Equal pay/ treatment

[VelvetSpoon]

I was discussing this earlier in the week woth some colleagues (in light of the Tesco case) and it has reawoken a lot of my internal anger over this issue.

I know that I have been paid less than men for years. I have always worked in places where discussion of salaries was a disciplinary offence. But I knew others mainly men were paid more for the same job.

It's not just the pay. I've been a single parent for years, no family support. I used to regularly get threatened with disciplinary action if I ever arrived to work late. I was told that my team didn't take me seriously and complained about me because I was a parent. I NEVER asked for not was given a single concession to the fact I had kids.

A few years on and people I work with
now (mainly men) are all working from home or leaving early for theor kids swimming galas and presentations at the drop of a hat. And it really pisses me off that as a single parent (none of them are) I never had any of these concessions.

Plus they earn more than me. Which according to the discussion with my colleagues is because I'm a poor negotiator. Not because men get offered more pay, or join the company in a more senior position (when I joined I was told I couldn't join at X level. 3 months later, 2 men joined...at that level!). Oh and when I tried to explain that being a lone parent (No family, and no money from their father) is a really vulnerable position, apparently that's no worse than it is for men who are the breadwinner while their wives are SAHMs.

AIBU to be annoyed by this conversation, how I've been treated in the past and indeed the whole fucking situation? I earn a lot, so I know there are women on £20k a year who are much worse off than me. But I was earning £30k in 1998. Twenty years on, I'm still not earning double that (whereas my male peers are on £75k And up)

I think time plays a huge factor in the working hours issue VS. Legislation has only recently strengthened the right to flexible working arrangements for family and allowed everyone the opportunity to take advantage. You can't blame the chap for taking what he has become entitled to. I do understand that how it must stick in your craw that these entitlements were not available to you when you needed them most. I remember when my NHS trust introduced family friendly flexible starting times, it huge resentment and was difficult to manage when nurses were suddenly not willing to start before 9am or finish after 8am (leaving the nightshift early). This often meant staff shortages during these times. It was a very hard time trying to manage rotas, staff expectations etc. I left shortly after so I don't know if this ever got any easier.

I absolutely agree with you. Only last month a (very) senior (thankfully near retirement) engineer told me that we shouldn't be trying to encourage women into heavy engineering because we are just not capable of the physical demands of the job. Annoyingly this man is high up the tree enough to have influence in company policy! Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses - we each deserve to be judged on that alone and not assumptions of what we may or may not be capable of.