Equality Act

[IndigoJam]

Hi,

Its came to my attention that my colleague is getting paid substantially more money than me (over 10k) for a job that we were both promoted to at the same time. He did come from a 'manager/team leader role previously but now we are both doing the same job. In act I had to support him in the new role for over 9 months cause he had no idea what he was doing.

From researching the act it seems I would have a claim but what I cant find is if previous roles/experience could be used as an excuse. Does anyone know?

Yes, his previous experience could be a 'material factor' explaining away the pay difference. That said, I'd raise a grievance anyway as if you're doing a better job then his experience seems useless for this role which undermines the defence.

@Level75 hi thank you for responding. Yeah I think i will because I also have all the proof of him asking me for help during it if they want proof.

The question is whether you are being paid less due to your sex. If there are other people doing similar jobs and women are consistently paid less than men you have a case. If he has more experience and/or is better qualified than you that may justify him being paid more. The fact that he was previously in a higher level role than you may justify him being paid more. If this went to tribunal your employer would have to show that there was a valid material reason for paying your colleague more.

You may be better approaching this initially as a "what do I need to do to earn as much as him" question rather than as an equal pay grievance. A less confrontational approach may produce better results. But it depends on your employer.

@prh47bridge I'm the only woman in the department and I'm pretty sure I'm being paid less than all the men. I've even had to train some of the ones that have started after me cause they have literally no idea what they're doing. My company have filled my department with people from other departments but now we're all doing the same job, im training them but being paid substantially less. This was my first job after graduation so I probably came in on a cheaper salary but now I'm basically training then and getting paid less.

That does sound like you may have a case. If it were me I would still try the less confrontational approach first before going down the formal grievance route but you know your employers better than I do.