To think this is unfair of my employer? Or am I being entitled?

[Butamii]

I work as an accountant, I have been in this role for 7 years. Recently published newly qualified accountant rates for our company are 60k. I am paid 61,500.

I have been back from mat leave six months and I raised the pay issue when I learned that we had a newly qualified accountant join our team on this basis, ie he is paid 60k. He has zero experience as he hasn’t ever practised before. I have not specifically mentioned him (yet) but it prompted me to ask about pay.

i have been told that pay is about various things and that I have flexibility in my role that also is a valuable thing to have. I have to leave early for pick up for my child for example. They are very flexible. For clarity they weren’t saying I am not paid more because I have flexibility but they were saying that I need to consider the whole package the company offers and that pay is also linked to expectations being met. I said I have never ever been told I’m not meeting expectations either before or after maternity leave. At this point they said it had taken me a while to get back up to speed after Mat leave… this was the first I have heard of that as I have had good feedback since being back.

anyway they have said they will ‘feed back’ my concerns to the top. For me this isn’t sufficient and I am now on the cusp of actually calling out this hire in our team and explicitly stating that they are paying a (male) member of staff almost the same as me when I have never been told I am not meeting expectations before and I am much more qualified.

Am I being entitled here? I guess they can do what they want really and I don’t know for sure what others are paid at my level but I suspect I am in the lower end as I am not sure many people would put up with this? I am not able to know other salaries, I only know the new starter as it’s published on the website.

How does the flexibility you have manifest itself?
If he is putting in way more visible hours it will bite you on the bum.
Are you willing to give up flexibility for a few grand more ?

It is unfair.

It is also really common for new hires to be paid as much as / more than existing staff. I know quite a few people who have left and rejoined our large organisation as it’s the only way to get a substantial pay rise, although this issue is finally starting to be addressed.

@Brefugee he has only been here 4 months. All I know is I do the hours expected of me and work on my days off etc

You probably aren’t being unreasonable. You you have any kind of appraisals in your practice?

You say you leave early regularly to pick up your child; do you make that time up by starting early? If not you are actually working fewer hours rather than simply working flexibly.

You are right to seek clarity as to in what ways you have failed to merit pay increases and what the expectation are that you would have to meet to attain them.

Are there colleagues who have similar years employment to you? I’d be asking if they are on comparable pay if if they are on more than you.

If they are saying that it’s taken you a while to get up to speed since you returned from maternity leave, then they must feel that you’re not on top of your game and maybe you aren’t yet meeting their expectations. You have flexibility you say, which many would love, so I’d be wary of rocking the boat at this stage.

You are being unreasonable to say it has anything to do with gender but not unreasonable to try and negotiate.

work out what you want and ask for it, but be prepared to call their bluff and leave if you don’t get what you want

I’d look elsewhere. Even if it’s a commute, hybrid working means plenty of better paid finance jobs around and flexibility is part of the package with a good employer.

No I don’t work less hours. I just have to collect my child. Nearly everyone in the team does too.

ive worked weekends and annual leave. I think it’s beyond shitty to think 1.5k more is fair

Do not call out the new hire in a team meeting, their and your salary is of no concern to others, people would've seen it on the advert, and its not their fault. No need to mention he's male unless you think they are deliberately paying more for a male member if staff which is discrimination. It would be better and more professional to have your 1.1 appraisal and ask when you can expect to receive a payrise. Do you get any other benefits package.

Sounds like out-and-out sexism to me. And they're now taking the piss because they think you'll put up with it as the job fits around childcare commitments.
Did they say when you negotiated flexibility that your pay rises would be capped?? I bet not.
With any decent employer you would have regular 121s with your line manager and plenty of occasions for them to feed back that you were taking some time to get back up to speed.
Maybe they've just now paid the market rate and you've been underpaid for a while...

I suppose they are competing in a market for new recruits and that this affects the starting pay offered.

Are they also competing to keep their well qualified, experienced, valued staff of long standing?

One way to find out would be to demand pay that reflects those qualities and maintains a differential with a new recruit without experience or equivalent qualifications and threaten to leave if they give you a blank No. Be prepared to leave if you are going to adopt that tactic.

You can look and find out what the going rate is for similar jobs with your experience and ask them for that. Like others say they will either renegotiate or say no then it's up to you to decide what you want to do. What did the advert say, was there a starting salary or a range , do you know for definite what the employer is being paid.
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I don't think that's fair at all. They clearly think you're unlikely to leave so don't need to up your pay. I'd look around at what you could expect to earn and the overall package offered elsewhere. I'd imagine many accountancy jobs would include flexibility, work from home etc. I wouldn't mention to the new starter though, it's not their fault.

Are you in-house or are your services charged out to clients? If so, is there a difference in the hourly rate they charge you and the other chap out at ? If there is no difference in the hourly charge out rate and you both have the same monthly target income to generate then that would justify you both bring on a similar salary - unless you are also expected to do management tasks or business development.

If you get a pay rise I expect they would want to put your hourly rates up that you are charged out at and increase your billing target - would you be happy with that?

Your other option is to request a bonus scheme so you get paid more if you hit targets - I used that approach to get paid more when I was paid at the same pay scale as other colleagues but was bringing far more money into the firm - an accountancy practice should recognise the sense in that approach

To be clear I’m not saying the new starter shouldn’t be on this salary. Totally in support of staff being paid well. I just think being paid the same given my experience takes the piss. Not even a 5k difference

This is what happens to longstanding staff, unfortunately. The new graduate negotiated his starting salary, can't hold that against him. IME the only way to bump your salary significantly is to move to a new company.

Twice (different companies) I've had promotions rolled up into my usual performance-related annual salary increase so the promotions (which came with considerable hikes in responsibility) actually only increased my salary by a really paltry amount. I voted with my feet.

Have you asked for detailed feedback on the expectations not being met/took a while to get back up to speed after Mat leave comments?

I’ve been in this position before. The only thing that guarantees a result is if you secure a better offer elsewhere, use it as a bargaining chip and then decide what to do next.

This. And be prepared to move (call their bluff) if they say no. Unfortunately staying in one job for a long time is guaranteed to result in wage stagnation.

It's unfair. But what you need to do is to see what you would get paid at a similar firm with your experience and flexibility - maybe then they will match you. Often people who are seen as 'solid' and unlikely to move are under paid. that's what I would do.

This has been the way of things for years. I remember the same thing happened to me ten years ago. I’d been asking for a pay rise for years and always got pushback, then a new starter arrived and they were on my same salary even though I’d been there five years. I asked for a rise again and they said no so I quit and dropped them in it with only an unqualified newbie to sort it out.

I'm sure you don't need me to do the maths but that's a very narrow margin. Have you explored how much you might earn with other employers? - not to leave your current employer but to see what the market pays for qualified and experienced accountants.

I just think there should be minimum 5k difference and even that would still be taking the piss. Feel so demotivated!

No, you are not being entitled. If they have published salaries for newly qualified, are there similarly published bands for more experience?

Personally, I'd be going ballistic. Do your research. Check in your sector for jobs at your level and pay. See what, if anything, your company advertises as pay at your level. Speak to an employment lawyer.

I have checked salaries for my range elsewhere and it’s 68-79k.

Look elsewhere! I've recently doubled my salary and left a company of 15 years to go to a new company and it turns out the grass IS greener! Better benefits, better pay and actually more flexibility even though I thought my previous company was good. Get yourself on linked in and start applying, good luck.