New employee same job description more pay?

[supermum87]

Quick back story. Been at my current job for 6 years. I came back from maternity in August and with agreement with my boss & changed from 5 to 3 days a week.

Another employee was employed with the same job description. We do exactly the same job except she's full time and I'm part time. However I have found out she is getting more per hour than me. Not even sure if this is relevant but she has no previous experience & no qualifications relevant to this job. It's not really a job where you need any of that. It's more on job training.

My question is, is it even legal for my boss to do this? Do I have grounds to contest this?

I feel very upset/let down by my boss. What also upsets me is I have so much more knowledge of the job (because I've been there longer) & i have been training this new start. She started in January. Does my time there and extra knowledge not mean I would be getting paid more or at least the same.

Not that this matters but I really like the girl I'm working with & I don't have any issue with her

Can anyone advice? It's a smallish company and no HR department. It's really up to the boss what he pays, but until recently I thought he was very fair

It is perfectly legal for your employer to pay different rates for the same job provided the reason for doing so is not discriminatory. They cannot pay you a lower hourly rate just because you are part time nor can they pay you less due to your age, marital status, religion or similar. They can, however, pay a higher rate to the new employee because they think she has more potential than you or because they needed to pay a higher rate to attract a new employee.

There is nothing to stop you discussing this with your employer to see if you can persuade him to increase your pay or at least tell you why you are being paid less. But, unless there is discrimination, you can't force him to pay you the same as the new recruit.