The right salary?

[bloomingflower]

Hi all

I hope someone can help, as I have another query on behalf of my otherhalf, please bear with me,
as this may be a rather long post, but I will try and keep it simple!

Basically, my O/h started his current employment back in August 2003, and he was on a starting annual salary of £13,000 for a 44 hour week.
However, it is now 4 years and 6 months later,and he is now on a annual salary of £14,082 and we would both say(and his boss) that his record of attendance and punctuality during this time has been rather good and nothing to worry about, as oppose to other staff who werent punctual and were coming in every other day and have come and gone within a space of such a short time..
There were(up until before christmas) only a total of 4 staff in the whole of the branch,this included his branch manager,testing assistant,counter assistant and a driver. There is now only 2 staff left at the moment,the boss and my O/h, as one has gone to travel the world(its alright for some!!) and the other has retired. When the test assistant left to travel the world,they employed someone else to help out and my O/h has only just found out that the new guy was put on a higher salary than him (£17,000 per yr to be exact!!) the new guy lasted 2 weeks, cos his work performance was cr*p and needless to say he got the boot

My O/h has just found out that the staff salaries are worked out in tiers and this has never come to light in the past,as the other staff never discussed each others salaries,up until now.
Well,it seems that his boss should of been on the test assistants salary,in other words the test assistant was on a higher salary than his boss!!!!( boss - £20,000, per yr,test assistant - £25,000 per yr, No wonder he can travel the world!( I have given you these figures as an example)his boss I hasten to add is now very peed orf.

However, he is not as peed orf as much as my O/h,(and he is all ready to leave and find new employment) cos my O/h is the lowest paid out the lot of them,and the funny thing is, his boss didnt know that my O/h is on £14,082 a year!!!! (work that one out!!) and now his boss has asked for my O/h's annual letter,cos the last time everyone gotta annual increase was in August 2007!! and the letter states that the latest increase for my O/h from August 2007 was £14,082.....

Apparently, it should of been £17,000!!!!!

his boss has promised to get in touch with head office and get his salary adjusted accordingly with back pay,going back to August 2007.

But im not so sure of this,cos why didnt the company do this in the first place??? hes not sure what is going on there,hes so confused! This whole situation is so stupid..

Where does my O/h go from here??

b.Flower x

[gizmo111]

I would give his boss a reasonable time to talk to HO, say 7 days and then chase it up

[Ell-enn]

Hi there, if salaries are worked out in tiers then HR should be able to explain each grade and what is required to reach that grade.

Is recruitment done at the branch or at head office? what sort of business is it?

Kind Regards

Ell-enn

[bloomingflower]

Hi ell-enn and Gizmo111

Thankyou for your reply!!

Its a Tool hire company and as far as my O/h knows there are no grades (for instance,when you apply for a job as a driver,you will always stay a driver,up until you are either given the boot,retired or leave the company) and recruitment is done by H/O, my O/h and his boss havent got a clue how these salaries are worked out, he says its like playing a game of blind man's bluff! as no-one is none the wiser..cos the H/O dont give out info willy nilly, and the only way you can squeeze the info out of them is by being a nuisance and risk being shown the door.

it just seems,that who ever walks off the street and gets employment with them they are awarded a salary that doesnt match their work performance(My O/h is the one that does most of the physical jobs, as the nature of his job involves a lot of heavy lifting, loading and unloading his transit)but the other 3 staff (including the boss) are in the shop answering the phone and taking orders and also making cups of tea(hardly back breaking work!!) and being paid 25,000 per yr for the pleasure.

his boss has admitted himself that my O/h is on a poor salary, and as I said in my above post, he will be getting in touch with H/O about this..

However, I can give you an update,as today, his boss has asked someone at H/O why my O/h is on such a low salary,compared to the other staff... their reply was.."We will look into this" and thats all they said.

so,we will have to wait and see what happens from here and now!

B.Flower x

[Ell-enn]

The sad thing about this situation is that if your husband left they would have to pay his replacement more - I have had to argue this point in the past with the company I work for- they are gradually coming round to that way of thinking. It's beyond me why they don't reward loyal and hardworking employees and pay them the market rate. I've found that it's usually the long serving employees who suffer this.

Unfortunately, without a proper grading system, employers will always pay what they can get away with.

Let us know when he hears something back from HR.

Kind Regards

Ell-enn

[bloomingflower]

Hi ell-enn, I really appreciate your reply,- yes ,that's whats most upsetting for him, as he feels he has been a loyal employee,and hardly takes time off work, but I will keep you updated and will let you know if anything changes.. if not,its back to the drawing board!! lol

B.Flower x

[bloomingflower]

hi Ellen and all

I am just posting to give an update since my last post as promised..and I now have a much better insight to what has been happening within the Company my O/h works for.

