is this discrimination

[Amyrosa]

hi,

I have 10 years service in my company, the most within my team of 5, including the manager.

I have been on maternity leave, pay rises were done this year.

I am friends with one of the women on my team outside of work. we are on the same seniority level. She said to me this morning, pay rises are in, finally we are getting the recognition we deserve. she had a 20 percent pay rise.

My manager emailed me saying see attached pay rise/compensation etc. and apologised for how low it is, that his pot was the smallest it's ever been this year and has affected the whole team...

my pay rise was 3 percent. I'm not sure what my rights are here. I feel I have been punished for having children and I'm so so gutted. I worked so hard last year, in really challenging circumstances at work, with people leaving and having to train on work that I did not even do.

I genuinely feel like crying. its not even the money, it's how offended I feel and unappreciated and the blatant lying.

Oh I didn't know that, thank you

What unemployment? Most sectors are begging for staff.

Can you expand on this?

unemployment is at its lowest level in 50 years - do you mean she should start looking?

Pre this pay rise where you all on the same pay? if so yes I can see how you feel discriminated against.

This year the large company I work for - I got an ok pay rise. I say ok as the majority of the team got 0 or a 0.5! The reason is the company planned a pay freeze, but they are aware that some are on less than the benchmarked for their roles, others are either within it or above.
I’m still below and it annoys me (especially as I’ve been there nearly the longest) but I know if they found out I got 4% against their 0 it may upset them - but they don’t realise I’m also on a lot less than them anyway!

I've been in tough position with a tiny pot and making horrible choices (I've cried actual tears over decisions, just in case anyone thinks Managers don't give a fuck...).

BUT, if what you say is correct, then I think you have a right to be seriously pissed off.

@Mogul even before the Equalities Act a clause that prevent staff discussing wages had been made unenforceable at least 10 years before by court/tribunal cases.

I only know because I had an employer who use to have that clause in their contracts around that time. However when I joined I did not have that clause in my contract. Anyway my then employer was found to be discriminating against people with disabilities only because we discussed our salaries on the way to/from work with each other. Another employer of a handful people I did sport was found to be discriminating against people on perceived social class when they did pay rises. The majority of the affected staff were female, so it was sex discrimination. Again it was because the people affected discussed their salaries outside work with one another.

Employers/companies can put what clauses they like in a contract, but if an individual clause breaches one of various acts that cover employment it is unenforceable. Unfortunately it is up to you as the employee/worker to say say so. That's why people are encouraged to join unions or organisations that help them to enforce their rights.

my manager has, unsurprisingly, not replied.

No, the other senior colleagues were on a bit less than me but in fairness have been there 4 years less than I have and the difference we are talking was tiny, they have now eclipsed me significantly - into an entirely different pay bracket.

Dear Manager,

I understand from the rest of the tean that others received rises around 20%. I would appreciate if you could explain this descrepancy to me as without further information it has left me feeling unappreciated. I would remind you of the legislation around maternity related discrimination as my understanding is that I have the same rights as everyone else to equal consideration regarding payrises.

Regards
xxxx

You have nothing to loose by asking this. You already feel underappreciated and discriminated against. This is not going to get better if you allow it to simmer. If your manager lies or comes up with a poor explanation, it might be time to move on. I had something similar happen to me... had a long conversation with my boss and bosses boss which included me being in tears fairly publically at a department event. I was embarassed but my colleagues agreed that I had been badly treated and it was understandable. I applied for an internal move... best move I ever made.

It depends when the pay rise was for. If it was for a period of time during which you were on mat leave, then that might be partly reasonable. But if it relates at least partly for a period you were not, then it sounds unreasonable. And if it is genuinely an increase to being those on your level to a certain amount it is almost certainly unreasonable unless you were overpaid perhaps. You need to say to the manager (bearing in mind in some places it’s frowned on to discuss pay rises) that you have become aware others apart from you got 20%. Don’t name names or they could get into trouble. Do say, that you’d like to understand why you got a small rise. You can call out his apparent dishonesty because that is how it comes across. If he tries to say he has pro-rated it because you were in only some of the time that’s nonsense as it’s a percentage. But you might like to check what your contract says.

we get a pay rise every June/july across the company, I went on maternity in September and have been "back" since last month (had accrued holiday).

I think the fact he lied says a lot in itself tbh.

It might be and it might not be, far too many things depend on it to give a straight 'yes' or 'no'. Best to have a meeting with your manager.

Are you on a higher wage to start. So by that I mean does their 20 percent bring them in line with you and your 3 percent. That's how it works in our place the longer you have been there the less you get as you are already high through length of service.

