Hi all, The team I am on at work has people on a wide range of earnings (the difference between the highest and lowest is double the lowest earner's wage). Mostly people were not "new hires" - some moved to the company about 20 years ago under TUPE, whilst others either moved to the team from elsewhere in the company or started as apprentices (although for some that was about ten years ago). There were a few new hires - contractors who were taken on permanently (but again more than ten years ago). However, we now have five new hires and their starting wage is £7,000 more than the lowest earner and about £5,000 more than quite a few other people's. These people who have been taken on do not have previous skills or experience that put them ahead of current workers nor will they be doing a different job to the rest of us. These new hires seem to have finally established a base line for pay and "job level" (it's a large company with extensive job "ratings"/"levels"). I have done some research and seem to be getting mixed messages whether it is legal or not and if we have a credible argument to be at least brought in line with the new starters. A lot of the information out there is about pay inequality between genders (two of our high earners are actually women, almost all of the men are paid less than them - however, their pay I guess is a "reward" for experience and performance over the years), but this is not really the issue here (aside from the two women, everyone else is a man). The issue that we see and want to deal with is to be paid the same wage as someone doing to same work, i.e. the same as the new starters (well, once we have finished training the new starters they will be doing the same work as us - it usually lasts for a few months). Has anyone been involved in such a situation before? Does anyone know of success stories for pay equality outside of gender-related disputes?

Hi Sensimilia_uk, Are you having any luck with this? I hope you get your problem resolved. I might be faced with a similar problem (I hope not, should know when I get home), so I am curious about your progress. Good luck with. Paul