Unfairly underpaid

[MrsJay30]

I have discovered that I am being paid way less than my other colleagues for the same role. The difference is about 15k, I was disappointed and feel that this is unfair.
These colleagues were employed when i was on maternity leave. The person who was my maternity cover has now been made permanent and is being paid more for doing the same role I was doing before I left.

I have spoken to HR about this and they said they were struggling to recruit hence they needed to pay higher salaries. I was even told that I should be grateful I have a job at this time.

I just need advice on all this, am I overreacting?

Job role and salary?

I think you're going to have to wait untill the crisis is over. In the mean time polish up your resume and linkedin profile. Maybe take some online courses. You'll have a lot more opportunities when the lockdown is lifted. Although it could take months.

Without knowing the job and actual money you are talking about its imposaible to advise. Is it 20k and 35k OR is it 150k and 165k?? Obviously everyone is different and has different skill sets and negotiates their own salaries. Maybe you colleague has much better experience and is working harder/longer hours/ delivering better results etc? Maybe they have better qualifications? It is all relevant and not unusual for people to be on different salaries for doing the "same" jobs

Until recently my peers doing the same role were paid around 5-10k more than me. I was on 35k they were on 40-45.

They had years more experiene in the job than I did, had more evidence of project delivery and implementation. Had made some real innovative changes to the organisation

Last year I turned my department into the highest performing in terms of efficiency and also secured us 1st prize in an industry recognised award programme. This saw me have a 5k wage increase this year.

Can you quantify why there may be this discrepancy? Have you been out performing them? Can you put together a report which details why you are worth more?

To say that your lucky to have a job is shit. I hope you get clarity and a resolution soon

I had a job once where new people coming in with less experience got paid more than I and a coworker who helped to set up that department. Along with no hope of a promotion and not having had a pay-rise in two years I found myself becoming unmotivated to go above and beyond and ended up leaving in the end.

I have had the same thing..working hard at company for 10+ years, found out new starters were coming in on more than me. I raised it several times, eventually it went to HR. Full on formal meeting/grievance review. They made lots of excuses about new starters having more experience (not true as some of them have never even done this job before). Had a formal letter back saying there was no evidence I was underpaid...but they did hint that some of it is down to new starters coming in on 'market rate'. I wrote back disputing most of it and stating all my achievements.... eventually I got a £4k raise. My senior manager was quite supportive and I've recently been promoted and given another raise....however I know of at least 2 people (very large team) with less experice/results that earn significantly more than me (think circa £50k Vs £63k+) . I think it is rife however the law seems to be very sketchy and in the private sector (particularly my organisation) seem to pay what they can get away with...rather than paying for loyalty, commitment, results. It's frustrating when I work long hard hours and I'm very committed to the business. I'm going to raise it again in 6 months (I really don't want to leave) but if I don't get the increases in line with my peers, I will start to look elsewhere.

Thank you for your responses.

We are all management accountants, I am on 27k and my maternity cover is on 42k.
I have a degree in accounting and currently studying CIMA and my maternity cover is still studying for an AAT qualification.
My other 3 colleagues are all on salaries above 38k.

I have worked really hard in this company, I started as a finance assistant and have worked my way up.

I am really annoyed that I got a job at Nationwide before i found out that i was pregnant and they made a counter offer promising me career progression but this is not the case at all.

To be fair some of them are more experienced than me but the difference is huge.

omg management accounts should be on at least 40k... Get an "average market salary" report for your area and present it to your boss on Monday. You cannot work fot 27k dear! Cleaners earn more than that Im very sorry. Good luck xx

Thank you for the advice, I will get an average marker salary.

Are the company paying for CIMA? If so, depending on if its classroom or distance learning that can cost the company a few thousand per year un material, tutoring, exams, student fee etc. I am a management accountant so a bit of experience in this area.
How much experience have the others got? It's all well and good saying they are only studying AAT but if they have a lot more experience then it's by the by. Because of children I didn't formally study AAT until later than most of my colleagues, but I had 15 years experience at the time whereas others had only four of five when they started CIMA.
If you're not happy on your wage then negotiate, but it isn't your colleagues fault they negotiated the best wage for them when they joined.

Also to a pp.. where the hell are employed cleaners earning more than 27k a year!

You cannot work fot 27k dear! Cleaners earn more than that Im very sorry.

Cleaners earn minimum wage for the most part! What cleaners do you know that earn 27k per year?!

I think because you've worked your way up from an assistant role your wages have only been increased incrementally. If you were to have moved company each time you could have demanded a bigger pay increase at each progression. It doesn't pay to be loyal to a particular company anymore and I'd look elsewhere.

@CatBatCat you are right, I will start looking elsewhere after the lockdown.