Last year my company decided to cap my salary in order to “bridge the gap” between employees- because they hire a lot of people right out of school who are dirt cheap and have no experience. The cherry on top is that it created a gap within our office. We were capped at different salaries. I’m unable to ever make as much as a coworker doing the exact same job. I was told this will be assessed yearly and the year has come now and I’ve already inquired but waiting on response Any advice?

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That doesn't sound like a good company to work for to be honest. That seems like a cheap way of never giving anyone raises. I think I would be looking for something else if I were you.

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Yeaaa I think I’m keeping my eyes open for a job at this point. There adding more patients and work to be done but salaries capped is not okay

They hired people cheap, created a pay gap, and now you're the one paying for it. That's genuinely enraging. The yearly reassessment thing sounds good on paper, but I'd want that in writing because verbal commitments about comp have a way of getting forgotten real fast when budget season comes around.

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I love this - they hired cheap and THEY created the gap! You’re so right.
Now it sees they’re avoiding the situation because it’s been over a month since I was told I would have a meeting with one of my many bosses

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I would set a scheduled meeting with your leadership to discuss. You can also start looking for another job and get an offer and say you have to leave but would consider if they can match it.

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Have you followed up with the director since then? I do recall a similar situation for me - I had asked my manager and she forgot. I ended up having to leave

Wow. This is BS. If i understand what you do, then many practices and hospitals are killing for people with your skill set. I would start looking and throwing around the phrase “arbitrary and capricious”…. Because this truly seems like it meets the legal definition of an arbitrary and capricious policy.

Per ChatGPT… an example is a company hires engineers and tells them:
Maximum salary is $180,000

Two years later, the company suddenly says:
“Anyone hired before 2024 can only earn $150,000, but new hires can earn $200,000.”

They give no business reason for the change.
Employees could argue this is arbitrary and capricious because:
The rule changed randomly
It treats similar employees differently
There’s no clear rationale

2. Random Exceptions to the Salary Cap
The company sets a rule:
“No employee can earn more than $160,000.”
But then leadership allows some employees to exceed it because:
They “like them”
They “asked nicely”
Or “they seem important”
Without a defined process or criteria, the policy could be considered arbitrary and capricious.

3. Salary Cap That Changes Every Quarter
A company tells employees:
Q1: Salary cap is $170k
Q2: Salary cap is $155k
Q3: Salary cap is $180k
There is no explanation tied to revenue, performance, or market pay.
Employees could claim the policy is arbitrary because it’s constantly changing without logic.

✅ In simple terms:
Arbitrary and capricious = decisions made randomly, inconsistently, or without a reasonable explanation.

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This is great info thanks! Yea.. they hired me and a year later I was capped. I wouldn’t have left my last job knowing I would be capped so soon

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Make yourself irreplaceable by providing the maximum value. In parallel, look for other jobs. Happy to explain why this works in your favour.

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