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.

If pay rises are related to performance, if you've been on maternity leave have they out performed you? I didn't get a christmas bonus the year I was on maternity leave as they are performance linked and I'd spent 9 of the 12 months on leave!

The thing with that is if the extra is performance based they have to go with what my performance was like before I left which was outstanding last year as i took on work that I had no knowledge of due to about 3 staff members leaving.

Also, no this pay rise has not brought up this members of staff to my wage, they have eclipsed me by a large amount. they are in an entirely different pay bracket now.

it also does not explain why my manager lied and said everyone was affected by the "tiny pot he had to work with this year" when everyone else on the same level as me got a 20 percent increase and now earn more than I do.

I honestly feel worse and worse as the day goes on. he still has not responded to me.

our bonuses are on a performance base, but not pay rises.

the base line pay rise is 3 percent which is what I got. everyone else got a 20 percent rise.

I cant think why this would of happened other than me being on maternity which is why I think its discrimination.

I've been there the longest by 4 years, I am on a senior level and noone other than manager is higher than me, they are not matching my wage but have overtaken by a huge amount and he lied about it and has not responded.