Challenging pay comparing against colleague

warez22

I will keep this brief, but I just wanted clarification that I am doing the right thing.

I am currently part time (32 hours a week) but were I to work full time I would earn £20000. My colleague earns £25000 for identical job description. He has worked for company for 6 years. The company I work for absorbed my previous employer, retaining the same Directors. I have worked for the current and historical company in total for 15 years.

Am I right to feel aggrieved by this? He is male, I am female. We are targeted each month and without fail since we have been here I am way ahead with my figures, so I perform better, but get less money.

I have asked for an informal chat with the HR guy who was the Boss of the Company that was absorbed. I propose to ask why this is the case.

Am I doing the right thing?

Thanking you for taking the time to read.

Southend1

Are you a union member?

On the face of it there does seem to be gender discrimination here.

Your union rep will be able to help you raise a grievance and represent you at any grievance hearing.

Southend1

PS - HR are not your friend. If you tackle this in the wrong way they may well sweep it under the carpet to avoid paying out. HR are only interested in protecting the company from claims etc.

scheming_gypsy

They'll probably tell you that you shouldn't be discussing your wages with another colleague.
But staff get paid differently and are employed on different rates. I've always found that new staff seem to get paid more than existing staff that have worked their way up. He was probably employed on the market rate whilst you were being paid less.

Southend1

scheming_gypsy wrote: »

They'll probably tell you that you shouldn't be discussing your wages with another colleague.
But staff get paid differently and are employed on different rates. I've always found that new staff seem to get paid more than existing staff that have worked their way up. He was probably employed on the market rate whilst you were being paid less.

Why shouldn't anyone discuss their wages with a colleague?

It is against the law to discriminate on the grounds of sex therefore an employer could find it difficult to justify paying OP less than male colleagues for the same work, particularly if she can evidence that she is performing better than them.

warez22

There isn't a union. It is a small independently owned Company with 4 Directors.

Am I wrong requesting a meeting with HR then? (the HR dept consists of 1 person!).

I agree that salaries should not be discussed, but ultimately in small companies these things have a habit of coming out. Now that I know I feel it can't be ignored.

Confused as to whether I have any grounds to have a meeting or not.

Thank you.

warez22

It would be quite easy for me to prove that I perform better month by month because each month we have a meeting and the figures are produced and then emailed to us.

AP007

OP do you know the other person is getting more because they are male and you are female or they are getting more because they negotiated a higher rate when they started and has nothing to do with discrimination?

What if it was the other way round?

scheming_gypsy

Southend1 wrote: »

Why shouldn't anyone discuss their wages with a colleague?

It is against the law to discriminate on the grounds of sex therefore an employer could find it difficult to justify paying OP less than male colleagues for the same work, particularly if she can evidence that she is performing better than them.

I didn't say they shouldn't be allowed to, but in places I've worked they state that staff should not discuss wages. Usually places like the OP's where they don't pay staff the same for doing the same job and all new external staff were paid a lot more than ones that had come up through the ranks.

AP007

warez22 wrote: »

It would be quite easy for me to prove that I perform better month by month because each month we have a meeting and the figures are produced and then emailed to us.

You don't have to prove that you have to prove they get more cause they are male.

Southend1

warez22 wrote: »

There isn't a union. It is a small independently owned Company with 4 Directors.

Am I wrong requesting a meeting with HR then? (the HR dept consists of 1 person!).

I agree that salaries should not be discussed, but ultimately in small companies these things have a habit of coming out. Now that I know I feel it can't be ignored.

Confused as to whether I have any grounds to have a meeting or not.

Thank you.

There will be a union which represents employees in your industry or job role. Go here http://www.worksmart.org.uk/unionfinder/ to find the most appropriate union for you to join.

Given that you say you can evidence your better performance I would say you definitely have good grounds for raising a formal grievance.

I wouldn't advise informal chats with HR because this is likely to give them the heads up that there may be a claim and time to cover their backs.