Staff in other branches paid more.

jesterhead

Hi guys,
I was just wondering if its legal for my company, a large retailer, to pay staff in Dublin more than staff in Galway? I was promoted and only got a 10 cent pay rise, putting me on 8.98 an hour, compared to the Dublin branches who receive 11.50 an hour. Our branch takes more money than the others, and we have a much larger workload as the Irish donor branch for the company. HR are saying that there's a different pay rate for Dublin as its a big city, but can they legally pay two people different rates for the same job due to location?

Any advice, or help with finding legal documents to back up my case appreciated!

Nody

Yes they can.

jesterhead

Why is that though? Surely they're discriminating based on location? Am I not entitled to equal pay for equal work?

LegacyUser

jesterhead wrote: »

Why is that though? Surely they're discriminating based on location? Am I not entitled to equal pay for equal work?

different locations have different costs of living Dublins a much more expensive city to live in than galway. plus an employer is entitled to pay you what they like once they pay minimum wage.

projectmayhem

jesterhead wrote: »

Am I not entitled to equal pay for equal work?

No.

Your HR dept. is probably working out based on cost of living so they see it as equal. However, you have no budge room here really, in a legal manner. Get a new job I suppose...

eth0_

Of course they can pay Dublin staff more. It costs far more to live in Dublin than to live in Galway.

PeakOutput

yep cost of living is the reason

even in dublin in certain industries(insurance being one and probably banking) staff in different branches are paid more than in others but usually this is for risk pay.

in your case its all about cost of living

gerrycollins

i thought that the PPF and all those social pay agreements got rid of this but obviously only for companies who opted in.I know some unions opted out and had to bargain at the JLC for their share of it. it was all tied in with the minimum wage etc.

When I was staff in Dunnes in 98-00 I noticed that Dublin staff were getting paid more but then after the PPF kicked in all staff across all shops got the same rate.

My current set up pays the rate decided by the JLC(retail again) as our base hourly rate anything extra is at individual companies discretion.

seamus

There's nothing in law which requires a company to pay colleagues equal rates, even if they're doing identical jobs in the same location. What one colleague agrees to in their contract is private and doesn't have to match the contract of their colleagues.
Rates of pay usually vary based on length of employment, qualifications, past performance and location.

The only time it's illegal is when the only reason a colleague is paid more/less is due to discrimination, such as their sex, age, etc.

LegacyUser

seamus wrote: »

Rates of pay usually vary based on length of employment, qualifications, past performance and location.

Thats whats annoying, cause I've worked in the company for longer, have more qualifications and consistently perform better, but get paid less cause I'm in Galway!

ALFIET

Pay varies depending on the area the role is in. Cork salaries will be different to Galway salaries as they will be in Dublin, Belfast etc etc etc

No leg to stand on here sorry

Mrs OBumble

Unregistered wrote: »

Thats whats annoying, cause I've worked in the company for longer, have more qualifications and consistently perform better, but get paid less cause I'm in Galway!

Well get a job in a different company, or get a transfer to Dublin.

But before you do the latter, spend some time on daft.ie and make sure you know how much more rent you will be paying there.

AARRRGH

If I argue for more money in my interview, does that mean someone with similar experience and qualifications is being discriminated, or does it mean I have better negotiation skills?

ALFIET

Unregistered wrote: »

Thats whats annoying, cause I've worked in the company for longer, have more qualifications and consistently perform better, but get paid less cause I'm in Galway!

Seriously you need to stop comparing yourself to others in Dublin and be more worried that you are being paid appropriately against those in Galway. You are not comparing like for like.

This is common and fair business practice.