Being entitled to commission at work

[twiggy101]

So our lead web developer is off on vacation. I'll be looking after our department while he is away. I have access to his work email account so that I look for client emails not in our CRM system. I tried to be careful to not dig too deep into his private stuff because I just know I'll find something that will make me angry (He started months after me but he has more experience so it's virtually guaranteed he's making more money.). I did a search on a client and unfortunately something did come up that did make me angry. Turns out he's being paid commission. Meanwhile, I'm not.

Not going to lie, I'm rather upset knowing that my work is worth nothing in commission. I'm not sure if that is the case or that it's something they forgot to give me. Either way, I can't leave my workplace quick enough. I've been on the look out for better opportunities.

I want to ask my supervisor if I'm entitled to a commission. I'm kind of afraid it will backfire. Do you guys think this sounds about fair? My friend did point out that maybe he has the same salary as me but being compensated in commission because of his experience.

I'm totally going to lose sleep tonight.

[edgestar]

Approach the situation with caution, and try to keep calm. Maybe in his application/resume, he had something that qualified him for commission? I hope things go well for you.

[Kevin Hamilton]

As your friend mentioned, salary differences may vary quite a bit with commission. You may be better off without it, depending on how it's structured.

If you do bring it up, I at least wouldn't mention the co-worker's compensation. That's not something you're supposed to be privy to, and you're looking at a HR minefield if you're not careful.

[Kyn]

I think it's reasonable to ask your supervisor if you're entitled to commission, but make absolutely sure you do it in a way that doesn't mention your co-worker at all. Before you do that, does your state/country have any kind of employment advice bureau you could contact anonymously to ask about your rights? (Here in Aus we have the Fair Work Ombudsman, but I'm not sure if other countries have similar organisations).

[twiggy101]

Jan 30, 2018 22:21:36 GMT -5 edgestar said:

Approach the situation with caution, and try to keep calm. Maybe in his application/resume, he had something that qualified him for commission? I hope things go well for you.

I think I should be okay with being calm. They're impressed by how calm I was despite my workload. The funny thing is we both applied for my current position. I was hired on the spot because I interned for the company previously. He got hired later on because the old lead web developer quit. Giving employees commissions isn't something you'd forget, right? What's really frustrating is that Sales & Social Media Marketers are paid commission so it kind of feels like I'm the only one not being paid commission.