Unequal pay rise

[emilyofnewmoon]

Can an employer give unequal pay rises? I received 3% but the level below me received 9% made up of 4% which was NMW rise and 5% above. This now makes my hourly rate just 65p above theirs for assuming more responsibilities.
I have asked for a further 2% rise but have been turned down. Can they do this?

Yes.

If you want more money, talk to them about why you're worth it.

It happens a lot, in fact unions seem to push for higher rises at the bottom.

In our organisation they have to keep abandoning points as the bottom 4/5 are all the same.

Yes, I gave unequal pay rises.

Everyone got x%, but those that had put in more effort and gone over & above got an additional sow on top to reward them

We give unequal pay rises as well - combination of things will drive the decision - recruiting challenges, performance, inflation. We document the reasons for our decision just in case we are challenged on it.