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How did you picture that playing out in your mind?

sounds like horseshit to me first thing today, go apologize to the partners, then start looking for a new job

once you land the new job, quit at the most inconvenient time possible to fuck up the firm as much as possible there's something to be said for professionalism here, but doing the above will probably make you feel happier on the inside

The only reason I brought it up is because I was ambushed with the fact that the bonus structure is like this. Went to lunch with one of the partners the other day and it was sprung on me, followed by "you're wrong, it's completely normal. I didn't even know there was a difference in BO vs FO."

And today, the other two took me aside over drinks to basically have a go at me, and blaming me for "being unhappy".

You would expect a shift from a profit share to a % of salary bonus would be a huge difference in value - can you shed some light on the difference you're likely to see as a figure?

Because if it's substantial that just isn't right..

It sounds like the way you brought it up with the partners may have been the problem.. I recently found that an employee that is essentially a 2-day-a-week receptionist earns, pro-rata, over double my analyst salary for doing nothing - so I get where you're coming from. But you gotta be careful how you bring these issues to the table. I wouldn't advise saying 'I should earn more then her because I'm front office, she's back office' as it sounds pretentious.

This would be a perfect opportunity to renegotiate your salary and your leading argument is that the new pay structure is essentially a step backward. You've posted a couple of times about the work you do and it seems you're heavily involved in lots of areas of the business - so I don't think you will have much trouble letting your bosses know how much you do. Forget the back office staff and focus on yourself, using the knowledge of the back office salary to work out what you can effectively target in terms of salary negotiation but don't bring them up in your argument.

Would you be receiving the same % bonus? Lots of places have bonus as a percent of base pay, but the percentage range is very different for a secretary compared to a huge producer.

I would be looking for other options.

This doesn't make sense. If they're cutting your compensation by a significant amount, they would know and there's a reason. You're either not as valuable as you think (at least in their eyes, or there was a significant communication error around your compensation. You should bounce if you can line something similar up. Good luck.

For those saying I may not be as valuable as I think I am, I doubt it. We don't survive solely on mgmt fees. We have a lot of other projects that we do for cashflow purposes, and I run all of them. Basically I am the only real source of revenue. In addition, I created a tool that saved us having to get a second analyst (it creates automated reports, learnt coding to create it), and we're spinning the tool out (I AM) into a new business to create revenue (which it already has started doing via licensing).

The CEO did know this woman prior to hiring her and they do seem very close, but if this is why, it's idiotic. If I were to leave now, given the talent that exists in this country + the difficulty to get people from abroad (I'm European with an MSc in Finance) and the time required to find someone, they would be in deep shit.

It just doesn't make sense. Furthermore, these guys always encouraged open communication yet when I communicated (forcefully pretty much), I got scolded for having a damn opinion.

Ignoring the other woman for a moment, the real issue here is that they invited you into the partnership, never papered it, then let you work for 7+ months before kicking you out of the partnership and putting you into a much lower value compensation structure. They have basically committed fraud, and you really have no recourse other than to try to find a better gig.

I remember going through your posts before. Just to clarify, is your partnership stake legally bound?

I'm on your side. It's complete bullshit a receptionist is making more than you...and why did they even offer a receptionist so much compensation.

If you have a legal claim, this should be a fairly clear situation. First, re-read your contract to make sure you're understanding the terms correctly. Consult a lawyer, if necessary. While I generally wouldn't recommend a litigious posture, if you are contractually entitled to a share of the profits, you should not forego it, especially if you are doing a considerable amount of the work.

I would try once more to make your case to the partners, using the negotiating advice provided by thebrofessor. Make it absolutely clear what your interpretation of the agreement is. If they continue to be unreceptive, seriously consider legal action to have the terms of your agreement enforced. But don't expect your career at this firm to survive legal action. All good faith will be lost and you will be openly antagonistic (they, apparently, have lobbed the first shots). Starting now, be careful not to do anything that could be misconstrued as damaging to the firm (taking client lists, becoming inefficient, etc.)

If you are indeed as valuable as you perceive yourself to be, then you really have the leverage. Power dynamics are such that the opposing party isn't going to inform you that you have considerable control. In fact, they are incentivized to do the opposite- convince you that you are insignificant and it is by their virtuous grace that you have been allowed you to continue to work for them. That may be what is going on. If they actually would be screwed/seriously inconvenienced by your departure, either one of two things is true:

1) They don't know how valuable you are 2) They do know how valuable you are, but are going to play hardball because...(they think they can defraud you, they think you'll chicken out, etc.)

