AIBU to be furious that Jnr colleugue's salary now exceeds mine? discrimination?!

[WhatTheActualBeep]

To give some background/context here: I have a decade of experience in my field. My current company was taken over by a much larger company in 2020. This same year I fell pregnant and took a year of maternity leave. Just before my leave, I hired an Assistant that supported me and the Director within my team. My maternity cover didn't work out, and whilst I was away, the Director decided to give some of my duties to this Assistant, whilst covering the remainder of my role themselves.

During my leave, the company was taken over, the Director was made redundant and the Assistant was given the same title as me (no Assistant role existed in the bigger company). Their salary was increased, but still approx 10k below my own.

Fast forward, and I return from maternity, the role I return to is vastly different,
the same title but much of the responsibility/seniority removed. 6 months later
the team gets a new Manager who becomes very buddy-buddy with the Assistant andother team members, and doesn't bother getting to know the team, their experience and work history etc.

I take another period of maternity, and return to find out that the 'Assistant'
has received an 18.5% salary increase, and their salary now exceeds my own (not
my much, but still), and they received a bonus of 15% salary, whilst I, on
maternity, got a 6% increase and a 7% bonus. I have never, in 10 years had a
bonus this low and chalk this up to not being in the 'in crowd' with this manager.

The Assistant has half a decade of experience less than me, does not outperform me in any way (whilst we have the same title, there are many aspects of the role
they are inexperienced in, and these tasks fall to me).

In a recent conversation with the manager, I learned that they have no knowledge of the fact that I actually hired the Assistant in my previous company, they used to report to me, and I have 5 years more experience than them! the VP
actually said 'oh really? I thought you were doing the same role at X company'
when this came up in conversation. Is this not the first thing you do as a new
manager - check out your team's skill-set, strengths and experience?

It's worth mentioning, that whilst I have had two DC, this Assistant has been VERY vocal about their views on motherhood, how they want to ‘live life for themselves’ and don’t ever want children.

I am seeing red about this whole situation. I was effectively demoted on return
from 1st maternity leave to a more junior role and got a whole new team, and
now this junior colleague’s salary is higher than my own despite my experience
exceeding theirs by 5 YEARS. I need to raise the bonus issue with my manager
anyway, as I didn't want to deal with that on maternity but AIBU about the
salary issue?!

How do I even raise this?!

But you've had 2 years out of the workplace in 3 years.....

Move on. This person is no longer “the assistant,” they’ve been working hard to develop their career and you sound incredibly bitter. As another poster mentioned, what do you expect? The working world doesn’t stand still for you and you alone. So what if you recruited this individual? That was then. You need to accept other people’s career trajectories are separate to your own. And why are you getting caught up in their comments about not wanting children? Again, nowt to do with you - move on emotionally

I notice how you say a decade / half

a decade to Kay's it sound longer than it is. It's 5 years difference and that's not a lot.

Any sympathy I might have had dried up faster than a dewdrop in the Sahara after It's worth mentioning, that whilst I have had two DC, this Assistant has been VERY vocal about their views on motherhood, how they want to ‘live life for themselves’ and don’t ever want children.

I have to say that this sounds like the OP is taking the colleague's views on having children rather personally.

I'd look for a new job and make sure I stick the boot in on my exit interview, I think. You sound unhappy in your current role. A new start might be just what you need?

I doubt very much there'd be a sensitive ear for your grievances, especially as the junior is pally with the new manager.

Onwards and upwards? Fresh start?

How do you know so much about other people's earnings?

That'd have got you fired from my old company

Ask for a pay review but talk about what you want on your terms not comparing yourself to anyone else.

be prepared to be told that having more experience doesn’t mean that you are better at your job. I have met 100s of people who believe they should get something based on how long they have been there and not on their skills, it never ends well

There’s been some restructuring in the past few years and you both now have the same job title you are equal not snr

I Think you need to get over senior and junior
and experience you are equals you need to respect and treat them as this

if you want a pay rise ask for it

also at my work some of the longest serving staff and I can honestly say there the most inefficient basically stuck in the past and think there above being told what to do

OP I found it hard to pick out what salient points you might have, because you've made some rather irrational bitter statements.
To put it from another angle

I was once hired into a team along with two other contractors, we were all put on six months contract with an understanding of possible renewal.

I don't know what permanent staff of equal status were earning. I do know that they found out how much the three of us contractors were being paid and put forward a complaint.

I became quite friendly with one of the permanent staff team and we went out for drinks. She told me that as a group, they had won their "case" but been told their performance would have to match the contractors performance. Two people were then unable to keep up with that. One grumbled a lot because he felt he had been "pushed out" but had years of experience. But the workplace changes so fast - I hate that btw but it seems to be reality - that's all that's relevant.

