Inflationary payrise - for some employees and not others?

[planttheonions]

I work for a small company pt- have done for 3 years. I am due to go on my second mat leave in about 6 weeks in the time I have worked there.
During my last mat leave, I worked at home and accrued lieu time for when I went back. I did this to help them out during a big project they had on at the time and obviously it helped me out when I returned to work after my 9 months.

I have never had a pay rise in the time I have been there, nor indeed any appraisal.

This week, I have found out that some colleagues have been awarded an inflationary pay rise recently and others (including myself and one that is going part time soon) have not.

I am not sure if I will go back after my planned mat leave and I am inclined to just forget it, take my holidays that are due and leave in a couple of weeks rather than save my holidays up to use just before I planned to return to work.

Dh thinks that if one person gets an inflationary payrise, everyone should. Is he right, should I be questionning this?

Pay reviews are rarely contractual so there is actually no obligation to give you a payrise.

If you feel you deserve one (and from what you've said about not getting one for 3 years is good grounds) approach your line manager in the first instance. They may just give you the rise.

You don't say how you know about the other pay rises. They could be given for any number of reasons: because the employee asked/it's in their contract/it was agreed that their salary would be reviewed at a one-to-one last October.

If you otherwise like your job don't throw in the towel just yet.

Justanother - my line manager is the one that asked me and another colleague if we had emails regarding the inflationary pay rise. He then went onto tell us who had had them and who had not. Not very professional I know, but line manager is new to the role and more of a friend than a line manager iykwim.
Line manager said that it seemed very hit and miss as to who was getting it and who wasnt. He felt it was unfair that a new colleague who started in October (full time) had been awarded this, whilst I had never had any kind of rise in the whole time I was there.

I do not mind the job - it's flexible which is always a bonus when you have children; but I feel I am being taken for a bit of a mug by taking on extra jobs whilst not being treated equally to my other colleagues who seem to be getting pay rises even though their roles do not seem to be changing that much.

There is no legal right to an inflationary pay rise, and no right for everyone to have it just because some people do

BUT

If you think that the part time workers, those on maternity leave and/or women are being singled out, then that's discrimination (of various sorts) and illegal.

I see Ribena has popped in so I will bow out - except to say how strange of your line manager to breach confidentiality like that. I would tred very carefully. It might be that he is wanting you to fight a battle he's not prepared to?

Ooh, don't feel you have to do that Manic! Everything you said was really useful. I have a tendancy to just talk legal sometimes!

"During my last mat leave, I worked at home and accrued lieu time for when I went back."

You know that is against the regulations, don't you? Unless your baby was born after 1 April 2007, and you only worked on 10 days (even if only half an hour on each of those days), then any work you did for your employer in any week lost your entitlement to SMP for the whole of that week.

For example, if you did a half-hour slot on the Tuesday of that week, you lose the entire week's SMP.

Nowhere in the Maternity leave regulations is provision made for accruing lieu time.

New regulations allow for KIT days, which are taken in full no matter how much time is spent on working on the given day, up to a maximum of 10 separate days.

Ribena - My gut feeling tells me that the favoured staff have had pay rises and others have not. Line manager only commented on the ones he knew for definate.

Lou - I didnt get SMP, I got MA as I hadn't worked at the company long enough - I do not know if that makes a difference with regards to the lieu time accrument.
I was aware of the KIT days at the time.

No, it makes no difference. You lose the whole day's MA on any day (apart from the first 10) that you do any work.

Well, so long as they are not being favoured for illegal reasons (like being male!) then it's ok I'm afraid.

Just a quick update, it seems it is only me who has not had the pay rise. I am the only part time employee....

I am really cross about it, but as I due to go on mat leave shortly I do not know what to do. I would like my boss to know that I know the situation but yet I want to keep my options open if I do go back.

Any further opinions?

tia

If your line manager is the one who told you, presumably he/she does not agree with the situation? What is he/she doing about it for you? If your line manager didn't make the decision and doesn't agree with it, this isn't a battle you should be fighting yourself, at least in the first instance. That's what being a manager is all about. Get your manager on the case for you.

Thanks flowery - yes line manager is the one who told me.
He didnt make the decision and does not agree with it. Will discuss again with him next time I am in.
Thanks for the advice.