scotland v england salary

independant

I work for an English based uk company from Scotland (remotely). They are renewing our contracts and I have found out that my collegues south of the boarder are being offered £10,000 more for the same position as myself in the new contracts. Is this legal to do as different standard or living or technically is this racist?

Thanking everyone in advance,

Tony

independant

If my employer is on record as saying that basic salaries are to be soley based on past sales performance and I have a demonstrably higher performance level than my southern colleagues can they say that the difference in salary takes into account higher living costs in Southern England?

ceridwen

The only thing that comes to mind there is maybe your employer is bearing in mind that people in Scotland (and Wales) are better off than those in England in various other respects - ie greater help from the Government than those living in England get.

I believe those in Scotland (and Wales) get things like free prescription charges/help with care home fees and various other bits of Government help that those in England dont get. So - maybe your employer has "evened out" by taking into account extra Government help to those living in some part of Britain other than England??? - in which case.....understandable...as England would appear to be the "poor relation" these days (not having a strong nationalist Party to plead for special treatment).

So - it could be "payback time" in effect - as, in some ways, its cheaper to live in Scotland/Wales than it is to live in England - so perhaps your employer has adjusted the salary accordingly (yes - I am perfectly serious - in effect a sorta "London weighting" adjustment).

So - at a very practical level - it might be worth weighing up:
- the higher costs of living in England
versus
- the lower salary of living in Scotland

to see which way you would be better off. Chances are - at that level of salary that there would be little, if any, difference between the two. In which case - no action to be taken as that would be perfectly fair....

Edinburghlass_2

Thats quite laughable really, can you really suggest that the cost of living in Scotland is cheaper on the strength of a £3 prescription charge and a free eye test every two years??

Can you link to all the other bits and pieces provided by the "Government" that are cheaper?

Can you show that housing, council tax, transport, all of these daily expenses everyone has no matter where they live, are cheaper in Scotland? Bearing in mind the transport cost of goods to Scotland often increases prices.

[Deleted User]

Well.. as an indicator, you could use this: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/in_depth/uk_house_prices/html/qp.stm
It says the average house price in Edinburgh is £211,942.. and the average house price in the south east is £271,966.. thats 28% higher. I'm sure there's cheaper places in scotland to use as a comparison but i didn't want to throw in too much bias.

Your company can pay you whatever it wants, as long as its not discriminatory. Where you live is not an aspect of discrimination (Racist? Seriously?).

Edinburghlass_2

Just as I'm sure there are cheaper places to live in England than the South East. Wonder where these average houses are in Edinburgh at £212K?

However I agree over the discrimination part as I was really replying to the ceridwen's nonsense post about the cost of living in Scotland being cheaper.

Andy_L

independant wrote: »

Is this legal to do

Yes. You can pay people doing the same job wildly different salaries, providing it isn't due to race, religion etc
You could only demonstrate discrimination if they pay ex-pat English employees in Scotland more than the locals (or vice versa). Even then I'm not sure that Scots/Welsh/Irish/English count as races for equality legislation

ceridwen

Edinburghlass wrote: »

Thats quite laughable really, can you really suggest that the cost of living in Scotland is cheaper on the strength of a £3 prescription charge and a free eye test every two years??

Can you link to all the other bits and pieces provided by the "Government" that are cheaper?

Can you show that housing, council tax, transport, all of these daily expenses everyone has no matter where they live, are cheaper in Scotland? Bearing in mind the transport cost of goods to Scotland often increases prices.

Prescription charges are £7.20 a go in England - not £3. I seem to recall there are other health care benefits of living in Scotland/Wales (rather than England) as well - though cant recall them offhand.

Scottish/Welsh university students do better as well - they don't have to pay tuition fees (English ones do - £3,225 at 2009/10 rates and I think that might have risen or be due to rise since). That would impact on O.P.'s finances if they are a parent of a university age child and doing the "responsible parent" thing and helping the child/ren out financially.

But - we arent discussing the need for an English Nationalist Party on this thread to fight our corner to even things out:D - just pointing out the lower living costs an employer might be taking into account in fixing salary levels in different parts of Britain. As employers take account of various more "personal" factors in paying different salary levels in different parts of England - then I would think it perfectly likely they would take account of the extra Government help with living costs that those in Scotland/Wales receive compared to people living in England as a whole.

mattcanary

Edinburgh's house prices are quite a bit higher than many other places in Scotland, just as London's house prices are considerably more than many other areas of England. London;s average prices are considerably highger than Edinburgh's - go figure....

mazza111

Well this went on long before prescription charges were lowered or the university fees thing all started. Having lived in the South East for 14 years, the cost of living is higher, but not as high as to justify a £10k a year wage difference. That's only my opinion though, having lived on both sides

HariboJunkie

As the poster above says, this isn't anything new. It's just the same as the North South divide in England. Of course the standard of living is higher in London/South East. It has beggar all to do with tuition fees and prescription charges.
As for the average house prices in Edinburgh!! Comparing average house prices in Edinburgh (which has hugely affluent areas, with the average house prices in the WHOLE of England is like comparing apples and pears.;) I wonder how many of the owners of the expensive homes in Edinburgh are English anyway? :cool::whistle: