Do you think cost of living pay raises are done fairly..

[chaparral]

I have always thought the way cost of living pay raises are done very wrong...

Lets say for example there a 3% cost of living pay raise this year..

Worker 1 earns £300 weeks.He going get a £9 week raise..
worker 2 earns £1000 per week..He going get a £30 a week raise

So every year after a cost of living raise there gets to be a bigger and bigger gap between the lower and higher payed people..
And it the lower payed people that needs a big raise as possible,
But no with this system the big pay raise goes to the high earners..

 

[Jono8]

there is no cost of living rise this year anyway is there?

 

[Jokester]

If lower paid people got a bigger % increase eventually everyone would end up earning the same regardless of what they did...

 

[chaparral]

there is no cost of living rise this year anyway is there?

Am talking about any time or year there a cost of living pay rise..

 

[OpenToSuggestions]

OP: It is to cover inflating costs.

If we just added say £30 to everyones salary, then in future years the once good salary won't be that good but the lower salary will be worth the same as it always was.

 

[shmacks]

Think its more to do with maintaining the standard of living. If worker 1 lived happily at with £300 per week he will be just as happy in the future and the same with worker 2.

As a famous person once said, it is all relative

 

[GlasgowTitan]

Only applies if your company bothers to give a pay rise. Some go for years and not get one at all so count yourself lucky.

 

[apeZ]

And it the lower payed people that needs a big raise as possible,
But no with this system the big pay raise goes to the high earners..

Why, though?

I don't mean to be discriminatory, but if you are in a well-paid job, its probably because it is a good job, hence you deserve more money. For example, Doctors earn a lot of money, but they have degrees and medical school to show for it. They worked hard to get to where they are, hence they deserve their pay. Like Jokester said, if you didn't pay people based on a percentage, those working lower paid jobs would eventually catch up with the bigger earners. If a retail worker can earn the same amount as a Doctor, what incentive is there for people to get a good education, degree and work towards becoming a doctor?

If you don't earn enough, that's what the benefits system is for. Alternatively, you could work towards a better qualification and go for a higher-paid job. Sorry to put it so bluntly, but isn't that how life works? You put the effort in and work hard, and you will be rewarded generously.

 

[sigma]

Only applies if your company bothers to give a pay rise. Some go for years and not get one at all so count yourself lucky.

This.

 

[chaparral]

If lower paid people got a bigger % increase eventually everyone would end up earning the same regardless of what they did...

But they could do a set rise..Like everyone gets an every £20 per week...
That way the difference between the high and low earner stays the same..

 

[Combat squirrel]

So its law everyone must get a pay rise with inflation ? I didnt get any pay rise this year...

 

[Jokester]

But they could do a set rise..Like everyone gets an every £20 per week...
That way the difference between the high and low earner stays the same..

That's a bigger % though, so in real terms the gap is shrinking, eventually everyone ends up the same doing that.

 

[chaparral]

That's a bigger % though, so in real terms the gap is shrinking, eventually everyone ends up the same doing that.

I just notice this

 

[Duke]

First of all you are lucky to get a 'cost of living' pay rise, as I think it tends to only be public sector or large city companies that do it? It is meant to match inflation, so that if you don't get a pay rise, your pay during the year is still 'worth' the same. If you were on the same salary in ten years time for example, it would be worth far less due to inflation and living costs increasing over that time, which is why it is a % increase.

 

[apeZ]

But they could do a set rise..Like everyone gets an every £20 per week...
That way the difference between the high and low earner stays the same..

Sure, but if you did something like that, £20 is a lot less meaningful to a high earner than a low earner... it doesn't have the same value.

Low earner on £1000 pw: For him this is a 2% rise.

High earner on £10000 pw: For him this is a 0.2% rise.

Fair?

 

[Destination]

I do understand your point, everyone will have a basic minimum level of money they require for basic sustenance. Its like a basic amount to eat and house oneself etc, hardly matters anyway, govt jobs always lose value, and every once ina while they get a stimulus or boost to keep people in it. For many years teaching became more and more not the job to have for salary purposes, but now basic salary is more than my father retired on 10 years ago. It got a much needed boost due to slow and gradual decline.

Same happens across many depts, then they eitehr go pvt and out to tender, or they get the boost they require, boost might not be all they require, but it helps a bit.

Either way i see inflation figures as a complete lie, food has increased in cost dramatically in the last 2 years, it hasn't dropped much, and it continues to increase, yet bar a singlemonth blip on inflataion they tell us inflation is virtually 0%. Rotten liars, they exclude things that make a difference. I don't care if the value of high end electrical goods has dropped by 0.5%, I don't buy a plasma TV every week at tescos, I do however buy the food that seems get dearer eahc time i go to the store.

 

[shmacks]

OMG this thread is filled with communists who wan esqual pay across the board ban them ASAP

 

[chaparral]

Either way i see inflation figures as a complete lie, food has increased in cost dramatically in the last 2 years, it hasn't dropped much, and it continues to increase, yet bar a singlemonth blip on inflataion they tell us inflation is virtually 0%. Rotten liars, they exclude things that make a difference. I don't care if the value of high end electrical goods has dropped by 0.5%, I don't buy a plasma TV every week at tescos, I do however buy the food that seems get dearer eahc time i go to the store.

I agree

Also are electric has gone up 25% in two years (17% rise last year & 8% rise from april this year)
And are Fuel has gone up about 50% in last few years

 

[Jono8]

I do understand your point, everyone will have a basic minimum level of money they require for basic sustenance. Its like a basic amount to eat and house oneself etc, hardly matters anyway, govt jobs always lose value, and every once ina while they get a stimulus or boost to keep people in it. For many years teaching became more and more not the job to have for salary purposes, but now basic salary is more than my father retired on 10 years ago. It got a much needed boost due to slow and gradual decline.

Same happens across many depts, then they eitehr go pvt and out to tender, or they get the boost they require, boost might not be all they require, but it helps a bit.

Either way i see inflation figures as a complete lie, food has increased in cost dramatically in the last 2 years, it hasn't dropped much, and it continues to increase, yet bar a singlemonth blip on inflataion they tell us inflation is virtually 0%. Rotten liars, they exclude things that make a difference. I don't care if the value of high end electrical goods has dropped by 0.5%, I don't buy a plasma TV every week at tescos, I do however buy the food that seems get dearer eahc time i go to the store.

Agreed, I cannot believe the cost of living/inflation hasnt gone up this year. Petrol/gas/electricity/food e.t.c. has all just seemed to continually rise in the last few years

 

[Duke]

Hasn't food been fairly flat or gone down over the last few years? Think we need some inflation figures in here