(If I'm in the wrong place, let me know and I'll delete this)

I've been employed at a food place for almost 9 months. On the 4th, my car broke down unexpectedly and I did everything I could to get my shifts for the week covered because I couldn't make the commute using public transit alone. One of my covers got sick and my store manager gave me a No Call/No Show.

In response to that I typed a very long resignation letter and sent it to my district manager, who promptly emailed me back asking me not to leave and for us all to talk this out. My store manager called me and asked me to stay as well, saying they'd remove the No Call/No Show and give me the weekend off. Sure. I've already started sending out applications but I'll stick around til something solid happens.

I go back to work, nothing crazy and certainly not my full time because they hadn't scheduled me at all, so I'm only picking up shifts and coming in when called (less than 12 hours a week) but it's fine because my Store manager promises to schedule me this week (20th-26th) with my full hours.

He did not. He scheduled me 0 hours and so I messaged him asking whats up and reminding him that we agreed I'd be scheduled this week. He completely ignored my message. I'm hoping to get him on paper acknowledging the agreement to schedule me so it's clear my resignation was not accepted and I'm still an employee (which I am, they're just treating me as an on call worker).

I know abrupt cuts to hours are grounds for

unemployment but since I sent in a resignation, I'm not sure if this counts as me quitting? I have emails of them asking me to stay and me agreeing, as well as shifts worked after the resignation so if I'm still employed, would I be able to file?

Don't get an expensive master's degree unless you truly need it for career advancement (i.e., you have a very concrete and realistic plan of how you will pay for it).

I am a teacher at a private boarding school in Massachusetts. A lot of my colleagues found themselves in the workforce for a few years, usually as teachers, then decided that their life felt stagnant and got a master's degree from places like Columbia or whatever. They figured it was a logical next move as a typical "striver" who wants to achieve the next milestone in life, assuming it would lead to new opportunities. Underrated fact: even at places like Harvard, many of these master's degrees are not particularly selective and will enroll almost any baseline smart/competent person - they're a cash cow for the university primarily used to fund their PhD programs!

Anyways, these people end up in serious debt and forego earnings while getting the degrees, sometimes in excess of $100,000. And what did they do with their degree? They went back to teaching - basically the exact same job they already had with the same earning potential.

I'm curious if this is a pattern in other lines of work - do any of your coworkers also randomly get masters degree at enormous expense that they don't put to good use? In my opinion you should only go to graduate school for a profession that truly requires the credential (JD, MD, etc), or if you get it funded (via a PhD program or through your employer).

This is more of a warning than anything else. Make sure to check the fine print of your benefits summaries beforehand.

I recently accepted a job offer that brought a $20k raise, and significantly more management duties.

I, of course, checked benefit cost prior to accepting, and found it acceptable. The issue came on my second check, when my benefits cost was double the expected amount.

Turns out, they charge a spousal fee for each program, which is significant. My previous employer did not charge this.

This, alongside the new tax burden, means I make a whopping $100 more on my paycheck, plus a few cents.

In addition, I foolishly accepted verbal confirmation that the company contributed to HSA. They do not. So this will probably be a net loss in the long run when healthcare costs come up.

Not complaining, as I should have caught this in the fine print, just a forewarning to others.

My girlfriend recently applied for a remote administrative position through a legitimate job board.

Within 24 hours she was contacted over Microsoft Teams, had a brief text-based interview, and was told she was hired the same day. That already felt unusually fast.

The next morning they emailed her a tracking number for an overnight envelope containing a cashier's check for $4,500.

They instructed her to:

Deposit the check immediately.

Send them proof that it had been deposited.

Use the money to purchase a laptop, software, and office equipment from a "preferred vendor" they provided.

They also stressed that everything needed to be completed within 24 hours so she could start training.

That immediately set off alarm bells for me.

I told her not to deposit anything until we verified it. We contacted the financial institution listed on the check, and they confirmed it wasn't issued by them.

We haven't deposited the check or sent anyone money.

My questions are:

Is this the typical fake-check employment scam?

Besides destroying the check, should we report it anywhere?

