Equal pay for the same job?

Lawsey

Does anyone know if employers are allowed to pay staff doing the same job totally different amounts? I have just found out that the mew member of staff (that i am currently helping to train) is getting paid more than me and my 2 collegues who also do excactly the same job?:mad:

LittleVoice

How much does "totally different amounts" amount to?

Is the new person going to be doing the same work and nothing in addition?

Was the new member of staff already employed by the company and transferring or a new recruit to the company, not just your section?

poe.tuesday

they can pay what ever they like, in most places, say for example, john smith left the company, he had been their 10 years and earnt 20k a year, you do the same job but only get paid 18k, mainly becuase he had been there longer than you and had had more wage rises etc, when he leaves there is a 20k budget for that replacement, so the company can either replace on that wage or they could repalce on 18k and use the other 2k amonst the rest of the staff, now not all companies do the latter so rather than loose the 2k from their budget, it's just easier to give the new person the 20k

I am a manager of 20 staff, some of them doing the same job but all on different wages - depending on what level they are there can be a 4k wage difference between staff on that one level, at payrise time (now as it happens) I have to give the ones who earn the most a payrise and the gap just gets bigger, I try to get parity but it takes years to do by giving the lower ones higher rises and the ones on higher wages lower payrises, but is this really fair? the wage rises should reflect the work done in the past year, the ones who work hard, should be rewarded according to their effort and not penalised because they happen to earn more

not a fair world but trying to sort it out is a nightmare and can not be done overnight

Lawsey

They have been taken on as a completely new member of staff to do the exact same job. The new person is being paid over 19K and the 3 others are all getting under 17K. It just seems so unfair that they are allow to do this!!!!!

LittleVoice

I assume you are all the same sex, then. I also have to assume there is no difference in ethnicity.

On the face of it, it may not seem fair but I think your employer can pay what they want.

bandraoi

So ask for a pay rise.

DKLS

Its a common practice, and where I worked it was a sackable offence to discuss salary with another staff member, and the difference could be up to 8K between staff on "the same pay grade".
Salaries were based on past years performance and your negotiating skills at the annual review and initial interview, I soon learnt to give it the big sell, backed up with figures.

ohreally

Your best bet may be to look for a comparator of a different gender doing the same or work of equal value and make a claim for equality. You are likely to need trade union assistance to progress with this unless you can afford a lawyer.

bandraoi

ohreally wrote: »

Your best bet may be to look for a comparator of a different gender doing the same or work of equal value and make a claim for equality. You are likely to need trade union assistance to progress with this unless you can afford a lawyer.

Why?

Just go in, say I've been doing this job now for X number of years. I'm experienced, competent and I've proved I'm an asset to the team.

In the last 6 months I've began to do Y and Z and I've helped to train in newer, more junior members of staff. I've also done A and B to make things more efficient and saved the company some money/increased profits/increased productivity.

I think I deserve a pay rise to £21K based on this. I have reason to believe that other companies nearby are paying salaries of that order.

The worst they can do is to say no.
The best they can do is to say yes to it all.
The probable outcome is that they'll give you something around £19K, which is why you start higher than what you're looking for.

If you want to give yourself some extra credibility, apply for jobs elsewhere, see what they offer you and then go to your boss/HR and say, I really like working here, but I have a job offer for X with another company. I would prefer to stay here, but that's not in my interest, what can you do for me?

If they say no, that's when you need to start fighting your corner, but there's no need for that for at least two rounds of negotiation.

ohreally

bandraoi wrote: »

Why?

Just go in, say I've been doing this job now for X number of years. I'm experienced, competent and I've proved I'm an asset to the team.

Why...invariably there is nothing in it for the employer to increase an employees salary unless that person has unique skills that will be difficult to replace. Employer politely declines a request to increase the employees salary and has now drawn a line in the sand which forces the employee to make a decission...remain on a salary which h/she is unhappy with or leave the company,perhaps leaving a job they otherwise enjoy.
Gender based equal pay claims are big business and employers ignore this at their peril.

The Stefan Cross's of this world will be more than happy to take on equal pay claims.
http://society.guardian.co.uk/careers/story/0,,1800949,00.html

110frankie

At our place whenever anyone leaves they replace them with someone earning a lot less...
I have colleagues doing the same job as me (albeit with a lot less experience) earning half of what I earn.
As others have said above, so long as it's not gender or ethnic based employers can pay what they like/what the employee will accept.