I've found out that my colleagues who do the same job are getting paid more than me. Is this allowed?

Your contract of employment will contain an express term specifying your rate of pay, which is a matter of agreement between you and your employer. In accepting the contract of work, you also accept the offered pay rate.

As long as they offer at least the national minimum wage requirements, and do not conflict with Equal Pay legislation between men and women doing the same job, they are free to offer different pay scales and patterns, based on other factors such as:

• length of service,
• location,
• or type of contract (as long as this complies with part-time worker or fixed-term contracts regulations)

This may be a different case though if the discrepancy is between men and women in the same job. Discrimination law states that men and women are entitled to equal pay where they are doing the same work, or, in some cases, different types of work, but which are considered equivalent. You can find out more about this in our Equal Pay section.

One other restriction on pay differentials may result from a collective pay agreement between the employer and a union, in which case you should consult your workplace union.