Woman accepted Rs 27,000 job offer, found another employee earning Rs 33,000 for same role. She confronted HR and got fired: ‘Why is she getting more?’

How would you react, if you found out that your colleague, who does the same work as you, earns more than you? Well, a social media user, shared on the micro-blogging site, what an employee at his office did after she found out that her colleague earned more and how she got fired. After all, salary is one of the most sensitive topic at workplace. What followed, as per his claims, turned into a workplace dispute and spectacle.

Woman allegedly fired over questioning salary gap

According to social media user Ankit Pandey’s social media post, the employee had joined the company after agreeing to a Rs 27,000 in-hand salary. About a month later, another candidate was reportedly hired for the same role after she negotiated a Rs 33,000 salary. The difference in pay apparently came to the first employee’s attention, prompting her to approach HR and question why her colleague was earning more.

Pandey quoted her as asking, “Why is she getting more? What is wrong with me?” What began as a question about pay allegedly escalated into a confrontation. Pandey explained that the second employee had negotiated her salary during the hiring process. According to his account, the company agreed to pay her Rs 33,000 based on factors including the negotiation and hiring requirements at the time.


He argued that two people holding the same designation do not necessarily have to receive identical salaries. “A company can negotiate different salaries with different employees based on experience, market conditions, negotiation and hiring requirements,” Pandey wrote. He also pointed out that the second employee had simply negotiated a better package. “Someone negotiated ₹33K. Good for her,” he wrote.

'Want more money? Negotiate professionally’

The situation, according to Pandey, was not necessarily about whether the employee was justified in feeling unhappy about the pay gap. Instead, he objected to the way she allegedly handled the issue. He suggested that the employee who discovered the salary pay could have raised the matter professionally and sought a raise and proved her value. However, he claimed the situation went beyond a routine salary discussion, with the employee allegedly becoming confrontational with HR.

Employee allegedly got fired

Pandey said the dispute eventually became what he described as “unnecessary office drama”. According to his account, the employee’s tone and confrontation with HR contributed to management deciding to intervene. He shared that the "management eventually said enough" and the employee was subsequently fired. He distinguished between having concerns about compensation and creating conflict around another employee’s salary. “Having a salary concern is one thing,” Pandey wrote. “Creating chaos over it is another.”

Netizens react to the post

The post sparked debate over whether employees should accept different salaries for the same role or question their employers about pay gaps. One user said private companies do not have fixed pay scales like government jobs, arguing that “entry salary and the increment” can depend on “negotiation skills.” Another disagreed, asking why there was no “fair compensation structure for the same role.” The commenter said raising concerns about unequal pay “is not wrong on any grounds” and argued the employee should be able to speak up.

A third user questioned why the second employee received more, asking whether it was because of a “niche skill”, interview performance or experience. The commenter criticised the explanation that the difference was simply due to negotiation. Some users suggested handling the issue more strategically. One advised employees to approach their manager and ask HR to review compensation if their salary was below market standards, while following up over email and during appraisal cycles.

Another advised employees to “know your worth” but handle salary concerns professionally, saying “communication beats workplace drama.” Meanwhile, another commenter defended the employee’s reaction, arguing that being “direct and confrontational” did not necessarily make her wrong and that she may have wanted acknowledgment that the pay gap was unfair.