at all. If that is the case, you might qualify with your years experience and associate degree before you ever complete the bachelors.

Again, that other employee likely advanced with the associate degree because of the extra years experience that you do not have. You can follow that same path in a few.

Work it out with your HR. Also, have them reference whatever law they are talking about. I'm not sure what that law might be but it is easy enough to look up if they name it. It likely is not a law at all, rather some sort of company policy.

It really does not sound as if you are being treated unfairly.