Legal Question in Employment Law in Georgia

My spouse has been working for the same company for 4 years with 10 years experience in the products being sold and is currently holding a management position that they have had for the past 3 years. Recently the company changed the minimum wage for new hires. So this is resulting in employees being hired in a lateral or lower position, with no time with the company and in some cases no experience in the products, with more pay. This knowledge is known by many of the other employees who are also not happy as they all feel this is unfair. It is also known that the company will not be making any pay adjustments to the existing employees as the company can not afford those increases. The only increases that the existing employees will receive is the evaluation increases that are about 2-4% of their current pay. My spouse is aware of one of their associates being hired with no experience in the field and with no knowledge of the products at more than $ 1.00 more than my spouse. The associate is in a lower position and I know that this is not a equal pay law as they are of the same sex. Is their any legal action that can be taken? We feel that this is a form of discrimination and that the employees payscale is tipped towards new employees. We also believe that an employee with experience on the job should receive more pay as well as a person that is in a higher position due to additional job responsibilities. I want to seek legal advice, but I want to know if we have any ground to stand on before hiring an attorney.


Asked on 10/08/10, 8:45 pm

2 Answers from Attorneys
Phillip M. Cook Cook Legal Services, LLC

There is probably no legal action that can be taken, unless your spouse is part of a union or some other collectively bargaining agreement that prevents this type of action by the company. Your spouse has the same options as everyone else: (i) attempt to negotiate/leverage a raise based on her time with the company, your spouse's experience in the field, and the company's need to keep your spouse on board, (ii) do nothing and stay at the job, or (iii) quit.

Best of luck.******The above is for informational purposes only and does not create an attorney-client privilege.*******

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Answered on 10/14/10, 2:53 am
Scott Riddle Law Office of Scott B. Riddle, LLC

There is no right or entitlement to any pay above minimum wage (absent a contract), or no right to be paid the same or more than anyone else (with very few exceptions for outright discrimination against a few protected classes). An employer can replace everyone with lower paid employees if it chooses. You can see lawyer to discuss al details, but from your post you and your spouse are under the impression there is some kind of pay scale imposed by law. There is not.

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Answered on 10/14/10, 3:32 am


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