Pay rise request rejected

[DCASTLE]

Hi All

I just wonder if someone could give me some advice please.

I work as a senior designer in a small design company, 8 staff in total (6 old staff and 2 new staff). 3 of my colleagues (old staff) have received a pay rise each from the company in the last 12-18 months or so. When I asked for a pay rise recently I got rejected. Between these 3 colleagues, two of them are now earning £5K more than me and the other one (an admin person) now earns just £4K less than me.

Based on my case, do I have any legal rights to receive for a pay rise?

I have been on the same salary since November 2010. I didn't have any annual review in the past 6 years. After seeing 3 colleagues have managed to get a pay rise successfully, it makes me feel I am underpaid here, as a result I asked for a pay rise but got rejected.

I know it is a brief story. I am happy to give more details if necessary and it helps.

Many thanks in advance!

[Sangie595]

Re: Pay rise request rejected

Hi All

I just wonder if someone could give me some advice please.

I work as a senior designer in a small design company, 8 staff in total (6 old staff and 2 new staff). 3 of my colleagues (old staff) have received a pay rise each from the company in the last 12-18 months or so. When I asked for a pay rise recently I got rejected. Between these 3 colleagues, two of them are now earning £5K more than me and the other one (an admin person) now earns just £4K less than me.

Based on my case, do I have any legal rights to receive for a pay rise?

I have been on the same salary since November 2010. I didn't have any annual review in the past 6 years. After seeing 3 colleagues have managed to get a pay rise successfully, it makes me feel I am underpaid here, as a result I asked for a pay rise but got rejected.

I know it is a brief story. I am happy to give more details if necessary and it helps.

Many thanks in advance!

Sorry. Nobody has a legal right to a pay rise - not even to a review. It's very simple. If you think you aren't being paid what you are worth, you find a job that pays more and leave. Occasionally, if that happens, an employer may offer more to keep you, but personally I wouldn't fall for that one. If you weren't worth more to them before you got another job, you soon won't be worth more to them again.

[des8]

Re: Pay rise request rejected

You might not be due a payrise, but if you are performing similar tasks to your colleagues perhaps you should be receiving the same pay.
http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=4198

[DCASTLE]

Re: Pay rise request rejected

Hi and thank you both for your comments.

Would it make any difference to my case if I say the 3 collegues who received a pay rise are caucasian and I am not?

I am the 4th person to ask for a pay rise and the only one didn't get it. The reason that I was given for not having a pay rise was I would not be able to get the same salary somewhere else. Bear in mind two colleagues are now earning £5k more than me after they have had a pay rise, so it is not that my current salary is over the top, so I can't have a pay rise.

Changing job is an option, but I was warned by my company that I will not be able to find a job if I leave. I have worked for my company for 18 years, and have never worked for anyone else before, so I am kind of puzzled I don't really know what to do.

Many thanks in advance again!

[Sangie595]

Re: Pay rise request rejected

You might not be due a payrise, but if you are performing similar tasks to your colleagues perhaps you should be receiving the same pay.
http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=4198

You need to be very careful with that advice. Equal pay for work of equal value depends upon more than not being paid the same as someone of the opposite gender. It depends upon the reason for that pay differential being based on gender difference. There is no law that says that people must be paid the same, even for the same jobs, just because they are of different genders. A substantive reason can be as simple as one person being recruited at a time when wage levels are better or worse. It could be because they asked for a pay rise at the time a company could afford it and now they cannot. And when asking for a reason, one must be cautious you don't get an answer you don't want to hear. You may think you are as good as your colleagues. You may also think you do an amazing job. The employer may not agree. Performance is also a legitimate reason for pay differentials.

And all that is assuming they have the same jobs (which at least one of them does not - the OP says so). It's a small company - how many of the same job can they have?

But the OPs question was do they have a legal right to a pay rise. The answer is that they do not. If they want to suggest that the difference is based on unlawful discrimination, then they need to say why they believe that - because that is a different question entirely, and I wouldn't be comfortable putting those words into someone else's mouth.

[Sangie595]

Re: Pay rise request rejected

Hi and thank you both for your comments.

Would it make any difference to my case if I say the 3 collegues who received a pay rise are caucasian and I am not?

I am the 4th person to ask for a pay rise and the only one didn't get it. The reason that I was given for not having a pay rise was I would not be able to get the same salary somewhere else. Bear in mind two colleagues are now earning £5k more than me after they have had a pay rise, so it is not that my current salary is over the top, so I can't have a pay rise.

Changing job is an option, but I was warned by my company that I will not be able to find a job if I leave. I have worked for my company for 18 years, and have never worked for anyone else before, so I am kind of puzzled I don't really know what to do.

Many thanks in advance again!

Are you saying that your colleagues were given a pay increase because of their ethnic origin, and you were refused because of yours. If that is the case, then you will need to prove it. And if you are not, then no, it doesn't make a difference.

I am not seeing you saying that you have the same job as your colleagues. You have been given a reason which is that your job does not command the salary you want. There is an obvious way to prove that is not true - find the job that pays more for the same job.

The fact that colleagues have had pay rises is not enough, in itself, to say you have a right to one.