Woman in disbelief after learning new colleague earns $25,000 more for same job: ‘We’re literally equal’

A woman has gone viral after discovering that her new colleague, who is doing the same job as her, is earning much more.

Creator Yaya Tizz, who has more than 14 million likes on TikTok, took to the social media app to express her horror at the revelation of her pay inequality.

“I just found out that the person who was hired as my equal in my department, so we co-head the department, is being paid $25,000 more than I am,” she said.

Tizz explained that her co-worker, who is earning $25,000 more in US dollars, equal to about AU$40,000, from her perspective, is not doing more work than she is or has no further responsibilities.

“We have the same level of experience and we have the same job. We are literally equals. We have one person that we report to and she gets paid $25,000 more than me,” she said.

Tizz said the woman who previously filled the role made exactly the same salary, but after she left her company, the salary was increased to be “competitive” and to find someone to fill the role quickly.

The worker said no one at the company approached her to “renegotiate” her pay, so now she and this new co-worker are doing “equal work” for unequal pay.

Tizz said that when she made the discovery, she went straight to her immediate supervisor and asked for a raise.

She also asked if there would be a structural reorganization and this woman who was now earning more than her would become her superior or take on more work, which would justify why she was paid more.

Tizz claimed her supervisor said that wasn’t the case and agreed the two were “equal” but also said he wouldn’t be able to give her a $25,000 raise.

Tizz said he claimed the company wouldn’t be able to get it because $25,000 is a “really big raise.”

“I’m sorry I don’t even know how to process this,” she admitted.

Tizz said it was unfair to expect her to do the same work and achieve the same results as someone who earns significantly more than her.

The employee then claimed that her supervisor, although personally supportive, sent her a very “HR-esque” email saying that they wouldn’t do anything about her “pay disparity” and that if she didn’t like it , she can “with permission”.

The worker’s online account has now amassed more than nine million views and started a huge conversation about salaries and whether staying at a company literally pays.

One person online said this was proof that “salary transparency is so important”, while another pointed out that this is exactly why employers “don’t want” employees to discuss their salaries.

Another claimed Tizz was paying a “loyalty tax” and the only way to earn more was to work because annual raises never match the market.

Another encouraged her to reduce her workload by $25,000, and one said, “Unfortunately, you have to change jobs to get paid more.”

Another said that while $25,000 is a big raise in replacing Tizz’s role, it would also be a big undertaking if she left a pay dispute, but others were simply encouraging the new worker to ” leave” and find something with better pay.

One person said the same thing happened to her husband, but once he resigned, they figured out how to match the salary. Another person said the same thing happened to her, but with a male co-worker.