Equal Pay - Gender Discrimination
Comments
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Good luck to you. Please let us know what happens.0
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You see these things as demeaning?
Do you think your colleagues might play down their performance or play up their pay?
It's a problem that women in the workplace often face, being expected to carry out admin tasks which their male peers are never asked to do.
It's like making the tea. It is not demeaning in and of itself, and it wouldn't be an issue if (say) everyone took it in turns to make tea, but it is demeaning when it is unequal, and when one person (almost always female) is expected to perform admin tasks in addition to doing her own role, especially when those admin task are for her peers. And it can create problems because if she is perceived as someone who does those admin tasks that can help create an impression that she is the most junior person ion the team, because they are the kind of the things which often trickle down.All posts are my personal opinion, not formal advice Always get proper, professional advice (particularly about anything legal!)0 -
Amy,
You said "Public sector". Are there specific payscales for certain grades with increments for seniority (subject to adequate appraisals)? If you have the same role, job description and tasks - you should be on the same scale but may have started at different points. The issue then would be how come the person recruited while you were on secondment started at a higher point with less relevant experience. (You've suggested a reason - but see if they can come up with a justifiable one.) As you've returned from secondment with wider experience, you have a case for returning on a higher point to reflect that. Of course, the "there's no money" excuse will be trotted out again.
So good luck with the ACAS HR route especially if you have union backing. Cynically, have a plan B to go elsewhere as even if you win the argument and get a re-grading, you will not be flavour of the month!Wash your Knobs and Knockers... Keep the Postie safe!0 -
Amy, are you saying you actually work in the public sector, because if so, gender discrimination should have disappeared decades ago! But budgets will be tight and pay rises will usually be severely limited.If you are querying your Council Tax band would you please state whether you are in England, Scotland or Wales0
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I hope you get an answer, from what you've said it sounds like you've got a good case to put forwards, especially with regards to the new guy who has no experience coming in on a higher rate than you.Anyway - aside from all this I've seen the ACAS advice posted above re questions and have put them to our HR team to ask them - if there is a reasonable reason why then fair enough but I cannot seem to find one.
Please come back and let us know what the response is.0 -
Probably because you were preceived as doing it better. Some people are bad minute takers and organsiers. In my 40 years of industrial experience I can say that women tend to be better than men at that sort of thing anyway (men are, of course, better than women - generally speaking - at some other things).
Please just play that back in your head and think about it.
Either something is in the job description, or it isn't. If it is in the job description then anyone doing the role should do it. If they are not good at it, they should receive training or coaching to make them better at it.
It has nothing whatsoever to do with gender, colour, race, sexual orientation or whether you have cornflakes or toast for breakfast.
It is attitudes like this which are keeping women out of good and appropriate jobs.0 -
Please just play that back in your head and think about it.
Either something is in the job description, or it isn't. If it is in the job description then anyone doing the role should do it. If they are not good at it, they should receive training or coaching to make them better at it.
It has nothing whatsoever to do with gender, colour, race, sexual orientation or whether you have cornflakes or toast for breakfast.
It is attitudes like this which are keeping women out of good and appropriate jobs.
Absolutely. I can't believe the sexism on this thread and the pathetic arguments why it is either acceptable or "not sexism".
All the best, Amy and please let us know how you get on. Reading your posts makes me wonder if anything has changed since the 1970s!0 -
Performance reviews are done on an annual basis - meeting all performance standards gets you a 1% increase, thats all that is possible.
I was more drawing attention to the fact that I was the only one on the team required to do those things - i wouldn't have had a problem doing them if we did it on a rota basis or something but as the only woman on the team I was expected to do them - the other two on the team were not expected to do them.
The basis of the facts for me is my line manager is openly quite sexist, i was expected to do more menial work than my male colleagues (in addition to other responsibilities) and I am paid over 10% less than my colleagues. To me this seems like I am being paid less for being a woman, there seems to be no reasonable reason why I would be paid less than the others.
Anyway - aside from all this I've seen the ACAS advice posted above re questions and have put them to our HR team to ask them - if there is a reasonable reason why then fair enough but I cannot seem to find one.
I wouldn't put it like that. To say you are being paid so much less than them is confusing for some public sector managers, (to use much and less in the same sentence can be confusing - you're a data analyst - use your brain to put an argument together - or may be they're better analysts than you!)0 -
Please just play that back in your head and think about it.
Either something is in the job description, or it isn't. If it is in the job description then anyone doing the role should do it. If they are not good at it, they should receive training or coaching to make them better at it.
It has nothing whatsoever to do with gender, colour, race, sexual orientation or whether you have cornflakes or toast for breakfast.
It is attitudes like this which are keeping women out of good and appropriate jobs.
Okay, done it, but I still don't see the point you're making. Specific things like minute taking won't appear in a job description, except in the case of some admin jobs where the task is an important part of the role. Many meetings rotate the task, or ask for a volunteer, or appoint the person who's good at it.
Are you challenging the obvious - that women are better at some types of job than men, and vice-versa (and the two sexes have, on the whole, different interests and aspirations)?
Something else to consider: when I was first in the position of having people work for me, I had to carry out the annual salary review for my team. Imagine my consternation when I noted that one member of my team, a woman, was being paid more than me. The situation was, however, quickly understood - she was quite a bit older than me, she had worked for the company a lot longer than me, and the pay grades had large overlaps. This could easily have gone down as a case of the 'gender pay gap', but like the majority of such discrepancies, there was a valid reason for it. She was also very good at the job, so had progressed quickly through her grade.0 -
It's a problem that women in the workplace often face, being expected to carry out admin tasks which their male peers are never asked to do.
It's like making the tea. It is not demeaning in and of itself, and it wouldn't be an issue if (say) everyone took it in turns to make tea, but it is demeaning when it is unequal, and when one person (almost always female) is expected to perform admin tasks in addition to doing her own role, especially when those admin task are for her peers. And it can create problems because if she is perceived as someone who does those admin tasks that can help create an impression that she is the most junior person ion the team, because they are the kind of the things which often trickle down.
from my experience minute taking and event organisation is actually a highly sought after skillset. The fact they are incapable of doing them should be a credit to the OP, not seen as demeaning.
I don't make teas, but I don't expect anyone to make mine - I always refuse offers.
So yes I agree it can happen, but often it can be prevented with simple and polite steps.
You mentioned that the minutes etc were in addition to her role. If that's the case then yes I agree it's not fair. But if it's instead of other duties it seems perfectly fair.
For example I often make films as part of my duties. I'm the only one asked to do it, and i'm the lowest paid on my team. The rest of the team is female. I wouldn't dream of claiming discrimination - it's just something i'm good at and they aren't.0
This discussion has been closed.
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