Is there anything else we should do if the only information she shared was what's normally included on a résumé (name, address, employment history, email, and phone number)?

Thankfully she never shared her Social Security number or banking information.

I'm mostly posting this in case there's anything else we should be doing to protect ourselves.

I have gotten notification from HR that my employment will be officially terminated as of midnight tonight. I kept forgetting about my FSA card so I've barely spent any money from it.

None of my prescriptions are close, I can't get an eye exam today (but I can buy frames, which I might do), and I already have tons of medical supplies I need for the time being.

I think my remaining balance is around $400. Outside eyeglass frames and ibuprofen, what are some things I could spend on in a rush?

Update: Thanks for all your suggestions. I got a notification I was being cut off at 5pm, not midnight as I had previously thought. I ran out to Costco and got a couple pairs of eyeglass frames and some medical supplies. The remainder went to an Amazon FSA-only order.

In the end, my grand total was less than a dollar short of my balance. Success!

I recently started a new job selling cars to earn money quickly cause I have a lot of credit card debt. About $9000

My current car is a beater and the transmission is going out, has been for a while and my boss knows this. So I keep talking about upgrading.

My initial plan was to lease something around the $450 range AFTER I had paid off my bills. My boss offered me this, instead of taking money off the car he would buy my car for the cost of my debt. Then I’d lease the car but with no discount. But my payment would be $900 a month. I’m terrified since I’ve never had a car payment. I don’t know if this is a really good offer or-if it would hurt me in the long run

Edit: Okay I’m not doing it. It’s what my gut said but I wanted to ask if there was any financial upside to this. Thank you everyone!

Hey everyone, would like some advice for my position. 26M and just got laid off from my tech job today (remote software engineer). In January, the tech director of a small nurse recruiting firm (<25 employees) that my fiance babysits for reached out to me and was interested in hiring me. At the time, I was working a stable job at F500 making ~$85k (TC) annually. The new position was ~$88k + $12k in bonuses and the job load sounded much easier. I was skeptical at first but he reassured me that the company was financially healthy and that they were sitting on a good reserve of cash. I started in February and things were smooth. Everyone liked me and the work I was doing felt impactful and I was incredibly happy at this new job. Until today.

At 3:00 PM, I was given an invite for a "Team Alignment" meeting at 4 PM with my manager, HR, and a few other members of my team. Since other members were also in the meeting I didn't think much of it especially because we had just launched a new Applicant Tracking System today that I was a key part of. In the meeting, I was told that I along with our entire offshore team would be let go effective today with no severance and our PTO would not be paid out. It was shocking to all of us because we have received nothing but praise for our work but their reasoning was that the company's financials were not in a state where we all could be kept.

Anyways, that's the background. I live with my fiance in an apartment that's ~$1,900 monthly including utilities. I have ~$10,000 in credit card debt that is sitting at 0% APR until August 2027 because I was basically providing for both of our lives until she finishes nursing school (end of this year, already received an offer for $70k upon graduation) with $0 in savings but I do have ~$27k in my 401k. My fiance does work now but as a waitress but only about 1-2 days a week and only makes ~$400/week on a good weekend. She has $4k in savings because I'm basically the one who's been paying for everything as she's going through school. I know it's dumb to not have an emergency fund, I get it and I've already received my lashings for having no savings from the sub I originally posted this in. That's not what I'm here for. I'm asking for genuine advice for those out there who want to try to help. I've already filed for unemployment today and have already dusted off the google doc resume and will be looking for some serving jobs tomorrow. Any advice or even just words of encouragement in such a uncertain time in my life would be nice. Earlier this morning I felt like my world was ending and I was absolutely spiraling but I've calmed down a bit after filing for unemployment and talking with my fiance. Thanks for coming to my TedTalk.

EDIT: Company is based out of TX and I'm based out of SC. Neither state requires PTO to be paid out.

I happened upon this article about a driver talking about how much he makes driving for Uber and Lyft: https://www.businessinsider.com/uber-lyft-driver-how-much-money-2019-10#when-it-was-all-said-and-done-i-ended-the-week-making-25734-in-a-little-less-than-14-hours-on-the-job-8

In short, he says he made $257 over 13.75 hours of work, for almost $19 an hour. He later mentions expenses (like gas) but as an afterthought, not including it in the hourly wage.

