Work situation wwyd

[T0getherindreams]

Ok, Long time reader, first time poster.

I have a serious work situation and I don't know if it's unreasonable for me to be so angry. Not angry really, absolutely furious. I have no idea how to handle this and looking for opinions.

I'll be as brief as possible.

I work for a huge, massive, gigantic company, one you've all heard of. I jave worked here for 14 years. A long time colleague, 12 years or so, has just fucked me over for no obvious reason.

Everyone in my department (including my colleague in question) gets a shift allowance, it's a sweetner for being on call over certain weekends.

Because my colleague (lets call her H) has been on long term sick, left, came back on another contract, her on call allowance is less than mine. I don't know why, same job, but she signed up to a new contract when she came back.

Now, two years ago our department stopped routinely working weekends and since then all new starters are on the contract which H signed. My boss at that time said he wanted flexibility to allow for weekend work if necessary and I had no objection to being called in so he left me on my old contract.

Today he called me into the office first thing, first day back from my leave, and asked me to sign a new contract. Apparently H has been emailing HR about me and saying it's unfair I get paid £40p/m more than her because I'm still on the old contract.

My boss said he's sorry but she has made so much "noise" that HR are now on his back. He said she brought the issue up in a staff meeting while I was leave last week, so everybody knows it's her anyway, and he's not being unprofessional in telling me it was her.

I'm fucking fuming, she gets nothing out of this. Nothing. She has messed with my pay just because she could.

No massive back story, no drip feed. I thought we were good work colleagues, even helped her get out of major trouble a few years back.

No idea why she would do this.

What do i say when I see her tomorrow.

Aibu in being so angry?

What would you do now?
Sorry for the long post.

Your union is talking shite. Let them make you redundant, 14 years Redundancy Pay, plus Holiday pay, then employ at just £40 per month less!

I think the cunts here are your employers, who are happy to pay some staff doing the same job a lot less than others. I very much doubt your colleague intended the outcome of her complaint to be that your pay was cut. And now they are going to make more money by cutting your pay, but the fault is all your 'wicked, greedy, selfish' colleague, rather than your senior management who have been quite happy to profit by underpaying her.

OP.. Tautology.

OP, as the others have said, get a copy of the meeting minutes. If for any reason it hasn't been noted that your name was mentioned specifically (maybe she said your name after the meeting to others or it was decided that a name shouldn't be minuted) ask someone who attended the meeting what was said.
If it's clear she has mentioned you specifically and your pay then raise a grievance ASAP. It's your right. She has no business pulling another employee down and discussing private information. There are loads of people on different pay for the same job. It's why people negotiate pay during the interview/offer process. My own DSis has got a few positions through being headhunted and you can bet your arse she negotiated a damn good pay to move.

This idea of having to be paid the exact same for doing the same job is bullshit. I have 20 years experience and get well paid as a result of this. There are young ones doing the same job as me but getting 20k less. That's life.

As for your so called friend OP kicking off over 40 quid a month fuck that. Don't sign anything and let them do their worst. You know when it comes down to it they won't push too hard. Your boss is hoping you will just sign off and make life easy for him. DON'T.

I know someone who negotiated hard for a benefit in her contract (company pays for her vehicle and petrol) which newcomers in positions level and higher than hers are not given in their contract. The company still honour her contract. No one has ever challenged it because they recognise that they are on different contracts.

HAVE YOU SIGNED???
apologies if I’ve missed that

I would phone ACAS for advice before you speak to HR.

Do not sign!!!

I would be angry too and I think it's weird that she's involved herself so much in your business. I especially don't like the way she did this behind your back whilst you were away and in a meeting with others. Also, what did they mean when they said she'd made so much 'noise'?

I don't know what I'd do either.

Can you go through the company policies to see if you can find anything to help you? (Bullying & Harrassment? Dignity at Work? Data Protection? etc.)

Could you argue that you have more continuous service than her and shouldn't be penalised for her choices?

Could you negotiate a pay increase to compensate for the change?

As for your meeting in the car park, I wouldn't say much to her. You could just say that, after what she's done, you need some time to think about how to deal with things?? I would tread carefully though - she's clearly not trustworthy.

If it was me, outside of work I'd blank her. During work, stick to cool professionalism.

She's your colleague, not your friend.

I'm not friends with any of my coworkers. I make neutral small talk with them, but I don't share anything personal with them. Mostly, because I know they are quite bitchy and gossipy. I don't want to give them fuel.

Just keep your head down and keep on working hard. If you are friends with her on SM, delete. Don't talk about anything money related to her or show her your pay slip.

Let them make you redundant, 14 years Redundancy Pay, plus Holiday pay, then employ at just £40 per month less!

It’s not quite as simple as that- if OP is in a big organisation, she’s potentially on a very good point on her salary scale thanks to long service, and could have a final salary pension, more generous leave entitlement etc.

The organisation could be saving considerably more than £40 per month depending on other aspects of her T&Cs. However, they’d need to weigh up if the costs of redundancy and recruiting again for her role would be worth it in the long run.

