My girlfriend got a new job this year. She applied for the job in February and started on April 3rd. Shortly after starting she discovered that due to the cost of living increase in the UK everyone in her department that had worked there between March 31st 2022 – March 31st 2023 had been given a permanent bonus of roughly £2000 a year, including those that only started working there in February of this year. Due to starting 3 days later, she's been told that she will not be receiving this and will basically always be £2000 behind her co-workers going forward.
She's okay with the salary, she's getting what was advertised when she applied, but the idea that everyone in her department makes the exact same wage for doing the same job, apart from her feels unjust. Her co-workers have varying levels of experience, some have worked there for a few months, some have worked there for 15+ years.
I'm not sure of the legalities, but it just doesn't feel right that you can have an entire office earning identical salaries, apart from one person who earns £2000 less, just because they started 72 hours later.
She's brought it up with her higher-ups and was shot down, with no real explanation given.