Your rights: Employers reneging on pay promise

By RICK HARGREAVES of Phillips Fox solicitors

Q. I transferred from another city into a similar position in the same company last year. The new position meant that I became one of two staff to share work, swapping duties between us on a weekly basis.

Agreement was reached on pay with my new branch manager and I was told that once I was up to speed with the processes I would be put onto the same pay as my co-worker.

I accepted this, although my previous five years with the company meant that I was already up to speed and, in many areas, well ahead of my co-worker.

I have since changed to a slightly different role and the manager of the group I now work for was aware of the salary promise at the time I transferred. When the annual salary review was completed my increase still left me several thousand dollars short of what I was expecting.

We now have a new branch manager who "researched the matter" and stated that the company will not meet its original promise. Do I have any rights and am I justified in asking for the original promise to be honoured?

A. Generally, an employment agreement sets out the terms and conditions of your employment. Since October 2, 2000 all employers are required to provide employees with a written employment agreement. If you do not have a written agreement you should ask for one. The agreement may provide guidance on whether there are any obligations on your employer to increase your salary and if so on what basis.

An employment agreement can be partly written and partly oral. You say that your former branch manager told you that, once up to speed, you would be put on to the same pay as your co-worker.

This "promise" may be considered to be a term of your employment agreement and may mean that your employer is in breach of your agreement by failing to increase your pay. Ideally, your branch manager should have been more specific about the criteria you had to meet to get a pay increase so as to avoid this sort of confusion.

You say that your role is "slightly" different from the role you were in when the promise to increase your pay was made. This may affect your ability to rely on the promise made to you as your employer could argue it was made in relation to your former position only. Again, these issues should have been clarified when you changed positions.

Your new branch manager has made a decision not to increase your salary to a level that you would like after "researching the matter".

You should make a written request to your branch manager for copies of any information relied on to come to the conclusion they have.

This information will give you a better basis for deciding whether to challenge the decision.

Even if there was no contractually binding promise to pay you at the higher rate, you likely have a "disadvantage" personal grievance if promises were made to you about pay, and you transferred in reliance of these provisions.

Raise your concerns in writing with your branch manager and, if you are not happy with the response, contact an employment lawyer for advice.

Employment Relations Service

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