To be a bit shocked at how much more my colleague is paid?

[Twittlebee]

My colleague left his open pay slip on his desk, in clear view of our other colleague. Of course this is awful, she shouldn't have had a peak but she did.

She then text me to say how much he is on as she knows how much more it means he is getting paid than us and we were recently discussing our hopes for asking for a payrise.

So we are on exact same level, same qualifications, same experience and same responsibilities etc. I've been at the company 8 months longer than him.

I earn £30k and he earns £45k. That is quite a difference isnt it? I'm struggling to work that out.

My directors have joked about how cheap I am and it's one of the reasons they agreed to hire me despite being pregnant.

I'm not sure what I'm aiming to get out of this post. Maybe an idea of how to ask for a payrise, what do I do with this information, can I expect a £15k jump up in pay?

Happened to me too. Same qualifications, time since we obtained them, everything. I was on about 20% less than he was. Admittedly he worked longer hours than I did, but that could and should have been reflected in our bonus levels.

In my last job I also wondered if the men were paid more than the women, but a colleague who had been my interim boss for a time reassured me as she'd seen what her small team were earning and we were all on the same FTE equivalent salary.

And salaries shouldn't come down to negotiation, there should be a range for the job and you should be paid according to your experience.

It’s funny how posters are falling over themselves to try and explain this away or make it OP’s fault.

Of course salaries can be about negotiation

You just need to learn to negotiate

So do I phone my director tomorrow / ask for a meeting on thursday / wait till my scheduled review in April to ask for a pay rise?

Previously it has been said that pay rises will be discussed at our reviews in April

I wonder whether your colleague wanted you to know that they’re being paid so much more and deliberately left it there hoping it would encourage you to negotiate a raise. It’s perfectly normal to ask for a raise for no reason other than thinking you should have one. Go to your superiors and say that you would like one. If they refuse then you know that it’s a case of not valuing you as opposed to taking advantage of a good deal and on that basis it’s time to find a new job. Sorry for your loss

Rather than quote your co-worker's pay try looking on sites like Glassdoor and job sites to see your market worth. However, do be ready to quit if you need to.

But @Cohle I find this statement disagreeable "I'd consider the maternity/gender discrimination angle too. ". If this had been said to a woman of colour she would be accused of "playing the race card". I agree that the OP needs to find out the industry and area average for her field, and then consider her options. But just rethink that above, I read time and time again that POC 'play a race card' when they mention a factor which is, when all else has been compared, a disadvantage based on their race, as the OP has clearly mentioned above, and they are shot to flames for daring to suggest such a thing (!).

Agree though OP, go online / to a few industry meetings and float what the average is in your industry and what you are getting.If you suspect, and I read from your OP above that your gender is causing a disadvantage, you may need to look around for an alternative. You might ask for a pay rise, but it might not be £15k in one go, and that said, your colleague will always have that £15k head start should he too get a pay rise.

Yes you should be shocked, and justifiably angry. Just as every other person who for who they are, is not treated fairly. But just as I have heard from women of colour who have experienced professional discrimination, you have to very carefully think how you will respond to this new found knowledge. One step wrong and it will be played out that you are at fault.

All the best!

Personally I would be happy to walk over something like this.
If reviews are in April. I would ask for an early meeting.
But you have to be prepared to walk if they don’t agree.

Don't wait until your review. In my experience they'll have set their budgets by then so it'll be too late. If you're an April to March FY firm you might have chance to influence it now.

Look around for other jobs to ascertain the market rate for your position currently and be prepared to go elsewhere. This time, remember to negotiate hard at the beginning.

Doesn’t mean the women who are paid less are not discriminated against, just because they don’t ask for more like men do. The whole unequal pay saga is underpinned by men pushing for more while women are grateful for less.

It isn't true that women don't ask:

hbr.org/2018/06/research-women-ask-for-raises-as-often-as-men-but-are-less-likely-to-get-them

"The bottom line of our study is that women do “ask” just as often as men. They just don’t “get.”"

Do you have a union OP?

I find this statement disagreeable "I'd consider the maternity/gender discrimination angle too. ". If this had been said to a woman of colour she would be accused of "playing the race card".

I'm sorry you find my statement disagreeable TeaAddict but based on the comments in the OP it does appear that there's a possibility discrimination has occurred. I think it would be doing the OP a disservice not to urge her to consider whether that's the case, and if so, how she can best address the situation (which may well be through negotiation not litigation).

I'd absolutely advise a person of colour in a similar situation to consider similar issues. I'm afraid I don't really see what you find offensive about that. It's not "playing any card" be it race/gender/sexuality to consider whether you have genuinely been discriminated against and if so how best to approach it.

Okay so taking from this to mention the £37-£47k averages I have found online and use those to discuss and to ask for a pay review before April. I'll ask for a meeting on Thursday. Thank you everyone.

So sorry this happened to you OP, same thing happened to me but with a smaller pay gap (colleague and I also discovered the discrepancy when she caught a glimpse of his payslip) and I found it incredibly insulting and upsetting, especially as I was training the guy and he ended up getting fired because he was so terrible. Sadly seems this kind of thing is way too common.

Definitely seek advice from ACAS, and good luck going forward - hope you get the raise you deserve 🤞🏼

Please let us know the outcome, I'm really mad on your behalf!

It’s amazing how often this happens. Call it out. It is not fair

Absolutely do ask them for a 15k pay rise, the cheeky fuckers.

The Equal Pay Act was 1970.

All the luck in the world to you.

Also are they a company large enough to have to report on gender pay differences?

One thing to remember- if you want a guinea pig, you start by asking for a pony.

Translation- if you want a £15k payrise, consider asking for £20k and then they can haggle back down to £15k and think they’ve won

OP you should also start looking for other jobs. One of the best ways to increase your salary is to job hop a little when you aren’t desperate so you can negotiate a higher salary each time.

The best way to look at this is that there could be up to 15k room for negotiating an increase in your pay, which there might not be if you had the highest pay, or if you were all on the same.

People often get upset on learning others are earning more, but it's actually a good thing!

Then it's how you argue for a pay rise (not necessarily 15k, but up to that amount) have you taken on more responsibility or seniority since starting, have you gained knowledge, experience or skills, have you added value or revenue to the company, or goals or targets that you've exceeded. You can ask for a pay rise based on these.

If refused you can ask what you need to achieve for a pay rise.

If still refused or promises don't materialise, start looking around at other companies. It's always worth keeping your CV, linked in etc. up to date and submitting to recruiters and websites, and attending networking events if applicable.

p.s. the directors comments were horrible, but again they confirm that you have scope to increase your salary either with them or someone else.

But did the payslip actually show his full yearly salary? Usually it shows the total at the end of the financial year so you need to check this was the case here. And do we know for certain we are comparing like for like? Net with net or gross with gross.
You may well be paid the market rate and at the correct level for the company and he may have a higher annual wage because he negotiated it and that could include certain perks not necessarily cash.
Or you may be underpaid.
There’s no way of knowing for certain.

If you don't ask you won't get!

Good luck, be polite, be factual. Ask for a raise, middle to top of the salaries advertised like for like. Point out recruitment will cost them 10%+ of any salary if it was necessary.