Hi,

Anonymous

January 4,2024 at 5:26PM UTC

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Hi,

A query about fair/regional pay. I work for an organisation who have an office in London and one in a regional city. I was recruited as a fully remote home based worker, managing a home based team. My team are all paid on the London pay scale even though they are fully remote, and I am paid on the regional pay scale (even though I live in London!). There doesn't appear to be a legitimate reason for this, other than the business wanted to save money when they hired me. I did not know about the different pay scales when I accepted the job, only once I became a budget holder. Is this fair? Do I have the right to ask them to reconsider this?

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AnonymousJanuary 4,2024 at 5:48PM UTC
Disclaimer: I'm American so take what resonates with you as I have no HR or legal background in European pay / labor laws and policies.
With that said, I believe it's worth a conversation because I'm a firm believer in equitable pay and understanding how total compensation is calculated.
I'd also go back to your original offer letter (or contract) to see what was negotiated. Perhaps there's some details in that letter that inform how your total compensation was calculated. It seems it was unclear or maybe not caught back then that you lived in the London area, so I'd be curious to understand how y'all landed on the regional pay v. London pay.
I'd also review the compensation model of your organization on your own (don't just take your colleagues word for it!). These sorts of documents should be accessible to you via your HR rep. I've even asked companies how often do they conduct
salary/compensation studies.
It's also good to do your own research to see if what you're inquiring about is in line with the market. I'm aware of salary studies online for US roles/markets; I imagine there's got to be something similar in London you can pull.
Good luck to you!!
Joan Williams, Senior Talent Acquisition SpecialistJanuary 5,2024 at 1:01AM UTC
This doesn't make much sense to me. You're just one person - not sure how big your team is but unless it's just one person, I don't see how under paying you and over paying them saves much money.
My company also uses a Geographic Differential for pay ranges. I don't work in the UK, but both you and your team should be being paid according to the correct Geo Diff in my opinion.
I would proceed cautiously in that potentially getting your team's pay reduced isn't going to make you any friends.
You don't necessarily even have to bring that issue up if you don't want to because the issue here is really what YOU'RE being paid - I would approach this situation, at least initially, as an inquiry as to if a mistake has been made. That you reside in London but don't believe you're being paid according to the correct London Geo Diff.
Not sure how your company's offers are put together, but this could be a clerical error no one caught.