Same target, different commissions doing the same job

by Ms. Honest
(UAE)

I am working at the middle east in a sales position. I just found out that a colleague of mine is paid more than twice what I get on commission on sales target for more or less the same target that we are given to achieve. What do I do about it? We are both females and do the same job, similar targets but she is 3 years in the company whereas I am 7 months with the company, but we have similar targets to achieve but she gets paid higher commissions even if we both achieve 100% of the same target. How do I deal with this?

Response from Carl: Thanks for the post, Ms. Honest. You don't mention whether or not you'll be paid higher commissions once you've reached a certain level of sales and/or seniority with the company. I have heard of companies that do pay salespeople higher commissions based on their tenure with the company and/or for achieving certain sales targets currently or in the recent past.

Also, perhaps she negotiated a better deal than you did on the way into the company? Is she under an old performance plan that no longer exists or that you're not entitled to for some other reason?

I'm just speculating but unless you know the answers to all these questions, you might not know the whole story.

Carl