Challenging pay comparing against colleague

A question about : Challenging pay comparing against colleague

I will keep this brief, but I just wanted clarification that I am doing the right thing.

I am currently part time (32 hours a week) but were I to work full time I would earn Ј20000. My colleague earns Ј25000 for identical job description. He has worked for company for 6 years. The company I work for absorbed my previous employer, retaining the same Directors. I have worked for the current and historical company in total for 15 years.

Am I right to feel aggrieved by this? He is male, I am female. We are targeted each month and without fail since we have been here I am way ahead with my figures, so I perform better, but get less money.

I have asked for an informal chat with the HR guy who was the Boss of the Company that was absorbed. I propose to ask why this is the case.

Am I doing the right thing?

Thanking you for taking the time to read.

Best answers:

• Are you a union member?
  On the face of it there does seem to be gender discrimination here.
  Your union rep will be able to help you raise a grievance and represent you at any grievance hearing.
• PS - HR are not your friend. If you tackle this in the wrong way they may well sweep it under the carpet to avoid paying out. HR are only interested in protecting the company from claims etc.
• They'll probably tell you that you shouldn't be discussing your wages with another colleague.
  But staff get paid differently and are employed on different rates. I've always found that new staff seem to get paid more than existing staff that have worked their way up. He was probably employed on the market rate whilst you were being paid less.
• There isn't a union. It is a small independently owned Company with 4 Directors.
  Am I wrong requesting a meeting with HR then? (the HR dept consists of 1 person!).
  I agree that salaries should not be discussed, but ultimately in small companies these things have a habit of coming out. Now that I know I feel it can't be ignored.
  Confused as to whether I have any grounds to have a meeting or not.
  Thank you.
• It would be quite easy for me to prove that I perform better month by month because each month we have a meeting and the figures are produced and then emailed to us.
• OP do you know the other person is getting more because they are male and you are female or they are getting more because they negotiated a higher rate when they started and has nothing to do with discrimination?
  What if it was the other way round?
• Wow, thanks for all the replies!
  I worked for Company B for 12 years, Company B was totally absorbed by Company A and didn't retain the Company name. It became Company A.
  My colleague and I have the same job titles, but I can't say for certain that we have the same contracts of employment. We had new contracts when we were taken over, but I have no access to the Contract that he is on.
  Thank you.
• [QUOTE=Southend1;63172120]Why shouldn't anyone discuss their wages with a colleague?
  QUOTE]
  Its been a sackable offence to discuss salaries at a number of places where I have worked. That was due to the vast difference in salaries, there was up to 30k difference for the same role.