No contract of employment and unequal pay

[ShellieEllie]

I'm posting on behalf of a male relative who started working for a national retailer a few months ago. He still hasn't received a contract of employment, but has been paid every month so he hasn't really been too concerned about this. What is really stressing him out is the rate of pay. He has discovered that a new colleague is earning far more than he is. The advertised job role was exactly the same as the one he applied for and their jobs are very similar so he can see no reason for the discrepancy in earnings, and he is infact better qualified than the new colleague. He did try to negotiate the wage when he started but was told they could not offer any more. He wanted the job for the experience it will bring him but is feeling really peeved that a new colleague is earning more. How should he go about raising the issues? He really isn't one for conflict and doesn't know how to raise this with his line manager, or should he go straight to HR? Any advice will be gratefully received!

There's no need for any conflict at all.

Contract - either HR or manager, can you let me know when I will receive my contract please.

On the pay issue - he can try again to negotiate, or he can keep quiet. But "it's not fair that he gets paid more" is not ever going to work, it needs to be "this is why I am worth more and you ought to pay me it" - that's a line manager conversation, not a HR one...

How old is he, and how did he find out how much the other staff member is being paid?

It's not B&M is it?

He's over 25 so nothing to do with age. No, not B&M, but not far off. The new team member told him what they were being paid. I did suggest they might have been lying but seemed very very certain they weren't.

Sorry OP but this is pretty common - many roles have salary bands, not just a set salary.

I agree it isn’t nice to find out you’re paid less than a colleague (I’ve been there!) but unless the reason is due to gender then there’s nothing you can do if they don’t voluntarily agree to pay more.

I would extremely suprised if, in retail, 2 people are being paid a different rate if they are in the same age range (set for National living wage), doing the same role and working in the same store. I speak from retail experience.

Places are getting desperate and offering more to entice workers in 🤷‍♀️ market forces are in play.

Tell him to look around for another role and he could end up as the new starter on higher than others!

There's no protected characteristic so employer can pay what it wants.

He has had an employment contract since he accepted the job even if it's not in writing.

www.gov.uk/employment-contracts-and-conditions

@Ohshittt!!!! He works for national retailer but not within a store.

I guess his only option is try to renegotiate and look for something else if nothing comes of it. Thanks for your replies.