Across 8 permanent staff and 3 contractors, there was a range of ages, years of relevant experience etc.

But what mattered was who was performing well in the "right now". If you have a conversation with HR about this, I wouldn't focus on anything other than achievements in the current role.

Work is pretty brutal IMHO. I know some people love it 🤷🏻‍♀️ but it sounds as though you need to see it in more contemporary terms.

They're not a junior colleague. They stopped being your assistant years ago. You've been away a couple of years, so you don't have 5 years more experience.

They've been knuckling down, getting on with the job, and being rewarded for it.

What are you going to do when they become your manager?

"often when someone accuses someone of 'buddying up the management' they have a total blindspot to see that buddying up is, in fact, just being easier and more effective to work with."

Ha ha. It can also be either sucking up to management or actually being friendly outside work, the latter would be easier to prove.

As others have pointed out, you can no longer be sacked for discussing salaries.

There are many reasons why salaries are known in some organisations.

So since 2020 you have taken 2 periods of mat leave.

The company has been taken over and lots of change has happened.

A colleague has been promoted. They then negotiated a high wage rise and you think because they put that work in, you should have benefitted from it and got the same pay rise.

You also believe you should have got the same bonus? Even though you are different people and likely performed differently.

Based on you having more experience. Expect you have far less recent experience and much less experience in the company as it’s changed.

Any one taking 2 periods of leave, for whatever reason, in a (relatively) short amount of time is always going to mean those who may have been ‘behind’ may be in front. It also means lots of changes have happened and you need to get back up to speed.

I have kids, but they are older. A teen and an adult. Many of my peers are having kids now. I would be really perplexed if they expected my career to stagnate, or to benefit from my performance and negotiations.

If the bonus was performance related then she should have been rated as if she was performing at the same level as before she went on maternity(assuming she had T suddenly been put on an improvement plan). Anything else is discrimination. Giving someone a lower pay rise or smaller bonus because they are on maternity leave is discrimination. Completely fair of her to expect to be treated the same as if she had been in work.

How can a company possibly be expected to give a bonus (which is usually payable in receipt of fantastic work that has brought added value to the company) when the person isn’t even there?
I’d just be delighted to have received the bonus. The fact that the other lady received more means she obviously added extra value through a) superior work and/or b) actually being there.

That’s not quite true.

Op could have been treated the same as though she was in work. But the colleague performed better than Op did when she was in work.

Given the Ops colleague now has a lot more recent experience than Op, it sounds like they negotiated a pay rise that brought Op and then roughly in line.

What the Op got may have been what they got before. However, bonuses can in some cases be lower on MAT leave. If op only worked half that year, you can be paid half the bonus.

It depends on how the bonus recipients are selected.

If a bonus is performance based following a proper appraisal system, all employees should have an appraisal, including those on any type of leave. If everyone who gets a particular rating or above gets a bonus, that should include staff on maternity or long term sick leave (assuming they weren’t subject to or about to be put on a PIP).

If someone on maternity leave was rated good or excellent before maternity leave it should be assumed they continue at that level - you wouldn’t drop them to acceptable because they are not in (as this would be treating them less favourably due to their maternity leave, and this would be discrimination). They should be treated as if they were physically in work at the same level as before, so denying a bonus because they aren’t in work due to maternity leave (and everyone else gets a bonus) is discrimination.

If the bonus isn’t tied to an appraisal system then it would depend on how recipients were selected.

Again whether it’s discriminatory to reduce bonus depends on what the criteria is for the bonus.

Yes. That’s why I said in some cases bonuses on maternity can be paid lower than previous years.

Because you made the statement Giving someone a lower pay rise or smaller bonus because they are on maternity leave is discrimination Which isn’t true

Agree with this.

You can’t expect time to stand still while you are off for extended periods.

You need to contact ACAS for advice on how to raise this matter.

@ElevenSeven completely agree with your first point as for your second that's why the gender pay gap isn't decreasing as it should!

I have someone who is 4 grades higher than me and they started in the company 5 years after me.

I don’t think the years of experience matter here any more and honestly if i was your manager OP this attitude would get my back up

It’s unusual to even get a bonus on maternity leave! And 7% is pretty good! Also the assistant has been working and progressing their career while you’ve taken maternity leave. I think you’re being unfair on the assistant and as others have said you need to separate the assistant from your own salary. The two are independent really. If you aren’t happy with your own salary then raise it with your manager.

The assistant is now your level so they should be similar salary to you. There are people my grade at work who have less experience than me and more experience than me… we’re all paid similar as we do the same role.

You sound incredibly jealous and bitter. Everyone starts at the bottom. I have been promoted several grades past managers who used to shit on me. Does the fact that I started below them mean I should always be?