I Just Found Out How Much My Worthless Co-Worker Makes. I Really Wish I Hadn’t.

Good Job Photo illustration by Slate. Photo by leszekglasner/Adobe stock and Elnur/Adobe Stock. Good Job is Slate’s advice column on work. Have a workplace problem big or small? Send it to Laura Helmuth and Doree Shafrir here. (It’s anonymous!) Dear Good Job, I have been at my job for three years in a family-owned business. The boss is the son of the man who started the business, and he has his sister working there, too. There are also three other non-family employees, plus me. I like the boss, but I cannot stand his sister. She is rude, entitled, doesn’t work hard, and is basically worthless. I have always kept my head down and done my work and tried not to get involved. But I just found out how much she makes, and it’s over twice what I am making. I know that this is just classic nepotism, but I am so angry that this person is making so much money for doing so little. I thought my pay was pretty good before, but now of course, it seems totally unsatisfactory. I found out, by the way, because she was talking on the phone during work and complaining that her boyfriend makes less than she does, and then said her salary. Part of me wants to confront my boss and ask for a raise. Can I tell him I know his sister’s salary? —Underpaid Dear Underpaid, So first of all, it’s not illegal to let your boss know you know his sister’s salary, and in fact, most states have pay transparency laws that explicitly allow discussion of workplace salaries. But just because it’s legal doesn’t mean it’s a good idea in this particular situation. I may just have flooding on my brain from the previous letter, but I think you’re treading in dangerous waters here. While I’m sure everything you say about the sister’s work ethic and value to the business is true, the fact is she’s still part of the family, and I don’t think you’re going to come out on the winning end of any conflict involving her. Presumably the family is well aware of how she behaves and for whatever reason they have chosen not to do anything about it. So you need to totally separate the sister from any conversations about a raise. For the intents and purposes of getting a raise, she does not exist. But I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad idea to ask for a raise—you just need to be able to do it on its own merits, not compared to your boss’s sister. You say you thought your pay was pretty good before, but it’s probably time to do some market research and find out whether it really is good. Make the case for the raise based on your performance and the market data, not on what his sister is making. All that said, the bigger picture here is that this company is likely to lose good employees (such as yourself!) the longer they allow family employees to underperform for more money. I don’t think you’re in a position to make this argument, but I would say that if you were to, say, find another job that pays more at a company that’s not overrun by nepotism, then that would probably send a pretty clear message, wouldn’t it? Please keep questions short (<150 words), and don’t submit the same question to multiple columns. We are unable to edit or remove questions after publication. Use pseudonyms to maintain anonymity. Your submission may be used in other Slate advice columns and may be edited for publication. Dear Good Job, I live in an area that floods a lot when it rains. There are sections of town where the streets become impossible to pass when there’s an extended downpour. I just got hired at a new job (server at a restaurant), and it happens to be at an intersection that always floods. I didn’t really think of this when I accepted the job, and I wish I had. Today was supposed to be my first day, and I was supposed to be at work at 3 p.m. I drove there, but I couldn’t get onto the street, it was totally flooded over. Other side streets were, too. And it was still raining hard, so I felt like I had no choice but to turn around. I eventually pulled over and called and told the manager I couldn’t get to the restaurant. She said this was going to count as a no-show! I said I was two blocks away, but there was just no way to get there until it stopped raining and the water went down. She said that I needed to plan ahead next time. I literally have no idea what I could have done except park far away and then wade through the streets to get to work. I’m so surprised by this. It makes me want to not go back if she’s going to be so strict. It’s not like customers could even get there when it’s raining like this! I need this job though. Am I crazy for thinking this shouldn’t be a no-show? Is this a red flag about this job? —Flooded Out Dear Flooded Out, I’m sorry this happened! It must have been so stressful trying to get to the restaurant on your first day and encountering these floodwaters. I’m honestly a little bit torn about what advice to give you! On the one hand, it seems ridiculous that the restaurant would even still be open when the whole street was flooded—as you point out, there’s no way for any customers to get there either, so it sounds like the restaurant should have closed for everyone’s safety. On the other hand, it was your first day and this manager was counting on you to show up. Presumably she knows the area, and it’s possible that she thought the floodwaters would recede quickly and people would be able to get to the restaurant—in which case, you’ve left her high and dry, no pun intended. In that scenario, giving you a no-show doesn’t seem totally unwarranted, and she did just give you a no-show (as opposed to a no-call/no-show). So I think you need more information before you can definitively conclude that this is a huge red flag and you should quit immediately. I would send a text to your manager apologizing for what happened, reiterating that you didn’t feel safe, and that you’d like to figure out how to make sure it doesn’t happen again. What is her plan/procedure for when it seems like the streets could flood? Does the restaurant have any protocols around closing due to weather? I personally would try to make this work, but it’s also worth considering whether this is a once-a-year issue, or if this is something that’s going to be coming up once a month or more. Is this going to be feasible long-term? Again, I don’t think it’s worth quitting over today, but it’s something to be thinking about in the back of your mind. —Doree More Advice From Slate My husband and I never wanted children—we preferred to travel and spoil our dogs. He got the snip before we even met. Only, six months ago, we found out that he has a 13-year-old daughter, “Ella,” from a college fling. The mother gave up the baby to a relative for an adoption, only for the family to fall apart when the adoptive mother died. A relative tracked my husband down on social media and we had a paternity test done. Now, my husband feels obligated to take Ella in. Never miss new Slate Advice columns Get the latest from Prudie and our columnists in your inbox each weekday, plus special bonus letters on Saturdays. Advice Workplace Jobs