It goes like this...

1. My O/h was employed by Old Company back in 2003.
2. New Company came in and took over Old Company in the summer of 2007..
3. Old Employees who work for New Company keep Old Company Salary(lower rate)
4. New Employees who join New Company recieve New Company Salary(higher rate)

Since my O/hs boss got in touch with HR, about his salary,they have said they will be "looking into it" as his Branch manager agrees that the Old Employees should be recieving the same as the New Employees, and hes also been told that the issue has now been passed on to the 'Board Of Directors' and its now in there hands..

Does anyone know how long this will take? Do they sit round a big shiny oval table and discuss things for weeks or months on end?

My O/H has already asked too many questions and he has had enough,why cant they just tell him yes or no?? money is at its all time low,(everything has increased,with regards to the cost of living, rent, C.tax, Utilities, etc...but his salary has more or less stayed the same, within the 4yr period)

On one hand, it is taking its toll, and he wants to put an end to all this faffing about, as he feels that he is wasting time, when he could be looking for another better paying job(same job,better salary) as to his amazement, he has seen exactly the same job hes doing advertised on his job searches with much better pay..(The same as the New Company)

On the other hand he doesnt really want to leave, ok,its not a high flying job, but its a stable one none the less,hes happy there. He says working for the New Company is just the same as working for the Old Company,and he has been there 4 yr and 6 mnths.


Many thanks for any replies in advance.

B.Flower xx

[Ell-enn]

Hi there. Firstly, I'm glad to hear that your husband's complaint has been passed to the board of directors, at least it has been escalated and although I am sure you feel it is taking a long time unfortunately these things do.

However, a board of directors should (normally) meet once a month and the matter would be discussed then. Unless someone can tell you when the board meeting is you're a bit stuck for guessing a timeline for this to be resolved. I would imagine it could take around a month to get a decision

I'm sorry I can't give you a more detailed reply, but I hope the outcome is what you've hoped for. Please keep us updated as to how things progress.

Kind Regards

Ell-enn

[advisee]

Originally Posted by bloomingflower

However, he is not as peed orf as much as my O/h,(and he is all ready to leave and find new employment) cos my O/h is the lowest paid out the lot of them,and the funny thing is, his boss didnt know that my O/h is on £14,082 a year!!!! (work that one out!!) and now his boss has asked for my O/h's annual letter,cos the last time everyone gotta annual increase was in August 2007!! and the letter states that the latest increase for my O/h from August 2007 was £14,082.....

Apparently, it should of been £17,000!!!!!

his boss has promised to get in touch with head office and get his salary adjusted accordingly with back pay,going back to August 2007.

If you trust this manager, then bearing with them and hoping that this gets resolved informally (and with the company being fair) would seem the best idea.

[advisee]

Originally Posted by bloomingflower

3. Old Employees who work for New Company keep Old Company Salary(lower rate)
4. New Employees who join New Company recieve New Company Salary(higher rate)

Wasn't there a recent TUPE case that basically said that the employee is entitled to pick and choose the best bits of the existing and new contracts.... though that wouldn't directly help this issue of wages (Regent Security v Power).

[bloomingflower]

Hi Everyone

Just a quick update-

My O/H is still waiting for the outcome of the Board of Directors decision since the date of my first post(16th Jan 2008 regarding the issue of whether they will be increasing his salary, so that it keeps in line with his new fellow employees and new company contracts...

He hasnt heard a dickie bird.. and its been a few weeks now since raising this issue, He doesnt want to keep on pushing about it,because at some point they will get fed up.. but on the other hand he wants to know either way,and whether he should be making plans sometime this year to stay or leave.

thankyou in advance for any replies..
b. flower x

[Gertie100]

Bloomingflower - ring and find out when the next meeting will be: our board of directors only sit every 6 months...

[bloomingflower]

Hi Gertie

Yes, thanks for that, as we didnt know how often they have their meetings, as my O/H hasnt been told.

The only problem is, his branch manager doesnt like his staff calling up HR/head office off their own backs, it has to go through him only, my O/H is likely to get a rollocking off his boss if he calls up himself..(this happened once before on a different issue)
O/H cant sneeze without getting permission first!)

On the other hand, branch manager doesnt seem too bothered about chasing it up himself. Seems its every man for himself these days, and as long as he is alright,why should he bother?
Sorry for this rant, but unfortunatley, this is how my O/H sees the picture,as he is on his own on this one..


Thanks for any replies in advance..
Regards
B.Flower x

[advisee]

He should call HR directly.

[will77]

he should apply for other jobs. if he gets one he can tell the boss to match his new wage or he's off. he doesn't need to wait for someone else to decide whether he should make future plans. plus it always seems much easier to find a job when you have one already. always seems harder to find one if you are out of work.