Equal pay issue

[sillyflipflop]

Name changed for this.

Posting because I'm not entirely sure on whether I'm right.

I recently had a promotion in my job, moving from a seniority/responsibility level which I shared with several other colleagues. Now I sit above this level in the hierarchy of the company.

With the promotion, I had a salary increase. I have since found out that my salary increase matches a colleague who I now sit above (we used to sit on the same level).

Aibu to think this seems off? I am grateful for the increase I had but I'm not sure if it's right.

It's impossible to say. Your colleague may have decades of experience and be exceptional at what they do.

Is the other colleague male? Are there salary ranges for the roles? Are they exceptionally well qualified?

There is no rule that says a boss must be paid more than an underling. It is very rare in the UK but much more common in USA.

For example there are over 170 civil servants who are paid more than the prime minister.

It happens a lot where an underling has specialist technical experience or qualifications, and it is common for good sales people to be paid more than a manager. In these cases the pay is relevant to their expertise, not their seniority. It can also happen when departments or companies merge and an employee from company B is paid more than their manager from company A, and TUPE regulations rule out a pay cut for the employee.