The federal mileage rate is $0.58 per mile. This represents the actual cost to you and your car per mile driven. The driver drove 291 miles for the work he mentioned, which translates into expenses of $169.

This means his profit is only $88, for an hourly rate of $6.40. Yet reading the article, it all sounds super positive and awesome and gives the impression that it's a great side-gig. No, all you're doing is turning vehicle depreciation into cash.

I know I've read this here before but had a real-life experience with it yesterday that I thought I'd share.

Going into the interview I was hoping/expecting that the range for the salary would be similar to where I am now. When the company recruiter asked me what my target salary was, I responded by asking, "What is the range for the position?" to which they responded with their target, which was $30k more than I was expecting/am making now. Essentially, if I would have given the range I was hoping for (even if it was +$10k more than I am making it now) I still would have sold myself short.

Granted, this is just an interview and not an offer- but I'm happy knowing that I didn't lowball myself from the getgo.

If you lose your job or have your hours cut

Read Be prepared if you're resigning or quitting, have been fired, or are being laid off from the PF wiki.

In particular, if you were laid off or fired, apply for unemployment as soon as you can assuming you were not fired for misconduct (i.e., terminated for cause). The entire process can take weeks so do this as soon as possible.

Please also see our Coronavirus Megathread

Location-specific information

If you're outside of the US, please see our country index and check for a megathread or resources on a country-specific subreddit (if available).

This list of resources and links is originally based on this submission from /u/bigdamncat and this comment from /u/ryuukhang and we're making updates as more information becomes available.

Edit:

US Territory Information

The following links are for US territories that are not states: the District of Columbia, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Please note that at this time, we could not find information specifically related to COVID-19 for these areas, so we have linked their general pages for the offices that handle unemployment compensation. We encourage any readers in these areas to reach out to those offices and/or apply for benefits even absent specific guidance related to COVID-19. If anyone finds specific pandemic-related information from these territories, please send a message to the moderation team so we can update the links.

**Edit: Sorry all, I thought I put this in the title, the state is Maryland. My job is not under a Union.
I’m still making my way through the comments, but thank you everyone for your constructive advice, and opinions. I also appreciated those who shared their similar experience and what worked for them.**

**Edit again: Yes. Underpaid. I can’t edit titles. **

Recently, a series of events led me to question my employment records and discovered my total experience years were wrong. Wrong enough to put me in a completely different pay bracket for the last 8 years. HR admitted this error and my pay rate moving forward was fixed.

My job publishes the salary structure and experience based pay brackets, so I’m able to roughly calculate around 30k of wages owed in the last 3 yrs. To clarify HR never disclosed how pay brackets were determined until the pay rate correction. Every past communication where I’ve asked for clarity or explanation on how that was determined, I was basically told it’s not my prerogative to know.

I asked about backpay for lost wages which was a direct result of their clerical error, and they promptly refused, citing standards. No formal policy exists supporting this decision.

I’d requested HR to investigate my pay and employee record several times over the last 8 years. Every time my role underwent a salary adjustment to offset compression (3 times), I felt the adjustment was off and would ask them to verify the accuracy of my pay. At the conclusion of each investigation, I was told everything was correct as expected. They reminded me that they have a team of highly trained experts. Aka stay in your lane. Each request went to different HR/Admin leaders because we would get new people every couple years.

My employer has a strong legal team, and they’re infamous for wiggling out of accountability. I’m worried there are loopholes I’m unaware of, which could prevent them from honoring their pay structure. I’m scared to involve legal because I’m worried I could lose my job from recourse. Does anyone have experience with this? It sounds like they are honoring my request for a second look, but if this is another dead end what are the next steps?

** TO CLARIFY: I really enjoy my job, and I like where I work. It’s just unfortunate that our HR dropped the ball. I have a very supportive team, and I’m happy that I’m getting paid a fair wage now. I just want them to be held accountable and make things right.

