To wonder if this is allowed in the workplace?

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I work in business to business sales. There are 15 in my team. All of our work is done over the telephone, and we are given leads through a platform on our PC. All of us in the team are equal, no one is more senior that anyone else.

Is it legal therefore that some people are given bigger, better opportunities for sales and earn several thousands a month in commission, whilst others only get very poor/mediocre leads and therefore much less commission.

We were always told that it is a random process but have now found out that it isn't. Basically the more favoured people are getting better opportunities.

I'm good at sales, my conversion rate when I actually get to speak to someone, is very high, and I make the most of the opportunities that I get, but some are getting way bigger, better and more opportunities than I am.

Is it legal for them to do this? I'm sure you can guess which set of employees get the better leads and which don't...

I'm pretty sure it's legal

Favouritism isn't it
.
But yes it's not right

When it comes to leads, how are they generated? Are definite appointments/orders booked by another team, then your job is to maximise what that client will purchase?
Is it that some people who've been there longer or are popular get bigger clients who spend more? If so then it seems unfair but surely you can create your own leads also? As a good seller you can see the type of clients you get, so I guess you know what to do. It is legal, but unfair. But sales is always unfair to an extent.

What makes the favoured people favoured? Is it based on ethnicity, gender or religion?

It’s a stupid way to run a business.

Call and discuss with ACAS if you think it's discriminatory based on protected characteristics? Gender - as you implied ?

We can't generate our own leads. They're generated by another department. I'm one of the longest serving team members. We don't have accounts that we manage, we supposedly get a lead at random, phone them, maximise sales then that lead is done with.

The favourites are all male. I'm female

Favouritism is a stupid way to manage your workforce but is legal.

Discriminating on the basis of sex is not.

Speak to your union rep, document any sexist behaviour.

If you have proof it’s not random, that is discrimination.

Are there “unfavourite males”?

do you have hard copy proof regarding the leads?

Do you use a CRM system which matches you to potential ‘leads/customers’ organised by the other department?

Ive not worked in sales personally but have been in similar roles where I would use CRM to monitor/check how the sales team were getting on with their leads.

Yep ... If ALL the less-favoured salespeople are female, your call & conversion rates are as good or better than the men's, and you can build a factual case, you'd stand a reasonable chance of proving discrimination.

In all honesty, it's probably wiser to leave. I once got a lunatic boss fired but he left with early retirement and an equity package, while I got six months' pay and therapy for the breakdown he caused. Get out while your confidence is high.

You may have a case if your contract or some other communication you could be reasonably expected to have relied upon in deciding to take or stay in the job stated that leads would be provided randomly. But you’d need to talk to a lawyer about that and I suspect it’s an even harder case to win than discrimination.

But - I agree with the get out while your confidence is high advice above. Fighting an unfair practice in work can be soul destroying and a huge time sink and compensation rarely makes up for the emotional distress and the way it affects your career. If you can get a new job, that will probably be a better route.

Lead allocation is always a ballache in B2B sales, I've known so many people to quit over it. If you're good at your job and have been there a reasonable amount of time just leave, you'll definitely find something.

We were always told that it is a random process but have now found out that it isn't. Basically the more favoured people are getting better opportunities.

proof? how did you “find out”