Q: Can an employer use different job titles for the same job in order to pay different wages to individual employees?
I am a kidney transplant coordinator for a hospital. Hospital has just started a bone marrow transplant program and has created "transplant coordinator" job titles averaging about 15,000 dollars more than my position which is classified as "nurse clinician".
A: In Missouri, what you describe is not unlawful on its face. Your employer cannot discriminate based upon your membership in a protected class, such as race or national origin, but an employer generally need not be fair or nice. I don’t know if the skills for the position differ. Even if they are the same, what you describe falls into the category of mere unfairness. (Unless I’m missing some key facts.$
Robert Grant Pennell agrees with this answer
A: Missouri is an at-will employment state, and the employer can pay folks however it chooses without regard to job titles. It can also discriminate against employees on any basis it sees fit EXCEPT on the basis of an employee being a member of a protected class. The protected classes are race, sex, age (40+), religion, national origin, and disability.
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