Salary dispute with another member of staff?

Question

Hi,

I have recently come across a colleague who is at the same level as me and started at same time as me (roughly) in my organisation but earns more money than me. I only came across this information by seeing payroll information on the sly but nevertheless not sure what to do about it. I want to raise it because i think that we should be on equal pay level and i do more in my job anyway! i dont want to raise it with my boss because it would look like i was un-trustworthy by looking at confidential information, can anyone advise??

Thx

Answer 1

There's not a whole lot of point in raising it with your colleague, as he/she can presumably do as much about it as you.

The trick is to get into a conversation with them about pay, and hope that they volunteer how much they earn. You can then go to your boss and say you expect to earn the same.

There's not really any other way of doing it without disclosing that you took a peek!

PS it is not illegal for people in the same job to earn different pay: that is only true if it is because of discrimination. Otherwise, you are free to hire people for as little as you think you can get away with providing its above the minimum wage.

Answer 2

You are now in a danger zone that every employer dreads. You know what another employee is making and since that is totally confidential, you are stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Let me start by asking you if you were unhappy with your pay and workload in the two minutes leading up to the discovery of the the other person's pay? If you were, you are now likely feeling cheated. Not because you are being worked too hard or paid too little, but because you have discovered that someone else is making more.

The first thing you should know is that employers do let this happen at times. When they are hiring people, they often have to "negotiate" a higher pay than originally planned in order to get someone who is already making more with another business. When they do that, they can't just go back and give every existing employee a pay raise. Usually they try to level that out over a period of time by giving existing employees larger raises until there is parity. (not always)

Here is my recommendation. DO NOT tell your boss that you know anything about what another employee is making. If you do, you will create a situation that is not good for you.

Instead, you should go to your boss and tell him or her that you feel that you are doing a good job and would like know if there are some other responsibilities or duties that you can take on to get a pay raise. Don't whine. Don't issue an ultimatum. Be prepared to accept no for an answer. If you do that and get a now, you should start looking for another job.

I can tell you that bosses need to get the work done and they need good people to do that. If that is you, you are in a good position. Keep in mind that every boss wants happy employees who are good team players. Be that.

Answer 3

Unless the job was advertised and you could have seen the pay information from that Im afraid theres nothing you can do. Looking at another employees pay slip is probably gross misconduct or something and at the end of the day you signed your contract to work at the salary theyre paying you.

If youve been there a while you could ask for a pay rise, if youre new you could say that the after having done the job you think that you are not being paid enough for the responsibility involved and ask them to reconsider the rate youre getting.

Unless the amount the other person is getting is considerably higher though Id be inclined to shut up about it, annoying as it is, and push for a decent raise in your next appraisal.

Answer 4

Okay.

1) NEVER look at personnel files, payrole records, etc, ~on the sly~. That can get you fired. Let me say that again...that can get you FIRED!

2) If I were you, I would do AMAZING work at my job for the next month. Be sure your boss notices. Ask for more work if you are able to handle it. Show up early. Keep your area neat and orderly. Then, after a stellar month, ask about a raise.

3) If your boss says no, or offers too little, tell him that you know that others in jobs similar to yours make "x" amount (x being whatever you feel the salary should be). Do not name your colleague. Do not quote the exact sallary. Do not tip your hand to the ~highly immoral, against company policy~ act you did.

4) If your boss still says no, get a different job.


Good luck!

Answer 5

Following Sexual Equality legislation, it is illegal to pay people significantly differing salaries for equivalent jobs (regardless of gender).

However, pragmatically, it often ends up being that case (usually in the private sector) that the job market at the time of hiring an individual employee dictates that higher pay is required for a new staff member, and the department may not have the budget to increase pay for all equivalent employees.

Many companies do prohibit you, contractually, from discussing salary with other employees: this, however, is on shaky legal ground.

If you believe you are being underrewarded for your job, I would recommend addressing this with your line manager, and not mentioning other employees' pay levels. Instead, do you research, and find out what your role is worth (there are numerous salary survey and recruitments sites out there, you can research what your role generally gets paid in your part of the country). This information will help your line manager argue for the budget to increase your salary.

If this doesn't work, and you believe that you are being unduly discriminated against (for whatever reason), then you should take the matter up with Human Resources in confidentiality. If you do not have an employee handbook stating the procedures in place for making a complaint of this nature, then ask your HR representative about this first, or seek advice from your local CAB.

Answer 6

you'd first need to establish that you are aware of the pay discrepency... which will be the hard part if you do not want to reveal that you've done it on the sly. Once you know it... then you can confront your boss.
You could try asking your boss outright if you and colleague are paid the same. Boss may be truthful... if boss says yes you are paid the same... then you know that already you're dealing with a liar.

Answer 7

There is very little you can do as it is not illegal for people doing the same job to get paid different salary's. Approach your boss and tell him you was disappointed that this discrepancy has occured, it is quite possible he does not know, especially if you work in a large organisation.

Answer 8

The salary/remuneration for a particular job is the market value for a particular profession and designation at the city/town where the office is located. Job postings at websites like Monster, Yahoo HotJobs and Careerbuilder carry information about salaries. The Govt Dept of Labor, (www.bls.gov) Bureau of statistics has information about median salaries for different professions and details of additional compensation offered. Other online resources are salary.com and payscale. Your salary will also depend on your educational qualification and how you handle your career. More details and links to relevant websites available at http://tinyurl.com/rndxq

Answer 9

Tricky, all I can say is that it is illegal for people doing the same job to be on different wages.
Taking it toi a tribunal is bit like writing your own P45 though I guess.