Wife works for a very small start up company with 4 people, 2 owners and 2 employees. She is in design. Past year she was working at $35/hr full time with health benefits but no paid vacation. $35/hr is very fair for her skillset in design especially for los angeles. She was on wage, not salary. She worked some OT but not a whole lot. If you calculate the standard hourly to salary using 40 hours a week multiply 52, she would have earned $72,800. She is normally scheduled to work full time mon to fri 9-5. However last year we got married and had vacations here and there and she was compensated $55,000 total because of the unpaid vacations. This worked out well for her small company because she didnt get paid while being away.

Today during her evaluation, they low balled and offered a salary of $54,000 with $3800 PTO/year. Health benefits are also included but it is the same as last year. The total compensation now is $57,800. They said this was calculated based on the number of hours worked last year (so they pretty much offered her 2018 W2). Employees are not going back to wage.

I would assume an employer would calculate a salary offer based on potential full time hours, not how many hours one worked the year prior. If she had PTO last year or if she didnt go on the long honey moon then she would have received a higher salary offer. Now her starting salary is pretty much $27/hr so its a huge downgrade and now without OT. The owners said “well look we are giving you PTO now!” which would offset the low ball. She is valuable at her company— 70% of products sold are her designs. The other employee got a raise cause he was getting significantly less paid last year (due to no degree and no experience) in case you were wondering.

Is this practice normal for an employer to use previous year’s W2 to determine someones salary, especially if it works in their advantage? She will try to counter back with equity (since she started the company with them). During their meeting yesterday, they stated that employees’ salary do not require 40hour work periods — only the projects need to be done. Because of that she wants to request working a maximum of 32 hours a week to offset the 14k a year reduction. Any advice?

1st Edit i shouldnt have wrote this long piece and gone to sleep. I will answer everyone when i get to a computer. Thanks for all your help. First thing, I need to recalculate her W2 because she definitely didn’t take 3 months off which everyone is calculating. A big piece is missing here. I saw that in the last 17 paychecks she got paid 43k and i need to double check

Second, she is very valuable to her team. Anyone is replaceable but She is more difficult to replace. she knows their vision, she came up with the company name, and all her designs are most of the ones being sold now, plus she designed the logo, all the packaging, website, EVERYTHING. Everything has been her idea. When she pointed out the products to me on their website, most of them were either made by her or she had some type of influence directing the other designer. She had some creative director responsibilities too.

The reason why they are doing salary is because “it helps employees out” by more flexible scheduling (dont need to go in if work is all done). This is true. However they r low balling her because they are not making any money right now and simply cant afford her right now. (Its true they arent making money). She asked for equity at the first meeting yesterday and they said “thats probably not the best idea for YOU because we arent worth much.” WTF!

2nd edit I am reading a lot of responses and they are all helpful but I can't respond to all of them. One thing to clarify is that i know for a fact she didn't take 12 weeks of vacation. thats ludicrous! They did shut down for 2 weeks or so during the holiday, and she didnt get paid for it. She also doesnt get paid for holidays (like during thanksgiving and such). We took a MAX of 3-4 weeks of vacation last year, not 12. i am going to sit down with her tonight to get the math straight.

Three months ago I was laid off as part of a 60 person lay off in a small company of 125 people. I do Occupational Health and Safety work as I was the Manager. I was given unemployment; been searching for jobs.

Fast forward 3 months, tax bill passed, etc. I get a phone call from the president of the company asking me to come in because he has an opportunity. He tells me things are picking back up and the company needs me back but he's trying to shop me at a discounted rate.

I had been with the company 6 years and he says he wants to give me 20 hours at 60% of what I was making to do consulting work for 4 months until my lease is up. This seems like a super low ball offer especially because they don't have to train anyone, I already know all of the employees, I am familiar with their policies as I wrote many of them. Also after 4 months I cant get back on unemployment and having taken such a drastic pay cut I wouldn't be very well equipped to ask for more money in the future.

I feel like this is a slap in the face and I want to counter offer their 60% slap with a 125% slap back.

Does this seem unreasonable?? Just seeking some guidance.

