Salary inequality

[incognito31]

I have just had a salary increase to what I understood would put me on the same as a colleague in identical role. I now know she has been given a further rise. I am furious. To raise it will potentially get colleagues into trouble. Any suggestions about the best way to handle this in a professional manner rather than shouting or doing anything rash but avoiding outing colleagues?!

What industry are you in?
There are very rarely identical roles or identical skills. They may value what she brings higher than you, or she may just be a better negotiator.

It’s really outdated now that employees negotiate salaries. This is why men end up with more than women. Negotiating skills are not conducive to fair remuneration.

The jobs should be evaluated, evidence should be gathered about how well employers are doing the job and other factors such as personal qualities can be evaluated but only in regard to performance in the role. Just being hard nosed about salary negotiation is not evidence based.

It’s diffucult to know what you can do. Your company needs to improve its job evaluation and performance management and be open with employees. I guess that’s asking for the moon. In the meantime ask HR how jobs and employee performance are evaluated and whether your job is actually the same as hers or not. Does the company have a grading system or give more money to longer serving employees even if they are doing identical jobs? Comparing the jobs is difficult, but someone should have done it!

Thanks for comments. I would very happily raise with our manager as it is completely under hand and hold him to account on this decision. The issue is that I have found out because another member of staff has revealed this to me in anger (as they are also incensed by the injustice of this and other stuff) so to out them would obviously mean disciplinary for them. I couldn't do that so now stuck in between a rock and a hard place - having the knowledge but unable to do anything with it. And now my motivation and respect is somewhat lacking...

Isn't it anout whether you feel you are paid a fair rate for your services. FWIW I am on £18k less than my predecessor and think I do a better job and so do the senior management. But when Ibwas promoted it was a very significant pay rise and there was no room for negotiation.

I also have staff on slightly different rates. Joined same day - same salary. One is more reliable and does a better job than the other. Explaining it wasn't pleasant.

How long have you both worked at the company ? What qualifications and experience do you both have ? What soft skills do you both have ? What added extras do you do for the company ? What did you both do before ? Why should your colleague not receive a pay rise ? If you are unhappy look for another job

I do not think time with a company is relevant and I totally agree my colleague is perfectly entitled to a pay rise. I like her too and we work well together. It is true that she has obvs asked or threatened and got - it isn't her fault. It's the deceit by my manager over what was agreed by him and understood by me. I believe budget that was agreed and allocated for certain things (including general staff increases) has been redirected to cover this rise and so staff are losing out too.... It's hard to explain on here as I sense that people are thinking it is just sour grapes. It isn't - it's about lies, fairness and transparency and also decisions and use of budget that now impacts negatively on others.

Welcome to the real world incognito
How much are you talking about? If it's £1000 pa after deductions tjat's about £15 a week. Worth arguing for?

Lol - I'm on two threads - one very supportive and what Mumsnet is all about, this one not so much! FYI it's about £3000 per annum so arguably not trivial to some and impacts both my staff and myself. I've been around long enough to know and see this stuff happens but it doesn't make it right and nothing will ever change if people are not called out on it or challenged. I was just looking for ideas about how I might do that but avoiding getting a colleague into trouble for revealing. That was all....

What do you want to achieve though? You do need to decide if it's a battle worth fighting. These issues can fester and it goes from the person (in this case, you) being a valued long serving employee into someone management finds a reason to brand as a trouble maker.

I don't think it's clearcut in terms of being able to call them out, if you feel their remuneration approach is undesirable, whilst still protecting your colleague. They'll want to know your source of information.

Two things are confusing me:

1. why should anyone get disciplined for telling someone their salary? That sort of stuff was outlawed years ago.

2. why is your salary anything to do with what someone else is paid? As long as it's within a sensible range.

Mind you, £3k sounds quite a bit. I earn c2.5k more than my similarly qualified and experienced oppo in accounts, this is obviously for him to raise, not me - he knows what I earn as he is the accountant. But, this is c3.5% of his salary, so not a huge difference.

To me, it depends how much of a proportion the difference is. If it's within a sensible range then I'd just leave it.

Goodness me!!! After all the problems at the BBC and we still think that huge salary differentials are ok when doing the same job? It’s not ok if a remuneration package is unfair.

I might be thick but I don't get what the issue is,
OP you asked for a raise to match your colleagues wages. You got it at the time and presumably were happy with that.
She also asked for a raise and got it.
You didn't know about the raise and it's not underhanded of your employer to not tell you. It's not about what she gets,it's about what you want.

And what do you actually want? Her to lose her raise? You to get another one to match? Both sums to be assed and shared so that you're both on the same wage?

But we don't know if it is unfair. We also only know the OP's side of the story.

being at the company longer does matter as some companies give a further pay rise for being there for over 10 or 15yrs or 20yrs... It's a loyalty thing.

To be fair, I'm expecting too much for people to understand from reading a very short thread which obviously doesn't convey what's happened. I don't disagree with some of what's said but I don't think it's translating in a post as to the real issue and assumptions are therefore being made. Thanks for trying though...

I am afraid wages are about what other people get for doing the same job. It is truly beyond me that people do not get that. It should not be a tit for tat bunfight. There is another thread going at the moment where NHS staff are bemoaning the fact that experienced staff are losing out with the latest pay increase. They feel they should be valued for their experience and expertise. Some employers do beieve this is crucial. Others do not. It depends on the job and whether experience brings more to the organisation which is of value.

The only fair way to look at wages is to evaluate jobs and then agree a range of pay for doing the job. This should take into account how good the person is at doing it, what qualifications/attributes are needed, what the job entails and how it compares to other jobs within the organisation. Once a benchmark level has been established, personal attributes and measurable performance will affect pay differentials because there should be performance built into pay rises. It should not be about individuals asking or negotiating.

It is reasonable, OP, for you to ask about all these things. You cannot know how a person performs regarding performance management and that may well be the difference in your wages. However, the basic level of pay (range of pay) should be the same, if the job is the same.