unfair salary?

[FatBellyHoHoHo]

My dp came home on Friday evening absolutely fuming! One of his colleagues revealed that she is being paid £5k a year more than him despite being in a more junior position and and being less qualified and competent than him.

He's also severely overworked at the moment as his dept only has 4 staff members when it should have 10. He hasn't been able to take a day off or holiday for ages due to the understaffing and because he's the only person who can do what he does.

He's wondering who to approach about this as it seems very very unfair and he is angry and hurt at the seeming injustice of the situation. I suggested going to lunch or for a drink with his manager after work and discussing it informally at first but I'm not sure if that's right or if he should go to HR. He definitely wants to get this issue addressed, it's not me pushing him but I asked him to wait til I got some advice from you guys cos he's a bit of a hothead and is liable to end up resigning if he goes in feet first!

[hotbot]

informal discussion with union, re: discrimination? and stuff the no al etc, he is entitled to it,he should take it when he likes, you get what you pay for imo. if his boss was bothered the situation wouldnt have arisen in the first place.

[YuleLoveHekateAtSolstice]

Perhaps request a meeting with his boss to discuss salary - instead of confronting.

Maybe he could list what he does for the department and talk about his commitment and then slip in this bit about him having recently become aware that one of his junior collegues is earning more than him, which he feels is something that he would like to be addressed.

Then if he doesn't get satisfaction, he can go to the union because there are equal pay laws. Although it's odd isn't it...normally you find it's women being paid less for doing the same job, not a man finding a woman is being paid more for doing a 'lesser' job (iyswim).

She's not sleeping with the boss is she? How far is your dh willing to go to get equal pay?

[Freckle]

Also if that doesn't work he could raise a grievance, listing all the issues bothering him, and then they have to deal with it.

He should also start looking for another job because it's surprising how quickly management will deal with something if they think they might lose a crucial member of staff. I mean, they'd be stuffed without him, wouldn't they?

[TheOldestCat]

Hi - would echo the others about speaking to his manager first. I'm in the same position and went into a chat with my boss furious. Turns out he thought the same, so went to HR on my behalf. They have now promised to address the inequality in April when we have our annual pay review. Well, we'll see...[hopeful].

Basically, and I know it's hard, he mustn't be hotheaded about this. He should ask why he's not being treated fairly and explain that he deserves a rise (for all the hard work, not being able to take hols etc). I was careful not to threaten to resign, but I made it clear that I could be paid a lot more for what I do elsewhere and unless my manager looked into this, I'd have little choice but to look around for another job.

If his manager fails to deal with it, that's when he should pursue it further (with HR etc).

Good luck.

[tartanandtired]

Sorry to add another (possibly useless) point but at my current work (and I've experienced it in same industry, different company), discussing the specifics of your salary is subject to disciplinary action because there is no (or v v little) transparency so sadly the situation you're describing is probably happening a lot.

May not be the same but, in my office, if I went in saying X gets paid £5k more than me, X would get hauled in. It's taken v seriously. Possibly not relevant here but what I'm trying to say (in a v long way - sorry!) is that your DP may have to be careful.

If this is no issue then I completely agree with TheOC.

[FatBellyHoHoHo]

Thanks guys, I'll show him this when he wakes up.

Not sure if there is a union where he works but I think not.

[FatBellyHoHoHo]

One more question for now.. how do we find out which union he should be in? he works in IT for a media company.

Thanks again

[TheOldestCat]

Not sure about the union, FatBellyHoHoHo. Not sure if it's your profession (so IT) or the company you work for (media) - will see if DH, who is in a union (I'm not) knows.

Tartanandtired is quite right - you should find out if DH's company has a clause like that. I found out about my pay and the girl I manage being 10 grand less than newer and less experienced people because my boss's boss told us when drunk!

[TheQueenSPeach]

is this any good for finding the right union?

[FatBellyJones]

Thanks OC and queenspeach.. going to look now.

He's pulled a sickie today, which I think is a bad idea but he's really pissed off and said he'd lose it if he went in so....... arrggh