Different People Paid Differently

galway2011 · 20-01-2012 2:17pm #1

Hi all

Was wondering if anyone could shed some light on an issue im having at work at the moment.

Been with a company 5 years and just realised that someone else in my department, same position, working same hours, starting same week as me, has same experience / qualifications as me is earning more per hour than me for the last 3 years.

Ive spoken to my employer about this and their reply was that each employee enters into their own contract, which is fair enough. when we both started i was on more than the other employee per hour but they asked and recieved a pay rise whereas i didnt.

Ive mentioned in the Equality Act 2004 that it clearly states that employees doing the same, similar or equal work are entitled to the same rates of remuneration.

Where do i stand with this? am i right or is the emplyer?

Mrs OBumble · 20-01-2012 2:32pm

So did you ask for a pay rise?

galway2011 · 20-01-2012 2:38pm

i explained i wasnt asking for a pay rise as such. just to brought up to the hourly rate of the other employee doing the same job as me.

my response was my initial contract was my egreement on wages and that it superceeds everything even the equality act 2004.

galway2011 · 20-01-2012 2:40pm

oh and yes ive asked for pay rises numerous times thoughtout the 5 years and been told nobody has pay rises due to economic times and the business not performing very well. although the company has turned a profit every year ive worked there.

leeroybrown · 20-01-2012 2:47pm

galway2011 wrote: »

Ive mentioned in the Equality Act 2004 that it clearly states that employees doing the same, similar or equal work are entitled to the same rates of remuneration.

For this to apply you'd need to show discrimination under one of the grounds covered by the act (gender, race, religion, etc) and would quickly discover that your employer has likely entered into two perfectly legitimately contracts with two different rates of pay.

Gurgle · 20-01-2012 2:47pm

Mate, its a job.
Your pay is determined by the convergence of what they're willing to pay you and what you're willing to work for. If there is no convergence you will need to either find another job or reconsider what you're willing to work for.

LegacyUser · 20-01-2012 3:24pm

agreed with above poster, you have to look at yourself, if you feel it is unfair the situation you are in, which i think you do, we then its up to you to take action, by looking for an new job etc.

To be honest this practice exists in every business, I was recently asked to take on more responsiblity (due to the person scaling back to a three day week for work/life balance) but no extra pay was offered.

I have to look at it from my perpective, a little while doing the new tasks/responsibilty and title will do my cv no harm and will only boost me when the envitable comes of leaving my current job due to being over worked and underpaid!

-K2- · 23-01-2012 4:11pm

Perhaps the other employee is more productive than you are.

Gurgle · 23-01-2012 4:24pm

-K2- wrote: »

Perhaps the other employee is more productive than you are.

Maybe just a better negotiator.

tricky D · 23-01-2012 4:28pm

It's a perfectly legitimate matter. The rates are determined by whatever the contract says, not what would be a sort of natural justice. It's obviously a situation which is far from ideal, but I do remember a time during the dot com bubble, when I and the other team lead were in the position of offering salaries well above our own to candidates who had much less experience, skills, responsibilities etc than us. Eventually after a few months we did get a hefty rise above the rest of the team, but there was no legal/contractual reason why we couldn't have been refused.

3DataModem · 02-02-2012 1:28am

Happens all the time.

It's about who can cut the better deal at the time of hiring.

Different People Paid Differently

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