Wage disparity

A question about : Wage disparity

Hi folks,

Ok a quick (or maybe rambling) question about wages.

So I work in the public sector and have been subject to a pay freeze for the past few years. However the company has been hiring new staff on fixed term contracts which pay significantly more than what I earn as a full time member of staff, these fixed term contracts usual last 12 - 24 months.

Now the company is hiring permanent roles all of which offer significantly higher wages than what current permanent staff are on. For example, should an external candidate be appointed to a position the same as the one I currently occupy then they could expect to earn 10 - 20k a year more than I do.

In fact there are 8 people in my department doing the same job as me but on average earn 10 - 15k a year more, some are on fixed term contracts others are permanent although I am the longest serving member of staff.

Is this normal practice? I've spoken to my manager who advised his hands are tied when it comes to giving permanent members of staff an increase in pay due to public sector restraints.

Is my only option to leave?

Thanks,

Best answers:

• This is not illegal unless you are being discriminated against because of a characteristic that is protected under the Equality Act.
  In the first instance, speak to your union rep for advice (assuming you're a member???) as other colleagues are likely to be in the same boat.
• Quite normal, I have managed teams where there has been up to 30k difference for doing the same job based on various criteria, even the new hires could vary enormously as it was up to the candidate to negotiate their salary within a band, if they didn't they started at the bottom rate.
• Something isn't right here. Public sector jobs are banded and the same job title will always fall within the same bands. Public sector HR departments are hot on this. Do these people have a different job title (and therefore job) than you?
  As for the contractors they'll always earn a lot more than a perm member of staff. However they lose a lot of the perks that employment brings. You can't compare your salary to that of a contractor.
• Fixed contracts / daily rates get more generally as they lose out on pensions and other perks.
  As for new hires, yes generally all companies have similar things. Advertised salary might not what they will definitely get though.
  So when you say the same job, do you just assume or do you know certainly?
• It is not right to say that the same job title will always attract the same band. Perhaps within one organisation, but not across the entire public sector.