Hes paid more than me for the same job

[pickledpancake3]

I do the same job as a make colleague and I have found out he is on £42k and I am on £24k. I am really good at my job and they are thrilled with my work. I have a lot of experience for my age.

He is 29 and has a PHD and I am 25 with a degree.

Is he paid this much more because he has a PHD or is it a chance I am paid so much less because I am female?

My main question is, what is a fair salary for me to ask for? Is it fair for me to ask for £42k or should I ask for and expect a bit less to account for the PHD?

One more thing I've just thought of - apologies if it's been suggested already and I've missed it. Do you have any idea/could you find out what your colleague started on? Ie is it possible they do lower 'starter' salaries so they can see how people do, and then go up quite a bit after the first year?

Probably not worth worrying about until you find out what your raise will be. If it’s still such a large gap I’d ask about it. But I don’t know anything about this kind of thing (due to circumstances I don’t work and certainly wouldn’t be able to do a professional role.)

I would use your predecessor as a starting point especially if you are getting better results. If they mention the PhD you can highlight the complimentary skill sets and areas where you have greater responsibility.

I would be asking for £45-48k with a view to close to parity with your colleague.

I work somewhere where PhD in an evolving space gets valued a lot more, because a younger degree-only person they can very easily substitute.

There is definitely no harm asking, but also be prepared to walk if it doesn't go your way. You want to work somewhere that pays your worth anyway.

I work in a field that gives large pay bumps for degrees. My first job was also at a firm that started people on low salaries, but in the first few years gave massive increases. So someone with a degree and an extra year Could have that kind of gap. And you would expect to get much closer in a year or two when he levels off.

But we don’t know if it is that kind of company.

I get what you're saying about the union but I don't think it's a hostile manoeuvre to speak to your union. If you're a member this is precisely what you pay your fees for! The rep's first course of action will be to help you to work out whether there's a job grading system or some other means of establishing what the rate for the job is. They won't be looking to call a strike or take the employer to court. They'll want to help you to resolve things fairly and amicably.

I think there are some excellent suggestions here, but I know things can get a bit stressful in salary negotiation meetings, especially if you feel there may be an element of basic unfairness at play. Why don't you make a list of all the best points that PP have given and then ask a friend to role play the situation with you, being as obstructive as possible? That way when it comes to the real thing you'll be able to justify your pay request smoothly and confidently, and whatever the outcome you'll know you've given it your best shot.

@pickledpancake3

I get on really well with my boss and am due a pay rise that they have mentioned. I just don't know what to ask for, it is due soon and how to respond if the pay rise suggested is very little.

@SophocIestheFox I think it is at first but then once you reach £50k that is the ceiling.

I have been there a year and he has been there two I think.

You need to insist on a massive pay rise. There's lots of good info out there about how to conduct the pay rise meeting and I'm sure you'll find something tailored specifically for women, who are woeful at this. You need to read up and practice.

A lot of women in jobs like yours get paid less because they don't ask or negotiate properly.

Just ask for your pay to match his in line with the Equal Pay Act as you do 'like work'. They could say that his qualification and additional time in the job/industry experience are material factors that enable him to be paid more, but the current gap in salary is not defensible.

Pay will mainly be related to how hard it is to replace you, rather than things like experience, etc.
I do know that PhDs, especially in STEM are highly in demand and have been attracting high salaries in my work area, due to the recent boom in Machine learning and AI. They are hard to come by now, so will be worth more due to that.

The fact you are getting better results than the last person is what you should focus on. Do some research first, ask acquaintances in other companies and search job sites for equivalent work to get a better idea of your true "worth". They are probably just paying less because they can and it's never come up.

As other posters have pointed out, women are less likely to ask.

Are you and he hired on same job title or are they seen as different jobs?

Especially if different job title (and no job evaluation done) as per others I would look to gain parity with previous person in your job. I would ask about how you get to that salary and agree steps to get there including any more training, development that you might need

So you have been there for 1 year? Ask for 35k, then if they don't agree, settle on 33k. If they ask why, say your colleague is similar to you (and you have more responsibilities which would counter balance his PHD research). Say that by year 2, you will expect to be on 42k like him.

If they refuse, start looking another job. If you find one and they accept you, you can either go to that job anyway, or you can tell him you have an alternative job offer an allow him one last chance to pay you more. Please note though, that if you do that you might be staying with an employer who might be nice to you when you're around them (no wonder, he's getting you for cheap), but who doesn't really value or respect you. Even if he agrees to pay you more, it might sour relations between you as your main value over a male colleague was the fact you were female = cheap, hardworking labour.

My goodness, OP, thats a big gap.

You should ask for parity with your colleague. Or say "I'd expect to be on at least the same as colleague, if not more because I do more of the leadership role". Then it's up to them to explain why they think differently.