Junior colleague being paid the same as me

[SeaWitchly]

I work in a caring profession. Today my junior colleague let slip how much she earns and I realised she is on the exact same salary as me. I am really annoyed about this. Junior colleague and I have both been in post 2 years. I came in to the role with 10 years experience of doing the role elsewhere. Junior colleague had never worked in the role before and required a lot of support and mentoring from me to get to a competent level. However she is not at a senior level which was confirmed by my manager recently when I suggested we job share the senior role (as it is a lot of work for one person on a part/time contract). Basically as I get all the additional problem solving and planning required with little extra admin time but the exact same client load as junior colleague (we both work 3 days per week). Which means I often find myself working (unpaid) overtime to keep up. At the moment I feel so angry about this I want to quit (and yes I know I am lucky to have a job in the current climate). I don’t think I can ask for a pay rise as I will be told there is no money for this in their budget. AIBU?

Stop doing unpaid overtime. If they're under-staffed that's not your problem.

Tell them you are aware the job below you is paid the same and you’re giving up the senior responsibilities if they can’t pay you for them.

Or look for another role that’s better paid

Tell them!

none of your business how much your colleague earns. You deal directly with your employers over your wages, and so does your colleague. How does that sort of information get "let slip"?

Unless you have a massive financial cushion don’t resign.

Two things you need to do. First look at your job market and establish your worth & opportunity. That’s what you would be offered to do the job by other employers and whether they are recruiting.

Then you can discuss this with your manager and negotiate a pay rise. If they use the budget says no, reply that your budget doesn’t allow you to stay. Explain that you will looking for a different role that pays what you are worth. Then do it whether offered the pay rise or not.

My colleague was talking about her fortnightly salary (and how much of this is currently covered by the government). So she sort of made it my business.

none of your business how much your colleague earns. You deal directly with your employers over your wages, and so does your colleague. How does that sort of information get "let slip"?

This is a really unhelpful attitude that employers encourage in order to drive down wages. Openness about wages is a good thing for employees.

@mosquitofeast so you wouldn’t be pissed off if your junior colleague was in same pay as you? Yeh righto!!

OP you’re going to have to speak with your manager. Also, no more unpaid overtime!!

Are you in the NHS? I'm just wondering whether she was started nearer the top of one band and you nearer the bottom of another? Meaning that you'll be earning more in a couple of years as she hits the top of the band?

Years ago when I was in the civil service Divisional running costs including staff costs were delegated down to Head of Division level. This meant that the finance co-ordinator for the division, and the head of division, knew exactly how much everyone was being paid. I am sure that staff costs are no longer delegated in this way because of data protection (at least they weren't in the public sector but non civil service organisation I ended up working in). And a good thing too IMO.

You need to have a discussion with your manager and request a pay rise. This happened to me once, the pay rise was readily forthcoming after I brought it to my LM's attention.

Nerr I am in private healthcare not NHS. So unfortunately there iisn’t transparency regarding pay.
It is difficult not to do the unpaid overtime as there is just so much to do and no-one to hand over to... and if I don’t do it I end up with extra to do the following day, iyswim. And I don’t want to inconvenience patients who are already stressed by cancelling or rescheduling appointments. Manager has intimated she needs to employ another staff member but it highly unlikely we will get someone experienced (we work in a niche field) so again I will be required to mentor and support on top of my existing workload.

You can't complain about other people's pay. That's between them and the employer. If you are not happy with your pay, you need to negotiate with your employer.

There are plenty of management jobs in care available - just look for another job.

@SerenDippitty of course the finance manager and divisional manager will know how much everyone's salaries are. How else can they check there are no payroll mistakes, set budgets, forecast outturn etc?

Pay in care is just never fair.
I started at a care home when I was 16. I was very competent at my job, by 18 I had my own night shift. I was signed off to administer medications which many other carers were not. I worked full time.

I was paid less than every other staff member because of my age. Which was entirely legal, but bloody unfair.

Be careful not to mention your colleague specifically in any discussions with your manager. In a lot of contracts it can be a disciplinary offence to discuss your salary with other colleagues and you could end up in trouble. Yes, really.

Benchmarking with other comparable roles would be best.

[quote ChikiTIKI]@SerenDippitty of course the finance manager and divisional manager will know how much everyone's salaries are. How else can they check there are no payroll mistakes, set budgets, forecast outturn etc?[/quote]
Where I worked there was a separate pay roll team for that. Staff budgets were administered centrally, other running costs such as stationery, T & S etc were not.

You need to ask for a pay rise. I don't think you should mention colleague, just look at scales /other jobs similar and explain what other skills you have eg the mentoring. I don't think you will be happy until you ask!

Definitely bring it up with them, even if nothing changes now, it may help in the future. Could other colleague take on some of your role?

I think openness about salaries is a good thing. I work in the NHS though so people are often referred to by band rather than job title, but you know where you stand at least. It’s not always fair, but you can call it out more easily.

As you are mentoring and managing in a field where people are hard to get, you have an advantage. As others said, bring up your overtime, additional responsibilities and an idea of how much you would earn elsewhere.

They are relying on you being nice and rolling over. Don't.

At your next appraisal or one to one, say that you are not being remunerated for the extra workload so you want it give it up and , as there is no pay differential between you and the other colleague, you obviously won’t have a drop in pay

Are you sure it's the same? Does colleague work nights/weekends/etc which may attract a higher per hour rate?

I had a similar situation in my job, where it became clear that a long-term employee (who is excellent at his job) was on a higher pro-rata salary than me, even though my job was significantly senior to his in terms of responsibility and qualifications.

I didn't think he should be paid less, but I did think I should be paid more. We are a small organisation and our salaries are public knowledge, so I spoke to my boss about it. It took a while to arrange, but it did result in a substantial pay increase for me, and a general increase in appreciation and respect for my role.

In your case, OP, I would speak to the most senior person you can and make it clear that it is not acceptable for you to be paid at the junior level, while doing the senior level work. Either they pay you appropriately (is there anyone else at the senior level they could match your salary to?) or you will need to start looking for alternative employment and in the meantime, you will not be doing the additional work and hours.

Years ago I worked somewhere where there were a lot of bands on my rung with a qualification bar very high up. Most people came in at the bottom and worked their way up. I had the qualification, and after two years was at the top of the band. Two people in my small department wouldn't have anything to do with me once they found out (how I don't know) as they'd worked their way up over the years and were really angry I was on the same salary as them. They made my life a misery.

I hope you take the route of stopping working overtime and speaking to your employer about a payrise because of your supervisory and mentoring duties.