A majority (93%) of UK employees believe they are underpaid and only 4% are happy with their salary, according to a poll from HR consultancy Reabur.
The poll asked 1,293 respondents if they think they are underpaid by their employer and what they think they are financially worth to the company they work for.
Using supplied job titles, sectors and regional average wages, the study found that 61% of respondents overestimate their financial worth.
One fifth (18%) of respondents wrongly think they are underpaid by £5,000 each year and a further 29% believe they should be paid an extra £3,000.
Kirsty Burgess, co-founder of Reabur.com, said: “This research did surprise me. Not so much that people believe that they underpaid – because I think we would all like a little extra money each month – more so by the fact that respondents believe they are worth an extra £5,000 each year, which shows that they are out of touch with the market rate for their role.
“Salaries can be a very difficult subject to approach, they are very emotive and companies have to be especially careful when employees working in the same team are earning different amounts to their colleagues; they have to ensure the differences are justified and will stand up to equality legislation.
“It is always good to undertake benchmarking exercises to ensure you are paying market rates, and your HR department or HR consultant should provide that service.”
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