Sian Davis reveals the topsy-turvy world of Basildon.
You’ve been in the job seven years; your colleague has been doing it for just seven days. In view of your seniority, years of experience and proven company loyalty, obviously you get paid more than she does, right?
Wrong!
Not if you’re employed by First Data, a debt collecting agency based in Basildon.
Whilst training up a new colleague it came to the attention of a certain debt collector that the person she was training was being paid £300 a year more for a job which she, i.e. the new person, did not quite know how to do yet.
Surprised to say the least, the debt collector informed her colleagues, who were equally appalled. Appealing to management, they were told first that it was legal and second that Human Resources had made a mistake when typing out the new person’s salary and now had to honour it.
First Data debt collectors have been considering whether to go on strike. But they are nervous about this because ‘in the current job market, employees are so replaceable and companies hold all the cards.’
The joke is, if the old workers were locked out and replaced outright, would the company offer the higher salary to the entire new intake? But seriously, under the terms of individual employment contracts, pay differentials are legal – unless based on illegitimate factors such as gender or ethnicity.
It’s a crazy world when employers can not only pick and choose their employees, but also disregard experience and loyalty when deciding how much to pay them.
Names have been removed in order to protect sources.