WHEN employees discover that colleagues doing similar work are paid more than they are it can destroy their job satisfaction and lead to psychological and physical illnesses.

That is the conclusion of research co-led by myself at the University of Brighton.

When staff feel ill-treated they start doing less.

They might stop saying hello to colleagues, pulling their weight with teamwork or putting in the unpaid extra hours they once did.

People in higher-paid top jobs feel the pain more but their employers also suffer because unhappy workers’ productivity is adversely affected.

I worked with colleagues from the Brunel University and the universities of Kent and Michigan.

We surveyed employees and found a connection between an employee’s pay satisfaction and the average pay of their colleagues doing similar work.

The research showed that when a colleague doing similar work is paid more than you then your job satisfaction levels drop and that can, in turn, adversely affect productivity, health and overall organisational performance.

We have called for employers to address the issue and for new Government regulation.

Our study showed links between job satisfaction and performance, productivity, turnover, and absenteeism.

These can have serious implications for human resources and can cost businesses dearly.

Professor Andros Gregoriou is Head of the Economics and Finance Division of the University of Brighton’s Business School