Salary discussion with male coworker...

[legofootcasualty]

I've been at my job for 2 years.

Male coworker just got hired today and we were talking about salary. He said they told him starting salary was X with no negotiation.

Which is a lot more than I get paid.

I've asked for a pay review recently but been told it's not possible.

AIBU to...not sure what to do actually. I'm about to go on parental leave in 3 weeks so don't feel it's the right time to bring it up. Just frustrated to hear this.

I should add we're at the same level, same experience etc

You should raise it to your manager or HR as an equal pay concern. It’s down to them to provide a justifiable reason as to why he is paid more, or to rectify the issue.
How much more is he paid than you?

Depends how bolshie you're feeling. Me on a good day would be straight into my boss with a polite yet firm request to understand the reasoning behind this unequal pay, and enquiring if the grievance policy or pay policy would be the best way to sort out such clear discriminatory practices.

Oh and don't let them fob you off with 'you shouldn't be discussing salaries' - that boat has sailed legally and you cannot compel employees to keep their salary secret.

Union?

I would ask why definitely. The fact you are about to go on parental leave actually strengthens your case.

@HoldontoOneMoreDay

Oh and don't let them fob you off with 'you shouldn't be discussing salaries' - that boat has sailed legally and you cannot compel employees to keep their salary secret.

Is this correct? Just asking as I have a female friend whose workplace has seemingly written it into their contracts that they can't discuss pay.. so she has no idea what colleagues are being paid, but thinks male colleagues are probably earning higher but can't compare to ask for more.

I get why salary is a taboo subject, but really it does leave some at an unfair advantage when other colleagues are probably earning higher for the same roles / same experience.

@Theworldisfullofgs

I would ask why definitely. The fact you are about to go on parental leave actually strengthens your case.

How?

He might have been exaggerating?

@covetingthepreciousthings - under the equality act, pay secrecy clauses are not enforceable if someone has broken the clause in order to determine whether there is an equal pay issue. So if she was to ask male colleagues what they get paid, and the purpose of that conversation was to determine if her pay was fair in comparison, then her employer couldn’t do anything about it.

HoldontoOneMoreDay has it nailed.

A brief email to your manager and HR saying that you're aware that your co-worker's salary is considerably higher than yours and asking for an explanation as to why, which you hope will be forthcoming as you'd rather save your employer the embarrassment of going down a sexual discrimination route.

This will only work if your JDs are the same or extremely similar though.

You've said "same level, same experience" - I'm not sure how you'd know this. Presumably you don't know him personally? Did he tell you the entirety of his professional experience? You've said "same level" but not "same job" - is it the exact same role? Physics teachers are regularly paid at least one salary band higher than Biology teachers despite having the EXACT same qualifications and training because Physics teachers are in such short supply.

Definitely follow this up op.

@ProbablyProbing he's entry level and he's been working at an apprentice level. I can't add too much detail but yes I do actually know him and his experience level

Besides which he said they told him it was the standard starting salary

Are you in a union? If so get them involved.

If not: ask for a pay review and that you be paid at least the same as new coworker with 3% or so on top for each year you've been there.

And start looking for a new job, because once you start this, unfortunately, your card is marked. (been there, got the t-shirt)

Quietly start looking for another job. If you get an offer at or above your colleague's salary either take it or use it to leverage a better deal from your current employer.

If he was hired today, isn't there a job advert you can say you saw?

I’ve been in your shoes. Only the male that was hired was my junior, had no experience at all, was absolute shit as it turned out and on 15k more than me. I was utterly incensed. The director agreed to meetings with me (small company) but would deliberately leave the building just before we were due to meet. When I eventually cornered him he had no reasonable reason when I raised the pay concern and refused to even consider matching my pay. So I’m afraid I told him what I thought of him and handed him my notice. Unbelievable. I’ve also been very noisy about why I left the tinpot company.

Whether you're about to go on parental leave or not, raise it and ask them to justify why he is being paid more than you. Be frank with them that he revealed his salary to you and you want to know why you're being paid less.

How much more is a lot more? 2K?

@LateAtTate 5k more

5k is a lot. Definitely cause a fuss. Are you a woman? It’s not clear from your posts.

Yes I'm a woman

Do you have a union rep who can help you with this? It's so shitty.

I would definitely raise it as an Equal Pay issue and see what they say.