'Worst boss ever' criticized for 'idiotic' response to employee's question about her salary

An employer has been described as the 'worst boss ever' after his response to an employee's question about her salary was shared online.

The topic of your salary can be a sensitive subject, but one person you should feel safe enough to discuss it with is your boss.

It's not unreasonable to want to have a conversation on the topic, but one man named Elliot appeared to fumble the matter altogether after being approached by an employee named Christina.

Their exchange was shared online by TikTok user Ben Askins, who regularly posts videos about workplace interactions and shares his thoughts on how they've been handled.

In this particular clip, Askins revealed that Christina had learned she was the 'lowest paid in the whole team', despite having been there the longest and being the most senior.

Rather than denying her claim or saying he would look into it, as Askins suggested he should, the boss defensively hit back with the question: "Who told you that?"

Elliot went on to state that the salary was 'not an appropriate topic of discussion for the workplace', prompting Christina to repeat that she just wanted to know whether it was true or not.

In response, Elliot wrote: "I don't know what you want me to say, they just got lucky. We hired them when were struggling to find people and so we were forced to pay a bit more."

Christina responded to question why she hadn't been included in the increased pay, to which Elliot responded: "Why would we?"

He claimed Christina had 'never asked' about the pay, but she argued she had 'no idea' previously that she was being 'undervalued'.

She went on to then formally ask for a pay rise - only for Elliot to push back on her request.

"I will see what I can do, but as you know, budget reasons might make this pretty tricky right now," he said. However, after Christina said she would look for a new role if the issue wasn't resolved, Elliot said he would 'find the money'.

Askins slammed the entire response as 'idiotic', pointing out that it would cost the company more to recruit a replacement for Christina than it would to amend her pay.

Viewers agreed after watching the TikTok, with many sharing their shock at the boss' reaction.

"I love when bosses are like 'can't believe you'd quit over your pay', 'thought loyalty would trump money' [skull emoji] it's a JOB I'm here for money," one commented.

Another wrote: "'Who told you that'. Red flag for sure."

Askins' video has racked up more than 500,000 views since he shared it online earlier this week.