(Un) Fair Process

I've been with a company for 3 1/2 years. My department has downsized from 9 to our current 5. In March, our hours were reduced by 5 per week and recently, reduced another 5 hours. I maintain the HR records and am aware that 1 highly compensated employee did not suffer the most recent reduction in pay/hours. I brought it to my boss' attention that I did not think it was fair that the rest of the staff received a pay cut and this other employee did not. Nothing has resulted from our conversation.

I do love my job and had hoped to retire from here, but I have such resentment that I think that it's time to go.

Do you think I should seek other employment? Is my resentment justified?
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Dear "Justified",

Should you be angry? Hell yeah. Should you resign, Well..wait

When we don’t trust our managers to make good decisions or to behave with integrity, our motivation and performance becomes seriously compromised. In fact, this is unrecognized problem in most organizations, not only yours. This issue has always mattered, but it matters now more than ever, because knowledgebased organizations (unlike manual work) are totally dependent on the commitment and ideas of their employees.

Most people think of themselves as fair, and managers are no exception. But if you ask them what it means to be a fair manager, most will describe how they give people the authority they deserve, or the resources they need, or the rewards they have earned. In other words, they will confuse fair process with fair outcomes.

When the process is perceived to be fair, most people will accept outcomes that are not wholly in their favor. People realize that compromises and sacrifices are necessary on the job. They accept the need for short-term personal sacrifices in order to advance the long-term interests of the company. Acceptance is conditional, however, hinged as it is on fair process.

In your case, the process of staff and hour reductions was unclear to you, and as a normal human-being you are having difficulties in dealing with its outcomes - which look now as unfair.

If you quit now, however, you'll end-up losing a lot more than your employer will. You'll become ineligible for unemployment benefits, you'll dip into your life-savings just to get by, and foremost you'll face a prospect of long job search. At the end of the day, "Justified", you will end-up with another - similar - employer that does not understand the value of fair process.