Pay Query

supersaver2

Hi All,

Hoping I can get some help for my sister as she is stressing out and hasn't got anybody to turn to for help.

The situation is as follows:

She works in a school in an admin position, has done for 8 years. In 2011 this equal pay thing came out and she was re-graded up a scale for her role, all good.

At the beginning of January she had her yearly appraisal and decided before hand to ask HR for her most up to date job description. This was sent and she noticed that the grade was a scale higher than her current one. She checked this with HR and was told to ask her line manager during her appraisal which she did. The line manager agreed this was her job role ( same title on this job description as her school contract so seemed very cut and dry that she would be moved up a grade). Her boss said it would have to be authorised by the Headteacher. He was asked 3 weeks ago and still no answer.

My sister has since asked HR via an email for an update, HR replied saying still no answer but as far as they were concerned there was no decision to make and it wasn't down to the Headteacher to decide, but the County, and they had already decided by publishing this job description. Just to note this job description wasn't available during the equal pay procedure and seems to have been written 6 months after it took place.

Anyway last week my sister was called in to her bosses office and told to stop 'harassing' HR, this upset my sister greatly! She didn't feel that an email could be classed as harassment!

So we are now over 3 weeks on and still no answer. She doesn't feel she can speak to HR or her line manager and isn't sure what to do.

I feel angry on her behalf, surely she is only doing what anybody in this position would do?

This job description has been available since Aug 2011 and I feel that she should have been on this new pay grade, I feel she should be also asking for back pay and it was HR's job to ensure staff are being payed the correct salary?

Any thoughts on the way forward would be most appreciated!

Thanks.

patman99

First-off, I would make a complaint to HR about the boss. As an employee, your sister is entitled to contact HR whenever she wishes.

When the issue with her pay grade is sorted-out, she should get back pay. If she dosn't, then she needs to speak to HR again.

supersaver2

Thanks, just as I thought. My sister is very quiet and is not confident and I expect they are taking advantage of this.

Makes me mad really, but I know she needs to deal with this herself.

marybelle01

Before you go rushing off to HR to complain about your employer, I would check very carefully to see if HR are right. Because they very possibly are not.


She contacted the County HR - in other words the local authority. The local authority no longer has control over the budgets or the employment practices of the vast majority of state schools. They can advise if asked to by the school, which is the employing body.

agrinnall

I don't see how it's possible to 'harass' a HR department with a single email, presuming it was polite. Part of their job is to advise on employment issues, asking them to do that is the same as asking anyone else to do something that they are supposed to do. I'd be trying to find out who considered that the contact was 'harrassment', I'd be surprised if it was anyone in HR.