What to Do If You Find Out You're Underpaid

If you find out you are underpaid, do not react straight away. First check whether the gap is real by comparing the role's market rate and the duties, experience and level involved, then take a short, evidence-based case about your own pay to your manager. Use a colleague's salary as background information, not as your main argument, and know in advance what you will do if the answer is no.

Finding out that a colleague earns more for similar work, or that new hires are being offered more than you make, is one of the more unsettling moments in a career. The temptation is to march into your manager's office the same afternoon. That rarely gets the best result. This guide covers how to work out whether you are actually underpaid, how to raise it, and what your options are if the company will not move.

This article is general information, not legal advice. If you believe a pay gap is linked to discrimination, speak to an employment lawyer or the relevant government agency in your country.

Step 1: Pause before you react

The way you learned about the gap shapes how you should handle it. A colleague may have told you their salary, you may have seen a job posting for your own role with a higher range, or a recruiter may have quoted a number well above your pay. In every case, give yourself a day or two before you raise anything. Conversations started in frustration tend to focus on fairness in general, which is hard for a manager to act on, rather than on a specific, fixable number.

Use the time to answer one question honestly: is the gap explained by something real, or not?

Step 2: Check whether the gap is real

Pay differences between people with similar titles are not always unfair. Before you build a case, compare the things that legitimately drive pay:

• Actual duties. Two people with the same title can have very different scopes. Compare what each of you is responsible for, not the job title.
• Level and experience. Years in the field, specialist skills and certifications often explain part of a gap.
• Location. Many employers pay differently by city or region, especially for remote roles.
• Timing of hire. People hired when the market was tight, or recently, are often offered more than people who joined earlier and received only small annual increases. This is one of the most common causes of internal pay gaps, and it is a good reason to raise the issue, not a reason to accept it.
• Performance. If you have had recent difficult feedback, address that honestly in your own thinking before you ask.

Then check the market. A single colleague's number is one data point. A clearer picture comes from salary ranges in job postings for comparable roles, salary surveys, and conversations with recruiters. Our guide on how to research your market salary explains which sources hold up and how to turn them into a realistic range.

If, after all this, the gap is not explained by duties, level, location or performance, you have a real issue to raise.

Step 3: Know what the law says, in general terms

Rules on pay vary a great deal by country and state, so treat this as a starting point rather than an answer.

• Discussing pay. In the US, the National Labor Relations Act protects employees' right to engage in "concerted activities" for "mutual aid or protection" (29 U.S.C. 157), which is generally understood to cover talking with colleagues about pay. The Act's definition of employee excludes supervisors, independent contractors and some other groups, and its definition of employer excludes federal, state and local government (29 U.S.C. 152). If you are in one of those groups, different rules may apply.
• Pay discrimination. According to the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Equal Pay Act requires equal pay for men and women doing substantially equal work in the same workplace, and job content rather than job title decides whether jobs are substantially equal. Title VII, the ADEA and the ADA also prohibit pay discrimination based on characteristics including race, religion, national origin, age and disability.
• Deadlines. The EEOC also notes time limits for taking action, which differ by law. If discrimination may be involved, check those deadlines early rather than waiting to see whether an internal conversation works.

Pay transparency rules in some places also require salary ranges in job postings, which can help you see what your employer pays new hires for your role. Our overview of pay transparency laws and what you can ask for covers what to look for.

Step 4: Build a case about your own pay

The most effective conversations are about your role and your value, not about someone else's salary. Managers can usually do more with "my pay is below the range for this role and here is what I deliver" than with "Sam earns more than me". A comparison invites a defence of Sam; a market case invites a fix for you.

Prepare a short case with four parts:

• Your current pay and when it last changed. State it plainly.
• The market or internal range for your role. Cite the ranges you found, including any posted range for your own job if it is being advertised.
• Your scope and results. Two or three concrete outcomes from the past year, and any responsibilities you have taken on since your pay was last set.
• A specific number. Decide what you are asking for. Vague requests to "look at my pay" are easy to postpone.

Our step-by-step guide on how to ask for a raise covers how to structure the meeting itself, and our piece on raise budgets explains why timing your request before budgets are set matters.

Step 5: Have the conversation

Ask for a dedicated meeting rather than raising it at the end of a weekly check-in. Keep the tone factual. A simple opening:

"I'd like to talk about my compensation. I've looked at the market range for my role and at what I've taken on this year, and I believe my pay has fallen behind. I'd like to ask for an adjustment to [specific number]. Can we talk about what that would take?"

If your manager asks directly whether a colleague told you their salary, you do not have to pretend otherwise, but steer back to your own case: "Part of what prompted me was learning that pay for this role has moved, but my request is based on the market range and my own results."

If the gap may be linked to a protected characteristic and the internal conversation does not resolve it, raising it in writing with HR creates a clear record. That is also the point to get independent advice.

If the answer is no

A no is not always final. Ask what would need to be true for the answer to be yes, and by when. Useful follow-ups:

• A written commitment to review your pay at a specific date, with clear criteria.
• A one-time payment or bonus if the base salary budget is frozen.
• A level or title review if your work has outgrown your current grade.
• Non-salary terms such as extra leave, flexibility or training funding; our list of what to negotiate besides salary covers the options.

If nothing moves and the gap is large, the market may be telling you something. People who stay with one employer often fall behind those who move, simply because external offers are priced against the current market. Looking elsewhere is a reasonable response, not a betrayal. If you do, tailor your resume to each role so your recent scope shows clearly, and be ready for the current-salary question; our guide on how to answer "what's your current salary?" explains how to keep an underpaid salary from following you to the next job.

If an external offer arrives and your employer suddenly finds money to keep you, think carefully before accepting; our article on whether to accept a counteroffer covers the questions to ask.

Mistakes to avoid

• Confronting the colleague. They did not set their own salary, and turning a pay gap into a personal grievance helps no one.
• Raising it in public. Team meetings and group chats are the wrong place for your own pay negotiation.
• Arguing about fairness without a number. Be specific about what you want.
• Threatening to quit without meaning it. If you are not ready to leave, do not imply that you are.
• Waiting a year. Gaps tend to widen over time because increases are usually a percentage of current pay. The earlier you address it, the smaller the catch-up.

Finding out you are underpaid is frustrating, but it is also useful information. Handled calmly, it often leads to a raise, a clearer path to one, or a better-paid job somewhere else.