In class we worked on some scenarios regarding compensation of employees. One example that stood out to me in particular was the example of having service technicians being currently paid $18 an hour, but with the down turn of the economy the company has to offer new hires $15. The question was at what rate would you start the new hires, and if the existing technicians should have their paid decreased to $15 to accommodate economic hardships. My group decided that you should keep the $18 existing employees at that rate, but start the new employees at $15 and let them work their way up to eventually reach $18.
This scenario stood out to me because at my work place we have a similar scenario but opposite. We have employees that have been working for us for 3+ years at $16 an hour for a certain position, but hiring the exact same role with economy changes, we have to offer $18 an hour to new employees. This creates a hostile work environment for employees that have worked for us for a while towards new employees. It is a very difficult situation because we cannot just bump all existing employees up to this same pay range. We are trying to get them a raise, but are not always easy to get approval from upper management. The answer to this scenario is not always clear or easy to address.
katiecharles 