One last piece of advice- do not view yourself through the lens of this back office person. Favoritism is a reality distorting- it provides almost no useful information about your value, which should be your principal concern. If you can, find out what a competent person in your position earns (profit share and/or salary + bonus).

It's BS what is happening to you but unfortunately it's not out of the ordinary at smaller or start up firms. The above advice is good and I'd follow it, but I'd also add in some quantifiable information such as doing a super simple spreadsheet showing what the original deal was to what it has become. I'm guessing you have enough granularity into what a 10% profit share would be compared to a simple % bonus so you should show that. If you have comps as to what is industry standard in your business, show some of those as well. Another unfortunate thing, and I don't know what euro country you're in because it varies, is that running a traded company makes it far more difficult to give any employee a set percentage of profits because it's simply out of the ordinary for a public company and you may have to rewrite the by-laws of the company you reversed into and run it through a board remuneration committee who frankly isn't going to think as much about you personally and more about shareholders and their personal reputation in the market. In addition, and I've been involved in public companies in London, Luxembourg and Frankfurt, publicly traded companies over there just don't pay the same as in the US. It's partially the culture and since the 07/08 crash public sentiment has really turned against high pay at publicly traded companies.

You may be able to litigate but I'd use that as the absolute last step if at all. If you're earlier in your career that can just be a killer and you don't want to kill your career over what will be a relatively small amount of money.

Thanks. I'm actually working in South Africa, but I am European. I will certainly not bring up any laws or litigation, because I'd much rather just quit in that case. Regardless of what I feel has been done to me, I'm not taking it personally, and I wouldn't want to have an adverse effect on anyone else's life just because of it, when I can rather just walk away. I will be seeking new opportunities now in Europe, and try to be as professional as possible whilst continuing to work hard, as I do want a rec for my MBA apps. I'm applying to INSEAD, and although this is somewhat of roadblock, I can't imagine continuing at this firm with these people. Hopefully I can find something comparable where I enjoy it and postpone my MBA matric another year or so.

I support the OP, but just want some clarification. Is this woman doing BO in the sense we all think or is she basically an office manager. I ask because someone can not be in a FO role, but still incredibly important to a firm.

That being said, whenever I feel underpaid I give a firm a chance to rectify it and then just leave if it doesn't happen. Getting into a battle with superiors is almost never worth it and a waste of time.

Good luck dude, this is a BS situation.

Oh haha, yeah, Fuck that. I'd probably do as advised above though. Apologize and just start looking elsewhere. No sense wasting time at a place like that.

Don't take most of our advices seriously, remember this is a public forum.

That said, here is some advice: If you have blown up, yelled at your partners, are pissed off, etc... cool down. Put your head down and get back to work. Potentially ask for a week off to refocus.

You need to have another opportunity before you shut the door. If you are set on leaving spend more time looking for something else, but do NOT quit with nothing else. Also - do not jump ship at the first opportunity that comes your way. Take your time - you are still learning where you are. That's invaluable no matter how the people around you are treating you. USD 75k is chicken sh.t, you'll make a lot more later on in your career. Don't focus on the money. They are treating you unfairly - that's what you should be upset about, but remember those people can give you references later on, don't piss them off. SA is a very small market as well...

I could go on about legally binding contract etc... But 1) you are not invested in this company 2) you are too junior 3) the money you were to gain from it is too small. Forget about taking them to court etc...

Focus on one thing: Find a new job, and take it easy. An MBA at INSEAD? Why not, but if you are only 7 months in the job I'd look at another job first.

Last piece of advise: NEVER ever ever bad mouth your employee when you will be interviewing elsewhere, make up another excuse why you want to move 1) too small 2) you've reached a ceiling and not learning 3) company since going public has changed to what you were used to and you don't like the changes etc....

Am I the only one who sees that she's fucking the partner(s)?

Sounds like you're being taken advantage of (no lube). I think you only have two options: 1) Accept it, and stay, or 2) Don't accept it, and find another job. In either case, continue to smile and nod.

Sounds like they're trying to get rid of you

Life isn't always fair. Back office IT people (read: people who build stuff) have marketable skills, so it' should not be a totally obnoxious surprise if sometimes they work less and earn more.

Amazed no one has pointed out the obvious, but I'll do it...

