Pay rise whilst on maternity leave

anonleave

Gone anon for this:

I am due to return to work from maternity leave in the coming weeks, currently using accrued holidays so receiving salary.

A work acquaintance has told me that they received a pay rise whilst I have been away, we both have received pay rises in the past at the same time and we were on the same pay.

This colleague has covered some of my workload whilst I have been away and generally we have the same skill set. I however have been an employee longer and have a better qualification then them.

We both feel that the pay rise was an incentive given, based on the assumption that I would not be returning, for them to retain my workload along with there own (they have done a large amount of overtime since I have been off, a new member of staff also started)

Now my issue is that I feel I should receive this pay rise also as per the citizens advice "if pay or other conditions have improved while you have been on maternity leave then you are entitled to these benefits when you return to work."

I have not received this increase in my salary, how do I ask for this increase without admitting knowledge of my co-workers pay rise?

As not to drip feed, this other employee is not a better employee then me, whilst I have been off I have been in contact with them to assist them with my more difficult jobs and a number of tasks have been kept for me that they could not complete. Also I may have given the impression (wishfull on my part) that I would not be returning.

runawaybishop

Private employee or public?

seamus

Depends on what kind of raise it is.

If it's a standard cost of living raise, you can just say, "The last raise awarded was X years ago, I was wondering if there were plans to review this soon?"

If it's a discretionary raise then it's pretty cheeky to be asking for one when you've just arrived back from maternity leave. Give it six months and then broach the topic at a performance review.

What your colleagues are being paid is somewhat irrelevant.

runawaybishop

seamus wrote: »

Depends on what kind of raise it is.

If it's a standard cost of living raise, you can just say, "The last raise awarded was X years ago, I was wondering if there were plans to review this soon?"

If it's a discretionary raise then it's pretty cheeky to be asking for one when you've just arrived back from maternity leave. Give it six months and then broach the topic at a performance review.

What your colleagues are being paid is somewhat irrelevant.

Agreed, if its a public sector length of service payrise etc then you should get it, if its private sector and an individually negotiated payrise there is no harm in trying for it, but you aren't entitled to anything.

anonleave

runawaybishop wrote: »

Private employee or public?

Public, family business with <20 employees

anonleave

seamus wrote: »

Depends on what kind of raise it is.

If it's a standard cost of living raise, you can just say, "The last raise awarded was X years ago, I was wondering if there were plans to review this soon?"

If it's a discretionary raise then it's pretty cheeky to be asking for one when you've just arrived back from maternity leave. Give it six months and then broach the topic at a performance review.

What your colleagues are being paid is somewhat irrelevant.

I could argue that it is a cost of living as I am led to believe that there was more than one awarded.

I don't think "returning" to work has any impact as I am entitled to have been treated as though I have been at work during my maternity leave.

What this particular colleague is paid I believe is relevant to me, we do the same job, I would even say I act in a supervisory role to them, I have assisted them with there work in the past and I believe will again in the future, the difference between us is that they have not taken maternity leave in the past & are unlikely to in the future.

runawaybishop

anonleave wrote: »

Public, family business with <20 employees

Its a state job?

anonleave

runawaybishop wrote: »

Its a state job?

Apologies, private was what I meant.

Lu Tze

anonleave wrote: »

Apologies, private was what I meant.

I'm private sector, worked in several companies, have had many colleagues at the same level, but any pay rise have been performance related to the individual (and obviously whatever the individual can negotiate).

It may be different with your employer, but they have no reference for performance (improvement) while you have been on leave. I wouldn't reference anybody else, but if you can justify a pay increase on your own merits you should definitely approach your employer

runawaybishop

anonleave wrote: »

Apologies, private was what I meant.

Ok, so what your colleague is paid is irrelevant really. Your pay is whatever you can negotiate and you arent entitled to a rise, but no harm in asking.

anonleave

Okay so im leaning toward not doing anything for the mean time and reviewing the situation in a few months, I suspect that it will irk me if I do not receive a rise but we shall see.

My main problem with the pay rise is that I feel it would have either been given to me (and them) had I physically been at work during this time or my colleague would not have received it.

For now I will be happy for them and thank you all for being a sounding board.

BizzyC

anonleave wrote: »

I could argue that it is a cost of living as I am led to believe that there was more than one awarded.

I don't think "returning" to work has any impact as I am entitled to have been treated as though I have been at work during my maternity leave.

What this particular colleague is paid I believe is relevant to me, we do the same job, I would even say I act in a supervisory role to them, I have assisted them with there work in the past and I believe will again in the future, the difference between us is that they have not taken maternity leave in the past & are unlikely to in the future.

It doesn't matter if you would say you act in a supervisory role, if it's not on paper and it's not something your employer would say, it's not relevant.

I would say this all depends on why others got their increases.
If it was a widespread change for something like cost of living, then you could argue for it.

If it was performance based increases then you can't really, as you haven't been working.
You could only really argue it next year, if following a year of good performance you haven't been rewarded in the same way.

runawaybishop

anonleave wrote: »

Okay so im leaning toward not doing anything for the mean time and reviewing the situation in a few months, I suspect that it will irk me if I do not receive a rise but we shall see.

My main problem with the pay rise is that I feel it would have either been given to me (and them) had I physically been at work during this time or my colleague would not have received it.

For now I will be happy for them and thank you all for being a sounding board.

But you weren't at work and your colleague took on extra duties?

Electric Sex Pants

runawaybishop wrote: »

But you weren't at work and your colleague took on extra duties?

If you were not at work then you will have a hard time negotiating a pay rise, its all about leverage and new skills.

Zulu

Think about it this way -

You were not at work & you were not working. You were on leave.

What aspect of you being "on leave" and "not present" do you feel assisted the company for the better? ...because that would be the reason you potentially deserve a pay rise.

livedadream

anonleave wrote: »

Gone anon for this:

I am due to return to work from maternity leave in the coming weeks, currently using accrued holidays so receiving salary.

A work acquaintance has told me that they received a pay rise whilst I have been away, we both have received pay rises in the past at the same time and we were on the same pay.

This colleague has covered some of my workload whilst I have been away and generally we have the same skill set. I however have been an employee longer and have a better qualification then them.

We both feel that the pay rise was an incentive given, based on the assumption that I would not be returning, for them to retain my workload along with there own (they have done a large amount of overtime since I have been off, a new member of staff also started)

Now my issue is that I feel I should receive this pay rise also as per the citizens advice "if pay or other conditions have improved while you have been on maternity leave then you are entitled to these benefits when you return to work."

I have not received this increase in my salary, how do I ask for this increase without admitting knowledge of my co-workers pay rise?

As not to drip feed, this other employee is not a better employee then me, whilst I have been off I have been in contact with them to assist them with my more difficult jobs and a number of tasks have been kept for me that they could not complete. Also I may have given the impression (wishfull on my part) that I would not be returning.

its a tough one, the employee who got the raise might have turned around and said look at my value I can do her job and mine pay me more.

just to correct you a small bit as well your are stating if pay or other conditions have improved while you have been on maternity leave then you are entitled to these benefits when you return to work" this is regarded as if minimum wage or the whole company receives an increase not individual workers.

also you stated that you are to be treated as if you were at work, thats in regards to redundancy, promotions etc, not performance.

coming back from mat leave and requesting a pay rise is a ballsy thing to do, however ive seen it happen, ive never seen it approved but ive seen it happen.

id suggest the same as below, wait a while, prove your worth and ask.