Unfair Pay

keith234

I am sure that my employer is paying me less than other staff in the organisation. I think I am being discriminated against because we all do relatively ‘the same job’. I have challanged my pay with my employer to no avail.

Does anyone have any advice as to what I should do to challenge this discrimination?

elsien

Are you a member of a union? Even if your company does not recognise unions, they can be a valuable source of information.

The other people who may help are ACAS - an impartial source of advice for employees and employers, and good on the legalities.
Don't have contact details, but I'm sure they show up on google.

matty_c608

http://www.acas.org.uk/

keith234

many thanks

FleetFanatic

keith234 wrote:

I am sure that my employer is paying me less than other staff in the organisation. I think I am being discriminated against because we all do relatively ‘the same job’. I have challanged my pay with my employer to no avail.

Does anyone have any advice as to what I should do to challenge this discrimination?

Are we talking minimum wage? Are you younger than the other staff?

If the answer to both questions is yes, that could be why.....

clairec79

or if they have all worked there for several years it may be they all started on the same base wage and got annual increases - I know civil service works that way, so someone can be sat next to you, doing the same job and be on 5-6 grand more, purely as they are on the top of the pay scale and you are on the bottom

Astaroth

I am sorry but welcome to the real world where people are not all paid the same. In my previous team there were 5 of us doing the identical job with basic salaries ranging from £40k -> £110k we all had the same responsibilities and at times the lower paid ones were working on the bigger/ more important/ more difficult pieces of work.

Of cause the ones on higher pay had more qualifications and much more experience (I had under 2 years when I started where as others had 20+ years)

If you think you are good enough to get more money then either ask your own company (fairly unlikely) or go to the same job in another department or better to another company - changing job is the quickest way to increase your salary

Luvly.cuppa.T

I know, I know about this one!! (This is long BTW)

Okay, like said before if it comes down to age difference ie you are under 21yrs and others are over 22yrs, then there will be a difference if the wages are based on minimum wage.

Now, if you can honestly say that your job is the same as others (ie have the same title), or you do a 'like' job (ie that what you do is practically of the same level- 'broadly similar'- and is seen as 'equal value' in terms of the demands on you)

If there are different gradings /raises regarding length of service within the comapny , then you should be aware of these in your terms and conditions. If not then there should be a training board somewhere providing you with this information.

Now, can you find out exactly what other people are being paid? Did they come with experience? When did you start employment with regards to the other people that you suspect are on more? What is your suspicion?
A job being advertised does not have to guareentee that money when you start, believe it or not. It is not contractual, so a different wage can be offered when you start employment.

The only way that you can challenge this legally is by using the equal pay act 1970. It was initially put in place so that women could challenge the right to be paid the same as men, but it does apply to men aswell.
The only drawback, is that your comparator(s) needs to be of the opposite sex and fit the 'same job', or 'like job' description, so if you are all of the same sex you have no law to back you up!
You also have to be damn sure that others are getting more than you, otherwise you may not get anywhere.

What you need to do is bring a grievance first to your manager or even higher as you have already tried to discuss it- (write a letter regarding your concern for being paid less than others and that you would like to see your wage rise in accordance. You also need to clearly state that it is a grievance , in case you go to tribunal) The grievance proceedure should be on the wrk board, or in your contract/ terms and conditions- if you have one!
The manager then has 28 days to act upon your letter, which is a meeting with him/her to discuss your grievance and try to sort it out. If you are unsatisfied then you can appeal ie go higher up the chain and apply to a tribunal where they will hear your case out. No need to discuss it now, as it may not go there! WE can chat about it another time!

You can also contact the equal opportunities commision (EOC), who are very helpful, and they will send out a Equal opportunities pay questionnaire. This you will need to fill out, and then send to your manager, company. This you will need if you go to a tribunal- as it backs up your claim.

Okay, so you also need to realise that in certain times, companies can pay a higher wage to others if the market so requires. Ie that the company is in dire need of staff otherwise it is likely to close. However, if you are more experienced than new opposite sex staff, then you too should get the same amount of money.
It can seem complicated but that's not necessarily the case.

In my instance I worked in a pub, almost running the place at times and someone who had been there for about 2 weeks had been promoted over me to supervisor. It was very clear that I was the person for the job- everyone was gobsmacked and that was one of my cases- sex discrimination, as I was female and he was male. I also went for part time discrimination as he was full time and through this is indirect sex discrimination as most part time workers are mothers who work part time due to childcare. (You may be able to use this if you have children?)
Also a new member of staff started who had absolutely no experience and was being paid 50p more and hour than me! And he was male! I knew this as I had checked the ad in the jobcentre, and waited until we had someone start (I knew that boss would lie if I asked her outright) and asked what he was on , and did he have that clarified.
I tried to bring it to my boss, but she went barmy accusing me of thinking bad of her and how dare I discuss wages (nonense- its not a secret) etc etc so I left. Loads more other reasons too, but took my grievance to her manager and won. She got sacked, for other things too, and I got what was owed to me plus a bit more. Not loads, but something to be happy about, and pleased that I saw her out!

Let us know how you get on.

brazilianwax

Luvly.cuppa.T wrote:

I also went for part time discrimination as he was full time and through this is indirect sex discrimination as most part time workers are mothers who work part time due to childcare. (You may be able to use this if you have children?)

:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

Luvly.cuppa.T

brazilianwax wrote:

:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

because I said its indirect sex discrimitation as most part time workers are mothers? It could go for fathers too, just the law hasn't caught up yet.

I couldn't use the part time regulations 2000 for some reason or other. Cannot fathom why now.

One of the reasons that the ex-manager didn't give me any sort of payrise (including in house training scheme of 50p an hour more, promotion to superviser £1 more, or a wage rise alongside new staff 50p more), is that she gave me very good reason to believe that as a parent in receipt of WTC I would work less hours in receipt of more pay. Silly isn't it?