This other woman's salary should be COMPLETELY irrelevant to you. Stop thinking it matters in any way. There will always be people who make more than you. Don't use that as the yardstick of whether you're being treated fairly. If that woman got a pay cut, the money would not go to you. How much she makes does not affect you in any way.

The ONLY thing that matters is how much you are making now compared to how much you'd make be going elsewhere. Could you get a better deal elsewhere? If so, leave. If not, stop complaining. But how much someone else makes should not enter your thinking at all. Just focus on improving your own comp, not whether your comp is more/less than someone else's.

Textbook nepotism/cronyism. She's either a)sheboinking somebody, as stated before or b) related to somebody important (see partner, regulator, investor, etc.)

If this is the case, there really isn't anything to do. Consider it a cost the firm has to front to function. Get your compensation to a level you feel is appropriate. Disregard her: she's just part of the firms pay-to-play expenses.

What are you an idiot?

How much other people in the firm get paid is none of your fucking concern. Your comp is triangulated based on (1) market comp for your seat; (2) how profitable the firm is; (3) how important you are to the firm / how much they'd care if you left / your actual ability & willingness to leave.

You said that the comp structure worked out just fine for you, so it sounds like you were happy with your comp until you learned a "lesser" person was making more than you. Sure, that would that irk me too.. But the extent to which its become an issue for you and the fact that you were dumb enough to bitch about it in that manner to the partners suggests your maturity level isn't up to snuff.

If you feel you're being under comped, go to the partners with cold hard facts and keep your alternative options in your back pocket if they don't hit your bid. Don't go to them with some sorry ass weak shit like "that person's making more than me and they're support staff."

I'd fire you just for being dickless and lacking the balls to negotiate like a man.

dont benchmark yourself against the BO receptionist. what matters is your comp banchmarked to the partners. you might not have any equity but you got 10% rev share in your contract! damn youre a lucky bastard! i did not really catch if your contract already changed to the %of salary bonus but I fully understand why they want that: to rip you off.

The big partner just took me aside and said that I do very good work and they like me, and they want to compensate me accordingly. Before he said this, I said "I want to apologize if I was rude" ...

I said that I will just trust that I will be priced fairly. My point was to reduce the tension, so that I could go on working well.

I'll keep looking for opportunities now more calmly than under the circumstances prior to this talk, where I wanted to get away asap.

This kind of shit is par for the course at "start up" PE firms. It should be part of the job description. I have to put up with being at the beck and call of technology illiterate morons who are better compensated than I am, I have to help out with a zillion things that should be taken care of by others (IT work, scheduling training for the accountants, moving heavy boxes, etc). Bonuses are never what they say my target is, always some random (sometimes significant, sometimes not) amount taken off for bullshit reasons that they are unable to explain. Or they explain it in such a way that it is clear that they are disappointed in me because of somebody else's mistake.

But when push comes to shove, and I look at what jobs I could legitimately switch to, it's just not worth it. I would either take a big compensation hit, or end up somewhere which would have it's own set of bullshit issues. Honestly, it's just not worth it to me.

If you want my opinion, yeah, it's not fair and you shouldn't have to put up with it. Changing your profit share to regular cash bonuses sucks, and it sucks doubly when it is evident (because of the super well paid backoffice lady) that there's enough cash around to improve your comp. So put your money where your mouth is and find a better paid job. However, if you cannot honestly do that, and if you recognize that every workplace is going to have some downsides, maybe you'll realize that you're better off staying. It's up to you.

$100 bucks this chick's kids' DNA matches one of the partners.

Sounds like you just need to man up and ask for what you want. If a BO employee ,regardless of how talented she might be (which doesn't sound too talented by the way you describe it) is making 2x your all in comp, there is something wrong. Sounds like you've brought it up to the partners and they have just brushed you off. In my opinion you need to just put it on the line. Think of how you want to be fairly compensated whether it be more money or less time in the office, or both, create a little presentation as to why you deserve more, get both of the guys together, give it to them straight, and don't let them worm out of it. If they don't give you what you want or try to put it off again, then I would just accept it and immediately start looking for new jobs. You've been working for a year right? Have you taken any vacation? I would max out your vacation days and take a week or two off while searching for new jobs and then just bail on that firm as soon as possible. Don't waste time on people who don't value you.

Are you the same person that created a thread about the safety issue and how you can literally never leave your house or work because of it?

