Underpaid - how should I approach this?

[Careful]

Today I saw some figures that I really had no right to look at and found out that I am being paid substantially less than others on my grade in my department - the average pay is a third again of my salary. I know curiosity killed the cat and I shouldn't have looked. But what do I do now?

I have always had good rankings in performance meetings and receive good feedback for the work I do. I am fully qualified and have more experience than some others on my team.

I feel hurt and angry and as though I've been treated like a mug.

Ideally I would like to discuss this with my manager professionally and factually, and ask her to explain the discrepancy and outline to her why I think I should be paid more. I don't expect necessarily that they would increase my pay but at least I would feel like I was sticking up for myself and not being stamped on.

But how can I do that without letting on that I've seen the pay figures which were none of my business?

Sorry, this is long and ranty I know. Just got in from work and put the DCs to bed and I'm still grrrrr.

Are you sure that the figures are accurate?
Is there any way that you could have legitimately found out what the others are getting paid?

The figures will be accurate - it was an equal pay survey. There was minimal difference between male average salary and female average salary. But between average salary and my salary ... well. They even had everyone's salaries plotted on a nice little graph, with my salary at the bottom and a loooong way below most of the others.

The only way I could have found out legitimately would have been to ask other people what they get paid - something I could never do! And would be very discouraged as the company has quite a secretive culture.

Hi,
Ouch that must have hurt seeing that info.

But I would make a case for asking for a salary increase - maybe this is what your colleagues have done? The fact they get paid more than you suggests to me as though you have a pretty good chance of getting an increase.

There is no need to mention at all about other's salary - just justify why you should be paid more.

I have not got the first idea about how to make a case for salary increase - perhaps someone can help you with this?

Good luck!

Could it be due to length of service? Have the others been there much longer and had cost of living increases that you weren't there to get?

To make an equal pay claim you need to show that a male colleague is doing an equivilent job and paid more than you. Factors like length of service, qualifications and appraisal can make a difference to pay but if there is no difference like that between you and a colleague you might be able to make a claim and if you win your award can be backdated up to 6 years (this has recently changed).

In the first instance you should have a word with your boss and say you understand you are paid much less than your colleagues and that you would like to understand why this is and what can be done about it. You don't need to say how you know, just that you "understand that to be the case".

You might want to make an equal pay claim if that doesn't work and you don't need to leave your job but you might want to consider carefully if doing that would compromise your standing in other ways (not fair I know but reality). However, because an equal pay claim can be made via HR you may never have to even mention it to your boss after the initial refusal and carry on in your role as normal - but only you will know if that is likely to be the case.

Sorry I assumed you are female. I should have said To make an equal pay claim you need to show that a colleague of the opposite sex is doing an equivilent job and paid more than you

Hello, thanks for your responses and advice. I definitely don't want to make an equal pay claim or put in a grievance or anything formal like that - I enjoy my job and wouldn't want to make life difficult for myself. But I do feel I need to say something, I've been really hurt by this.

There has been quite a high turnover of staff at the company and I'm now one of the longer-serving employees in my team so it's not a length of service thing unfortunately.

My plan of action is - ask my manager if we can go for a coffee and a chat. Explain that I'm aware that I'm being paid under the market rate for a qualified person in my job. It's come to my attention that others in my team are on a significantly higher salary and I would like to understand why this is. Underline my performance ratings and the positive feedback that I've had, and my most recent successes in the role. Ask for a pay rise (eeek).

I suppose I could ask my manager how my hourly rate compares to the average for male employees on my grade, and how my hourly rate compares with the average hourly rate for a full time worker on my grade, and see what she says. I don't know if I could do this without looking like a troublemaker.

Don't be afraid to ask. If your appraisals have been good it's reasonable to ask.

I don't think Equal Pay claims rely on people of the opposite sex being paid more. Surely it must be enough to state that people in similar roles and with similar performance are being paid more?

My company does Equal Pay reviews and they cover everyone, male and female, and focus on moving lower paid people closer to the average for their role.

An equal pay claim at tribunal is about discrimination. So a sex discrimination pay claim has to be about people of different sex.

There's nothing illegal about paying people different wages so long as an employer is seen to be fair. So people in same offices paid differently is fine as long as there's no discrimination.

What you're describing Ciske is a pay review and quite different from the equal pay claims I was describing.

I did this but the reason I found out was because salaries were posted on an internet forum showing a whole load of city law firms and their pay for the first 6 years. I discovered I was being paid less than people a year below me (and it goes strictly on years of experience at that point). To doublecheck it I called up 2 people and asked if what they were being paid was accurately reflected here. They said they were so I politely mentioned it to my boss and he said he'd take it up with HR. Salary increase 3 months later.

If you have anything similar to that, refer to it, or you could say that you've been receiving information from head hunters and are surprised at how much more other firms are paying (although that could suggest you're thinking of going elsewhere so use it carefully).

Did you negotiate your pay when you started? Maybe the other drove a harder bargain. DH gets a weeks more leave than his colleagues, because he asked for it when he started.

Are you sure it wasn't because of on-costs? Was your's on there too?

I would be fuming too tbh- I hope you can raise it successfully.

Careful - if you didnt seek out the data by deception but effectively had it dropped in your plate by someone else's carelessness (eg printout left on the printer when you picked up your own printing) then I think you can use it.

If the information was left out for all to see and you saw it there are potentially huge confidentiality issues involved especially if employees could be identified. In this situation you could quite legitimately go ranting to your boss that this information was left out and that you had seen not only your salary but every other blighter's.