Fair or descrimination

[bexta]

Hi All. I just wanted to get some outsiders points of view on my work situation.

Here goes:
I have been working for a sales dominated PLC for the last 4 years. The company employs over 1000 staff.
I originally joined the company to do clerical work and am still obiding to the agreement I signed when I started.

18 months ago my job role changed. I joined the IT department as I was the only one in the entire company that was willing to do it.
My job role now is very technical as I have to administer the network and I am 1st, 2nd and 3rd line support for users.
I have had my usual annual payrise for good performance but nothing that reflects the actual role I am doing.
After doing a little research, the average wage for my job is �6,000 more than I get!

In addition to this, they also employed another IT person about 17 months ago.
He has many years of experience and they therfore have given him a company car, company mobile and he is reffered to as my senior.
The IT manager has no IT knowledge what so ever so does not understand much of what we do.

My collegue and I do the exact same work, over the same hours and we have the same manager and responsibilites yet he gets perks and I don't.

The only difference is that he has experience and I don't. I think that this is irrelevant as we both do the same thing, plus he has no formal qualifications and I am working towards my MCSE which in my opinion will be worth more than his experience.

One other difference I forgot to mention, he is a man (obviously) and I am a girl.

Can anyone give me there opinion on my situation? Or have any idea's how I can be thought of as on the same level as him by others?

Thanks in advance.

[scaniavabis]

sorry I don't have an answer for you but I am intrigued why you refer to him as a "man" but yourself as a "girl" and not a "woman"

Surely if he is a man then you are a woman or if you are a girl, he then must be a boy. When does a boy become a man or indeed a girl become a woman. I assume that you are over 21 having worked for the comany for 4 years?

I know this won't help but I'm intrigued none the less!

[zzxxee]

sounds like your wasted there look for another job

[sara3]

on the surface I would say it isn't fair, but that doesn't mean it is sex discrimination.. maybe just a boss who needs to wake up and smell the coffee!

why don't you have a quiet word with your boss and just lay down the facts, and then state that it would be fairer if people doing the same work received the same pay.

best of luck :o)

[cassa333]

I would just ask him why you get paid less and have less perks. If you are given a reasonable answer then that is that. If you don't like the answer then you have the option of taking it further.

[themas]

Taking it further would involve going through the formal grievance procedure (get details from ACAS Helpline or local CAB) & then possibly to an Employment Tribunal with a claim of sex discrimination.

Your employer will probably argue that your colleague's greater experience justifies them in treating him differently, & you would have to be able to show with detailed evidence that your jobs are the same, that you do not take instructions from him and that the quality of your work is as good as his.

However, none of this is to be recommended if you want to keep the job (& in the present economic situation you might find it difficult to get another).

Best to start by doing what sara3 says, in my opinion.

[bexta]

Hi and thank you for all of your replies.

Firstly I am not sure why I refer to myself as a girl and him a man. I am indeed over 21 (unfortunatley) Maybe if I admit that I am a woman I will have to admit to being old? Who knows, but in terms of work and this subject I guess I am a woman! (Even reading that back makes me feel older!)

Just to clarify a few things, I do not know what he gets paid or what anyone else gets paid at my company. I am only assuming he earns more beacause he has all of the perks.
Where I work, if you have these perks it usually means you earn more and are in a manageral role or are placed on a call out rota for 24/7 sales (which does not of course apply to the IT Deapartment).

He is a little older but only by 2 years, I would understand seniority being given to someone out of respect if there was a very big age gap.

I am very reluctant to raise this is a greivance as I am otherwise happy where I work. It is local and I really enjoy my job. I think bringing up this matter in such a way will make me feel very uncomfortable whatever the outcome.

I think you may be right in saying that my manager is at fault, however she is also a woman so must know how difficult it can be for a "woman" to get by in a male dominated role.

[bexta]

Sorry, pressed submit be accident, I have more!

I will admit, he does have more technical knowledge than I do but we still do the same job.
I find that people go staright to him with programming issues as they know that he can do it, and assume that I can't.
If I am honest I probably couldn't change program code but I am not given the chance to find out. I always think if I can't do something, I can always find out, thats part of the learining process.

To summerise it all. Would it ba fair if I approach my manager at my next pay review, give her all of the facts as I see it and ask why I am treated so differently?
I am inclined to first get my qualification before I ask for my monster pay rise, I don't want to push my luck too much.

[BagPussAA]

Surely if he can do the programming side and you can not then he is doing more than you as part of the same department. If he has got better qualifications to do the role than you then it is possible that he is being paid more for that experience. Also, you are only assuming that he gets paid more than you because he has got the benefits but there may be things that he does as part of his job that you can not - such as the programming side which if you have not had experience of it before can be quite complicated.

[bexta]

I agree there, however they do not know that I can't do the programming side.
Whenever programming needs doing they go straight to him. I have never been asked if I am able to do it, I think thats what bugs me the most, they assume I can't do the same work as him.
One other thing that has developed lately, he has the car so you would think that he would be the one they call upon out of hours if anything happens, but its not, its me as I live the closest.
Is that fair? Or am I just being picky now?