Underpayment/Discrimination

[Alison82]

Hi CAG

I am posting this question on behalf of a friend

He has been with his employer for 12 years, the works in a small team reprographics department for a printing firm.

The manager is leaving shortly and my friend feels that he should now be left in charge of the department. My friend (Bob) role is more like doing 3 jobs in one, he is doing far more the is required such as a lot of design work and client consultancy work but his salary is £22k where for his level of experience and what he knows and what he carries out in his day to day work he should be on £30k plus (and that is only for the graphics side or the repro side not all 3)

Now his boss has decided to hire someone new to come in a work along side him, he doesn't know or do half as much as my friend does, experience is about the same and same educational back ground however he is getting paid £30k yet my friend is asked to train up this new guy.

Bob has not had any problem with work, he has hardly taken any sick days, he has taken holiday that he is entitled to, he was flexible with his hours and came in to suit the company when required (7 am) not anymore though.

Bob is far more advanced (he knows how to use over 25 packages compared to eight), he has built up relationships with clients, he is a good worker. However he is being majorly under paid.

He has spoken to his boss of several occasions and he is always told well sort something out, but nothing is ever done.

Bob thinks it could be a some form of racial discrimination as there does not seem to be any other reason why they would intentionally underpay him and bring someone new in under him and pay them more. (this underpayment only applies to the past 2 years btw)

What do you suggest he does, he wants to leave anyways and is planning to but his was thinking of taking his employer to court. What kind of evidence does he need for this?

Many thanks in advance

[Alison82]

Anyone

[missemmielou]

I don't know anything about the laws and legal matters
....but how can he be expected to happily train someone who is working under/along-side him while he KNOWS is getting paid more then him!
Thats disgusting!

[Sidewinder]

I agree entirely - this seems on the face of it to be very unfair to your friend.

If this were to go to a tribunal however, your friend should ideally have exhausted the company's grievance process in an attempt to resolve the matter before seeking legal redress, so that must be his starting point.

As a first step, Bob will need to write a letter, outlining exactly what you have told us above:-

How long he has worked there, his level of experience and areas of responsibility, he fact that he has an exemplary work record and sickness record, and the fact that he has always strived to work above and beyond what is expected of him. Why then in view of this, and despite assurances that he would be looked after financially, is he working alongside somebody paid significantly more but with far less knowledge of the business? He needs to ask on what grounds he is considered less worthy of the remuneration enjoyed by less qualified personnel.

The employer will be duty bound to provide a response and this should determine what Bob should do next.

[Alison82]

Update:

Well my friend Bob decided to hand in his notice, in the final few days the bosses came to their senses and offered to pay him more but my friend declined as he knew it would be like this in the future, they company is going poor so they will probably go under soon. So Bob has decided to do freelance work where he will earn much more.

Thanks for your comments

[Sidewinder]

Thanks for the update - always good to know the outcome.

I sincerely hope that Bob soon finds that he is much better off, both emotionally and financially.