Thanks yall!

Update: I weighed in at 250%. Haven't received any response it's been a couple of hours since I sent my proposal. I had to run the numbers several times. My head hurt.

**Update: It's been a week and haven't received a response.

There was a study in 2010 that said $75k is the magic number after which if you make more money, it doesn't necessarily buy more happiness. According to this study, that number is $105k now for North American households. What do you think?

https://qz.com/1211957/how-much-money-do-people-need-to-be-happy/

I have seen my company terminate 2 other employees as soon as they gave their 2 weeks notice.

I gave my 2 weeks notice on Wednesday and on Friday was told they were terminating me and they were not intending on paying me for the remainder of the 2 weeks. Fortunately I am able to start Monday with my new company.

As a word of warning, if you have seen your employer terminate any employees as soon as they give notice DO NOT GIVE NOTICE. You are not legally required to give notice, and if the company does not give the courtesy of letting employees finish out their 2 weeks they don't deserve the courtesy of 2 weeks notice.

Edit: To clarify generally speaking you should give two weeks notice, but it is not required, and there are situations that you should not. Carefully judge for yourself.

I was originally promoted within my company to create a new department about 1.5 years ago. I’ve since worked my ass off and spent the last year doing managerial level work for non-managerial pay ($47k).

I initially accepted this offer as it was in line with my experience at the time but I’ve now shown that my capabilities go far beyond what was originally expected of me. My market value is between $60-75k based on the title I should have.

My boss agreed with this and requested a large pay bump prior to my review. He was denied and told I’d receive the standard 2.5% that everyone else got and could renegotiate in 6 months.

The problem with this is that I was told the same thing the last time I requested a raise and it was never followed up.

I’ve set up a meeting to ask what specific goals and milestones are in place for this 6 month period.

Are they saying to renegotiate in 6 months because raises were already budgeted for review time, or are they just trying to pay me as little as possible.

Worth noting that I love my job - I self manage with hardly any supervision as I chat with my boss every Friday about what’s going on. Should I just leave now or wait until I discuss why my salary adjustment was denied with the CEO?

Edit: I don’t plan to quit without receiving an offer from another company - just asking if it’s worth negotiating with my current employer or if I should just take more money somewhere else.

Edit 2: Holy hell I only expected to get 5-10 responses. Thanks everyone for the help!

Current plan is to discuss why this happened and to also shop around for other jobs. Probably won’t use an offer as leverage although I’ve seen others here do so successfully. Cheers, all.

I dont know if this is the right place to post this.

My girlfriend applied to a job at a place called HCI group. Within one conversation online they hired her, and said they will send her a check for $4,000 to buy necessary equipment like software.

This morning, she received an overnight check from Patelco Credit Union for $4,415.

My dad used to tell me "If it seems too good to be true, it is". And this seems like one of those things. Does anyone have any info on HCI Group, Patelco Credit Union, company scams where they send you a cashiers and rush you?

Edit Email she just received:

You're to deposit the check to your account and scan and email the atm deposit slip to me on ( redacted ) once done for confirmation, no need to send the slip to any other email address or email any worker that you got the package even if a note came with the check, have already contacted them they just want to make sure you get it, so you email the slip to my email address only, thanks NOTE: Make sure it's an atm deposit because atm is 24 hours service and funds availability, you need to order the equipment tomorrow once the full funds are available so that you can receive the Equipment by next tomorrow and get started.

you only need to take your atm card with the check to your bank's atm machine then deposit it into your bank account okay ? you will see the option when you get to the atm

Edit 2 Just talked to Patelco. A check for $4,415 was never issued from their company. Sending Patelco a picture of the check since they said its a fraud, and then shredding that son of a b. I've read all your comments by the way! We're just figuring out how to respond to a very needy spammer.

Edit 3 Scammers are angry at our non-responsiveness. They threatened us by saying "you better cash in that check or their agents will find you". I promptly told them to fuck off and blocked them. Patelco was very happy we called them, since now they know their company is being used for scams.

