Different Pay Rates For Casual Staff

[misspins]

This may be a little long winded but I will try to keep it as simple as I can. I have been employed by my employer for 5 years on a Relief (Casual) Contract. For 5 years I have been given regular hours and treated as though I am permanent member of staff, I have been given a fixed amount of hours in a pattern that works very well for me as a single parent and I cannot fault them for how flexible they have been with changing circumstances, they even created a new job for me last year with a lot more responsibility. However, I recently discovered that newer members of staff on Relief Contracts are being paid almost 50p per hour more than me. I was only made aware that there were 2 different pay rates and when I queried this I was not given a straight answer, Payroll haven't helped and I have been asked to submit my query via email and told to include that I have been treated as a permanent member of staff with fixed contracted hours. Is it lawful to pay me less than newer staff who are less experienced and less qualified? Is it lawful to pay Relief/ Casual staff less when they are treated as though they have a regular contract?

[Mojo-Jo-Jo]

It depends how flexible they've been misspins.
Do you work the same hours each week, i.e. 9-1
or
do you work the same amount of hours, i.e. 16 hours?

[factor-fiction]

They can pay everyone different rates if they want but they can't for example use something like sex or race as a way of deciding on the rate. Unless you could show men are paid more than women it may be difficult to do anything legally. You are right to ask them and hopefully they'll improve your rate if there is an unjustifiable difference

[misspins]

Mojo, I work a variety of hours depending on where I am needed. I have a different job role now than the one I originally started in, I am allowed to work from home when I need to, I spend a lot of time off site as well which means the hours I do can vary from 9-1, 10-2 or whatever I am needed for but generally the amount of hours I do is the same each week. At time I do volunteer for night shifts or weekend working if I am available and they need me

[tonywiltshire]

As stated misspins your employers can pay different rates of pay provided they are able to prove that the variation in pay is genuinely due to a material factor and not discrimination. What they should not do is to pay you less than your full time colleagues or treat you in any way that is less favourable than your full time colleagues with broadly similar qualifications.

[ToraToraTora]

yes it's lawful, you can also ask for a raise, that is also lawful.