The feeling of being underpaid is one of the most disheartening aspects of work. As many as 22 million US worker believe that they are ‘underpaid’- that is their job doesn’t put their education, experience or training to work according to a new report from PayScale.  According to a study, 64% educators say that they teach the skills employers value the most; but only 41% employers agree. A lot of factors combine to determine a person’s satisfaction at workplace, but few as fundamentally motivating as Salary. If you figure out that you are not being paid properly, the zeal, motivation and productivity at work shows a sharp decrease. According to a survey, from Glassdoor.com, a whopping 39% of employees believed that they were not receiving fair pay in their current job. But with some signs it can be estimated. 

If there are multiple positions like yours at the company, the job description is same as you but the salary is higher. You must try to know why is that position getting a higher pay and ask your employer to allow you for that task and upgrade your pay. You must try to figure out what’s wrong. Stay on top of this by searching your own company’s job postings every now and then to monitor what new employees are being paid and to see if that feels reasonable given your current level of experience and role in the company. 

Although such a thing is rare to occur, but if the topic of salary comes up during association or industry networking events where people who work in similar fields at same levels of experience share stuffs and the discussion makes your jaw drop, then there are good chances that you are underpaid, says Kerr.

 

If your boss just piles up duties, extra work and especially more  responsibilities on you, but is hardly interested to discuss or mention about your paycheck, then signs are pretty clear about your salary being low in comparison to the work being piled upon you. Your title may be upgraded, but no significant change in the paycheck is observed.

“The best way to know your worth is to be on the market”. You’ll get an idea of which skills are valued, what other employers are offering and where your company stands as well as make valuable contacts.Certain jobs are higher in demand, and hence are paid accordingly. Factor in where your field of expertise stands in the general job marketplace. When a certain job is more automated or there is a great supply of the required professional, then the demand and hence the pay scale is also decided accordingly.

5. No performance review or raise in over a year 

If it seems that the time for your performance review has come and gone -or it came without a raise -you might have reason to believe you’re underpaid.

         

Be it annual bonuses or performance bonus, if everyone around you is getting them, but you are never an active participant, then it’s quite disheartening sign that you might be in the range of underpaid employee.

There are some good online calculators that can help you to find whether you are being paid properly or not. All you need to do is use Glassdoor’s tool “Know Your Worth”. Enter your salary, job title and location. It then compares your salary to others in your area to see how you stack up, as well as what you could be making, based on estimates from recent job postings.

 

If your company is private, it is certainly hard to find revenue growth versus a public company. But you are likely having discussions about corporate growth with managers in your normal course of business. If you are armed with the fact that the firm has seen about 20% growth in one year, but your salary us under par; you’ll strengthen your argument for a raise.You may have received a rise last year or for the last two years, but they are in the 1% to 3% range consistently. Then there are clear indications to you’re being underpaid.

This should be kind of person who knows you well and is aware of your skill set and they work in the same industry. He must be a well-trained, knowledgeable person who can guide you through the right path and is experienced enough to calculate and estimate your worth. You both must be open to tell the truth and you must have a feeling of acceptance to his statements and views.

The absolute information you can find from your closest colleagues. Discussions with your peers and being generous with sharing more transparent with women, you can do your part to help close the gender gap and make sure everyone’s being paid deservingly.

Get in touch with recruiters who specialize in your line of work. They have immense knowledge about salary and compensation packages. You may accordingly switch job to have an immediate pay raise.

This is a worldwide phenomenon and is a real wage gap. If you are a working woman, then it is likely that you are underpaid. Despite of the awareness campaigns and progress achieved by women rights activists, the global survey shows a disheartening result. If men and women were paid equally, then the worldwide GDP would grow by $12 trillion.

So, if one or more of the above mentioned criteria’s matches your current situation, you must be well known of unequal treatment in your office. Don’t sit back and ponder, instead take immediate actions. The best thing is to become proactive and stop feeling trapped. You have full right to raise this issue or talk to your employer regarding the same. Present your case and ask for a raise. Weigh the inherent value of the job versus leaving it. Try not losing the job without a backup option, else, you may regret your decision. Surf good sites like Glassdoor, PayScale etc. for facts, Go for a thorough research for backup options. And Help yourselves get a better career and successful future.