Let me ask you this. You did say that your firm was merged into a larger, listed entity? If that's the case, then maybe your partners don't have the negotiation power to keep paying themselves and you the amount they want to. Also, if that's the case it sounds like the "Group Finance Manager" is a plant from the larger entity/parent company. If so, this makes a lot of sense and explains the high salary, short hours, and selective tasks. And your partners may not be able to do anything about it.

Also, in such a small firm, do your partners regard you as FO? Are they driving the new business and you handle all the reconciliations and reporting? You said you handle "all the day to day activities".

Wait, one of the partners texts your GF sexual messages on a weekly basis? Can you elaborate on this? How does he have her number, have you spoken to him about it, how often its happened, your thoughts on it, etc.

Am I missing something?

You had a 10% profit share. The partners had 30%. There are 4 partners.

Either you're confused because that makes 130%, or you were making more than the partners because 10% is greater than 7.5%.

Seems like the firm pays the most junior people the most, so new solution will be to apply for a back office, temp job at said firm.

I would tell them to fuck off. If they don't appreciate what you do for the company then tell them you are going to leave. You agreed to work with the expectation of percentage of profits. The new structure does not justly provide compensation for the work you do. Tell them you want a 200% raise and a minimum of a 50% bonus. If they say no you can tell them to do their own fucking deals, or if they ask why tell them the book keeper who doesn't do shit and cant be fired because women are now a protected class is making more than the people who actually do the work and you think that is fucking bull shit. Use this exact language. If they fire you well the are too fucking stupid to actually work for anyway.

What's the max bonus they are fucking this guy out of? $100-150k? Then figure he'd only get 60-70% of that after layer fees. Totally not worth suing.

He has no written agreement either so good luck with that. Suing has so much downside and minimal upside.

Honestly, I'd almost say just give notice and go back to Europe. Especially considering the previous post about how you live in a horrible are or whatever. Baring this, keep working but focus 100% on other jobs. You can't completely mail it in, but you shouldn't be killing yourself. Don't alienate your bosses, but I wouldn't look to them for any kind words.

I at least agree with ANT on sue or go home. I'd still sue if I had a good case. (EG emails or better yet a signed contract). All else being equal, I would prefer to have more money over having less and letting dishonest assholes steal it from me. 60% of $150K is $90K, and that sure as hell beats $0 and letting someone I clearly hate keep $150k. At least my lawyer earned the $60k honestly and there is no cost to me if we lose.

This also sends an important signal to the next employer who might think about hiring you and screwing you. It sends no signal to a relatively honest employer. I actually believe it's a net positive as it helps narrow down your job search by filtering out the 10-20% of employers you probably don't want to work for. I personally would have no problem hiring someone who sued their former employer because they failed to pay as agreed (I plan on keeping my commitments).

The legal system exists for a reason. To protect people like OP. I don't know why you guys hate this advice- if OP is pissed off enough, he will follow it. And it's the credibility of this threat that keeps the dishonest employers honest. Even if people argue there's not a huge amount of upside, there's no downside and you have an ethical obligation to sue if someone genuinely screws you, they do it through dishonest means that violate civil law, and they screw you on a large scale that most people agree would be blatantly unfair. If you don't apply some sort of discipline through the legal system, they will do it again to the next guy, and you will be morally responsible.

So if you have a good case, find a lawyer and try to get some sort of reasonable settlement. You owe it to yourself and you owe it to their next potential victim. Even if you lose, think of all the agita and lost sleep and annoyance this creates for these guys! There's little downside since the bridge is already burnt.

Send a copy of the email chain home to yourself in case they delete it. In fact, send home all emails that week. Try and preserve the time stamps and mail headings.

You don't know that. There is no downside in at least getting a free consultation. If you do work for someone and they agree to pay you $X and you get $X - $100K or a large enough sum of money, and you can prove they agreed to pay you $X, it's worth talking to a lawyer.

Just make sure they take you on contingency. I agree that paying $400/hour to lawyers would be aggravating.

It's not exactly like SA is as expensive to live in as NYC or London. And maybe OP wants a break. There's some amazing hiking and outdoor stuff in South Africa.

If someone fucks you over for $100K, you don't have to lie down and take it. Talk to a lawyer, see if they'll take you on contingency. There's no harm in asking besides a 15 minute phone call (which I understand can be expensive in South Africa).

My mom sued over age discrimination. Her boss's boss was fired and she got a settlement. She didn't have to pay her lawyer anything. It's possible and it's worth it.

Threatening to sue is childish. Talking to a lawyer and having him handle it if he'll take it on contingency is smart.