Store employee says she worked every Black Friday and Christmas for 3 years, then learned a trainee she taught made $3 more: ‘Oh yeah, he negotiated’

A store employee says she walked out of her job after learning that a new hire she trained was earning $3 more an hour. Her managers allegedly refused to close the gap. According to Upworthy, TikTok user Luka shared the story in a video about her three years at the store.

In that time, she says she covered Thanksgiving, Black Friday, and Christmas shifts each year and had already asked her boss for a raise twice. Her boss later put her in charge of training a new hire. About two weeks after that, the trainee mentioned that he was making $19 an hour. She was earning $16.

When she raised this with her boss, he allegedly replied, “Oh yeah, he negotiated.” She then asked for better pay herself. He allegedly told her the budget had no room for a raise with the busy holiday season approaching, and that staff could not discuss wages at the store.

She says the district manager turned her down as well

Soon after, the district manager came in and asked what was going on. Her boss allegedly answered, “I didn’t really even think she’d leave, so I didn’t think to give her a raise.” The remark caught her off guard, she says. The district manager then told her the store could not afford an increase for her either. After that conversation with both managers, she says she quit on the spot. She adds that her side shifts already pay her more than the store ever did. All details are based on her TikTok video.

The National Labor Relations Board states that for employees covered by the National Labor Relations Act, “employees have the right to communicate with their coworkers about their wages.” The agency adds that “policies that specifically prohibit the discussion of wages are unlawful.” It lists “having conversations about how much you and your colleagues and managers make” as protected activity.

The agency notes that these rights apply whether or not a worker belongs to a union. Wage talk is covered off the clock, on breaks, and during work time if other non-work conversations are permitted. Workers can also make joint requests for better pay or file wage claims. The page states that employers may not retaliate against, question, threaten, or surveil employees over these discussions.

The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta tracks pay growth for workers who change jobs and for those who stay. The tracker counts a worker as a switcher if they changed employers or job duties in the past three months, or moved into a different occupation or industry. In its latest three-month average, median hourly wages for job switchers rose 4.7% from a year earlier, compared with 3.4% for job stayers.

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