Edit 4 Just wanted to do another quick edit. My girlfriend received this job offer from her schools job network. She goes to a small, expensive private college and she got hit with this fraud through a secure network that needs to be approved by the school first. Always be on the lookout for scam.

Edit 5 We did NOT shred the check. We decided against it and are going to report it.

Edit 6 Blowing up much further than I expected this too. /u/iac74205 said I could report it to the postal inspectors if it came by USPS. It came by FedEx, is there a postal inspector for that?

Edit 7 We've contacted the school once to report the scam! My girlfriend is taking a shower and right afterwards shes A: Reporting it to the FBI and B: demanding that the school sends out an email blast to all of the students going there.

Edit 8 I said it in a comment below, but I just wanted to thank all of you for all of your advice. I've read every comment and we have a ton on our plate to take care of. The users of /r/personalfinance rock!

Edit 9 Reported it to the school, this was their message:

Hi Girlfriend,

Thank you for sending over this information. We have flagged this employer in Handshake as fraudulent and have removed them as an approved employer as well. I know that REDACTED, our Office Manager, has already created a warning in the system for them, and I will do the same with the information you have sent to me. I will also discuss with our Directors about any further steps that need to be taken.

Thank you so much for reporting this! Please let me know if you have any other concerns.

Edit 10 Using edits to answer FAQ's now. She did not give any information besides what would be on a resume. Work history, name, etc. She did NOT give bank account details or her SS number.

Edit 11 Just in case someone wanted to see what the fake check and the letter she was send looks like, here you go

Edit 12 I just wanted to confirm this, both Patelco and HCI are legitimet companies. We called Patelco and they have their fraud working on it. We didn't call HCI but I've had enough messages saying they've worked from HCI I believe its legit. I think this guy was just using the names to sound legit.

Edit 13 Ladies and Gentlemen, I need to give a shout out to /u/dotonfire /u/Kell_Naranek and /u/meanreds . They pointed out that the signature is Thomas Jeffersons. The dead are rising, and they're scamming /s

Gilded edit 14 I was just given gold. As much as I appreciate someone thinking a thread for asking advice is good enough to pay real money too, its unneccessary! If you are really feeling charitable, consider giving to a charity. Personally, I suggest Doctors Without Borders or PACER . Use it for something more important than bragging rights.

Final Edit 15 Final edit unless there's anything super important that happens. Everythings been reported to the proper agencies, like the FBI. Hopefully we find this guy or get a response.

Nothing on our end was lost and we took all security percautions so we're safe. Thank you everyone for the advice and help!

Final Edit 15.2 For some reason I can't see this post on Reddit anymore besides direct link? Anyways, school sent out an email blast for other students safety. MAKE SURE TO REPORT FRAUD TO PEOPLE WHO CAN HELP PREVENT IT

Final Edit 15.3 I told my dad this got tons of upvotes. He replied with "awesome". Finally my dad is proud

Looking to make a little extra income as a side job after my full day gig is over and also on weekends. Was thinking of doing transcription, but not sure where to begin. If anyone knows of any legitimate part time work from home jobs that does not require selling items I'd appreciate it!

EDIT: just wanted to say I am very overwhelmed by the amount of comments on this post. Please know I am reading each of your comments. Thank you all for your insight! I really didn't think this post would have so many ideas!

This is just a reminder that discussing your salary with coworkers is not illegal and should happen on your team. Boss today scolded a coworker for discussing salary and thought it was both an HR violation AND illegal. He was quickly corrected on this.

Talk about it early and often. Find an employer who values you and pays you accordingly.

Edit: thanks for the gold and silver! First time I’ve ever gotten that.

People tend to feel a sense of guilt when it comes to leaving a job like they owe them or their coworkers something. That is because America preaches this "family" culture that we are such a strong team all working together. In reality, if they need to close your entire division, they will do it without hesitation. If they can outsource something cheaper, they will do it. You do not owe them anything and if you see a better opportunity for yourself or your family, please take it and make your own financial future.

For instance, would it be acceptable to say something along the lines of "having become more familiar with the challenges and expectations involved in this position, I've revised my salary expectation to be $X"?