"pretty sure they cannot make you redundant and then rehire you to do the same job so please check that out with someone who knows, surprised that has come from a union rep tbh." Exactly what I was thinking. Your union rep sounds shite!

Speak to acas? Someone higher up in Union? Maybe even an employment lawyer?

You're justified in feeling angry. As others have said, don't sign it and fight it out with HR. With regards H, if you're 100% certain it's her and there's no chance it's a case of crossed wires (I haven't rtft) personally I would treat her with ice cold fury. Blank her entirely. If she's stupid enough to ask you what's wrong or to try to talk to you, take a deep breath - pause to collect yourself and regulate your voice - then say you can't trust yourself to be civil to her so you suggest she waits until you calm down before approaching you again... or alternatively say that you are furious at HR for trying to change your contract for no reason that benefits anyone, and suggest she avoids you until it's sorted.

But surely discussing my contract details with others was way way way off being appropriate
Well i'd be making an official complaint against H for her bully behavior/harassment.
Also for disclosing your confidential contract information....

Employment lawyer here OP. Your union is wrong about them making you redundant. However they can serve you with notice to terminate your existing contract and offer you a new contract on the new terms. If you reject the new contract your employment will terminate and you won’t be entitled to a redundancy payment.

I have no doubt whatsoever that you're correct, but how can this possibly be contractually fair?

Does this mean that, when a company wants to make you redundant, instead of paying redundancy, they could just ask you to take a pay cut from whatever you're currently on down to NMW and then, when you refuse to do so, consider that you've effectively resigned and so are not entitled to any redundancy pay?

If this is the case, it could be seen that only companies with any conscience (many would say only stupid companies) would ever have to pay redundancy pay.

Do you not wonder, OP, whether management might have engineered this whole situation in order to reduce your pay - or even get rid of you, as a lot of places would prefer to replace experienced expensive staff with wide-eyed newbies on a much lower pay grade.
You have, after all, only got your manager's word that this colleague has been causing trouble.

More importantly, has your employer recently undergone a change of management at the top level, or been in the headlines for losing money, or been bought out by another company (with the usual bullshit assurance to staff that 'nothing will change')?

But, it's 40 pounds a month. Most large companies don't want to go through the hassle of all this for such a small amount.

Whatever you do, I'd suggest not signing the contract for now and getting as much advice as you can. It all sounds very dodgy. Even if you do eventually sign it, make sure you drag it out for as long as possible.

Be careful with how you treat this coworker, as you don't want to leave yourself open to bullying accusations. It's a work place, be cool and professional, but don't get personal.

Make a formal complaint about H to HR stating that she has breached GDPR by talking about confidential information within your contract to colleagues without your consent. She did not discuss this with you and she did not follow a professional press for raising concerns. The issue of your contract can wait until they have resolved her conduct issue.

It sounds like the contract difference is not just pay. There are differences of expectation too. If your boss can say that it is helpful to him for you to have this flexibility clause in your contract because you are a reliable longterm employee, you may find that HR are happy not to change it.

Missing the point, but am I the only person thinking that £40 is not an insignificant amount to lose each month? 40p, yes, but £40 is a lot to me.

Very surprised at the responses here - of course people should be paid the same for doing the same job! We absolutely need salary transparency for this reason, because so often women and disadvantaged people underestimate themselves and don’t ask for enough. Salaries should be set as in the public sector.

If I found out someone was getting paid more to do the same job damn right I’d kick off to HR. I’m fully on H’s side here. This is nothing to do with screwing you over as a friend, it’s about the priniciple. In fact, if I found out someone was being paid less than me to do the same job I’d also encourage them to approach HR!

i guess im a bit odd to not understand why she thinks they should be on the same wage... the op has been at the company longer, so should have a higher wage just from that, and also the complainant has also taken a long term leave, so from just those two facts, a higher or better contract is to be expected.
Also i would be super pissed off if my name and wage was discussed with anyone else without my written permission let alone a room full of people who have no business knowing... so i would be bringing that fact up and suggesting that they should to be covering their own asses and leaving mine alone, lest i get a bit complainy too

oh AND BTW how is she meant to know that your wage has been lowered to match hers??? its not like they can tell her is it? i mean that's private information... they can just ignore it and say the issue has been sorted out and due to privacy they can not tell her any details... fuck her

I don't think you have a strong justification to be angry at H.

She is on a worse contract and is trying to get a better deal for her not a worse deal for you.

In my work the situation that people are on a set of different pay deals for the same job is a source of tension with the company. It's not a personal attack on a friend if people complain to HR about it. It's a valid issue to raise with HR.

You have more right to be pissed off with HR - they are responsible for choosing to cut your pay in response to her requests.
Your company probably did need to address pay anomolies which means raising or lowering everyone's pay. That sucks for people on more.

Your boss should not have phrased it that it is all your friend's fault. They are the bosses. They chose the response to cut your pay at very short notice. Maybe it's time to get on the job hunt.

In my company people got protected salaries for 2 years if their terms and conditioned worsened and they didn't take redundancy.