I was on slightly higher just purely due to being there 4 years longer than everyone else.

they have now eclipsed me significantly - into an entirely different pay bracket, so earning quite a bit more than I now do despite being on the same level and having less years service.

we get a baseline pay rise every year (3 percent) which is the only reason mine was slightly higher as I had an extra 4 years to get this pay rise each year

You can ring ACAS for free advice. www.acas.org.uk/contact

I went through this after 14 years with the company & 20 with the owner. The answer is definitely yes, it can also be constructive dismissal if other things are going on too.

I walked out & took my employer to tribunal & won (sort of, I accepted a substantial out of court settlement as it was all too stressful & was affecting my then tiny baby DD)

Speak to ACAS, they were a big help to me 👍🏻

I just feel really offended, being lied to and treated like that when I have the most years service and have gone above and beyond most of the time, 20 percent is a huge pay rise, its honestly so insulting that I was given 3 percent in comparison.

I'm not sure i will be able to move past it and continue working for him, he has tried to pull a fast one.

I'm glad you have spoken out. If all the staff except yourself have received the increase in pay then you have a case for maternity discrimination. I wouldn't wait for a reply from your manager. I would follow up with another explaining the legal side of the discrimination.
Also it's such a crazy market out there, you might find if you start looking you can find a better role with more money and flexibility.

I have started looking, I think the lying cemented it for me.

Terrible advice! Completely ignore this nonsense

In that case I would take advice from ACAS and complain but you have to think of your end goal I guess. You get the extra pay and still have to work for him will you feel valued or leave. I couldn't not call him out on it. I would have too.

I wonder what he will reply and say?! That’s really shoddy to our-he clearly thought none of you were going to talk about what you got!

I just feel really offended

I know exactly how you feel, It's shit @Amyrosa, but honestly, you do get over it & end up seeing it as a lucky escape as we end up investing too much into the company, impossible post birth with a new baby & a rubbish maternity set up.

I had very similar after coming back early from maternity leave as I was put under pressure to save jobs. My role was basically what the company sold & I was told that they were down on sales by 70% as I quote "assistant is good at her job, but crap at yours, the company needs you, or I have to cut staff" those staff being good friends of mine who I'd called in when the new company started. So I ofc went back. Several months later a completely different scenario & they started doing things to deliberately setting me up to fail & pulling the same tricks with pay rises etc.

A few weeks in & a conversation similar to yours, showed me that everyone else but me had had a huge Xmas bonus. I usually got an even bigger bonus, but due to what I'd been told about lost sales, I didn't think too much of not getting a bonus that year. My assistant, who boss had referred to as "crap", also got a 20/% pay rise & I got about 1%, meaning I was now on very little more than her, for a lot more pressure & responsibility.

They soon started with 7 am customer appointments, when I had a newborn & lived 60 miles away, so commuting too. I never missed an appointment, but arrived time & again to be told they'd cancelled. I was exhausted at the 4.30 am start to get me there though, especially when I was still officially on maternity leave. I was coming in late other days, but I was already working on the train on my way in, so starting on time anyway, which they knew & knew I could get a lot done on the train without staff distractions.

I then received an official warning letter in the post. I'd worked all day with the guy I'd worked for & directly with for 20 years (2 companies) & nothing said, no verbal warnings & I was doing nothing wrong anyway, though there was a definite change in attitude towards me. Suddenly I was "babe" instead of "mate" & where as they'd always had full confidence & respect for my expertise, I was now having to force my point & was being treat like an incompetent idiot. Several times I pulled my boss up on it " I had a baby, not a lobotomy" etc.

I packed up my stuff on the day after I received the written warning & walked out of the back door, rang acas & filed for sex discrimination & constructive dismissal. Scary as I was now the bread winner & DH was SAHD, but we coped just fine & DD has benefited massively from my walking out of that job. I felt shocked & bereft at first, as I'd put so much into that company & actually was there at the start as the only staff member, of what quickly grew into a multimillion pound company, so that hit me hard

After a couple of months undoing the years of brainwashing I'd done to myself about this supposedly amazing career & getting used to not being a workaholic. I realised that I was far happier& more relaxed without it. Kept my hand in with my trade with a smaller part time work from home set up, DH went back to work & I now look back & realise that it was the best thing that could have happened at this stage of my life. I'm sure you will too 💐

Yes it probably is discrimination but it's possible the other person was very underpaid. For example if they were on £15k then a 20% raise would bring them up to £18k but you may already be on £18k for example, although I'm sure your salaries are higher. When I was a manager one staff member was brought in really low and I could never get her in line with the others as my manager couldn't understand that x percent of not very much = not very much.

Also worth bearing in mind your manager may have recommended pay awards but ultimately this is often decided by someone else who can't do maths and doesn't have to look people in the eye.

For you to prove discrimination is pretty impossible without knowing all the ins and outs of pay and as its possibly performance related that could complicate things. I'm sure you're good at your job but it's another area easy to discriminate against so double whammy