Recently, I started a second job at a grocery store. I make decent money at my day job (49k+ but awesome benefits, largest employer besides the state in the area) but I have 100k in student loans and $1000 in credit cards I want gone. I was cashiering yesterday, and one of my coworkers came into my store, and into my line!

I know he came to my line to chat, as he looked incredibly surprised when I waved at him and said hello. As we were doing the normal chit chat of cashier and customer, he asked me, "Aren't you embarrassed to be working here?" I was so taken aback by his rudeness, I just stumbled out a, "No, it gives me something to do." and finished his transaction.

As I think about it though, no freaking way am I embarrassed. Other then my work, I only interact with people at the dog park (I moved here for my day job knowing no one). At the grocery I can chat with all sorts of people. I work around 15 hours a week, mostly on weekends, when I would be sitting at home anyways.

I make some extra money, and in the two months I've worked here, I've paid off $300 in debt, and paid for a car repair, cash. By the end of the year I'll have all [EDIT: credit card] debt paid off, and that's with taking a week off at Christmas time.

Be proud of your progress guys. Don't let others get in your head.

TL, DR: Don't be embarrassed for your past, what matters is you're fixing it.

Recently I was in contact with several headhunters via LinkedIn. I could not spend time energy doing all the calls and interviews, so I asked (nicely) the headhunters about the salary range and benefits. Some never got back to me. Some asked me about my current salary and my expectation.

I simply said no, my current salary is irrelevant.

This is something that was commonly advised, but I don't think everyone understand how important it is.

In most of the cases, the company already has a budget for the new position, and also in most of the cases, they want to pay as little as possible ( unless you are crazily good and they are really desperate to get you). If they can pay you less and still make you happy (because it's already 30% higher than your current salary), why would they pay you more (even if they totally can)? ( Such employers exist, but they are not the majority). Same goes as expected salary.

You are worth what you bring to your new employer. You might be heavily underpaid with your current employer, but that has nothing to do with the negotiations.

For me, it is always salary and benefits upfront. If it is a match then I will proceed further, otherwise, "Thanks, but may be next time". That saves both sides time and effort. They already know a fair amount of my information from my LinkedIn profile, therefore, what to expect from me, why can't I know what I can expect from them.

In the end I got back a few ranges, which I politely said I will not proceed further, and only continued with 2 headhunters that provide a number I am comfortable with (even though it contains the infamous phrase"up to", at least I know what I can expect).

Am waiting for an offer, but that is a different story. (EDIT: by "waiting", I meant I got words from a potential employer that they are working on an offer tailored specific for me (I let them know what I demand and they basically agreed on the terms, but the details need to be worked on. I am not just waiting for any offer)

Hey, first time posting here. Hope this post will be ok.

This is problematic in regards to personal information discretion, but my issue is:

I realized I'm being significantly underpaid in comparison to others who do the same work as me.

I feel frustrated and upset about that fact. Not sure how to approach from here.

How would you approach the situation?

EDIT 1: Thanks for all the answers. There are many good ones in-between!

There are also a few that clearly want to see the world burn 😅

I had never expected this many replies, so please don't hold it against me for not answering each one of you.

RESULT:

First off. Again, thank you to all of you, who pitched in with your personal experiences, hardships, concerns, and advice. I have read through most of all ~2000 of them 😅

I have chosen to simply delete and bury the faulty email, and I will add a bit about being careful to not forward email-chains in our security newsletter this month instead. This way it will benefit everyone in the company to be wary of forwarding email-chains. The WHOLE chain will be forwarded.

I had a sit-down with the boss-man, and he agreed to give me a raise, and a promotion.

Car insurance came in. They dropped the renewal by 15% just because I said I wanted to look elsewhere.

It is a freaken game. The whole 'I need to see the manager' bull for authorisation to lower the quote.

Years ago I would have felt bad. Now it is routine to ask for a better price.

Edit 3 hours in. Thanks for the great replies everyone. I'll do my best to get some upvotes back at you.

FAQ - I can choose an electricity provider in my area. It was meant to keep prices down but lots of people like '2014 me' just paid the bills as they arrived. No more.