You’re right they can’t do that, but he might not be looked on so favourably afterwards.
Perhaps I am overly cautious, but I wouldn’t want to be the first name to spring to mind when difficult decisions need to be made further down the line.
Asking for a pay rise
- Thread starter BYTEr
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You’re right they can’t do that, but he might not be looked on so favourably afterwards.
Perhaps I am overly cautious, but I wouldn’t want to be the first name to spring to mind when difficult decisions need to be made further down the line.
I wouldn't worry about forging a long term career at a company who looks unfavourably on people who ask for a payrise when they've taken a step up. This is what's known as 'a crap employer'
It's not like he's threatening to leave and causing disruption.
Probably to better to phrase it in a way where you ask what you can do to earn a salary increment. Mention your recent achievements and extra responsibilities you've taken on. Ask what your can do to progress and what opportunities are available to move up in the company.
See what they are prepared to offer. They might take the hint and offer you more money to put you off leaving or at least discuss what it'll take to improve your salary.
See what they are prepared to offer. They might take the hint and offer you more money to put you off leaving or at least discuss what it'll take to improve your salary.
Unless the company you work for is being hit particularly hard by the current situation, I'd just ask. It's a pretty simple conversation along the lines of:
"My responsibilities have increased to x, I have demonstrated I'm meeting or exceeding expectations for that role due to y, therefore based on increased responsibility and market salaries for similar job profiles, I think it would be fair to increase my compensation by £z"
If you have a reasonable management team, even if budget is currently unavailable due to Covid-19 you will be putting it in their mind for when they do have budget and can reinforce by asking again. I highly doubt you'll get some kind of black mark against your name just for asking a question with very valid reasoning.
"My responsibilities have increased to x, I have demonstrated I'm meeting or exceeding expectations for that role due to y, therefore based on increased responsibility and market salaries for similar job profiles, I think it would be fair to increase my compensation by £z"
If you have a reasonable management team, even if budget is currently unavailable due to Covid-19 you will be putting it in their mind for when they do have budget and can reinforce by asking again. I highly doubt you'll get some kind of black mark against your name just for asking a question with very valid reasoning.
Yup, I'd just ask too.
Obviously current climate or your employer struggling and you having no leverage are perhaps good reasons why they might decline to give you one. On the other hand - have you tried throwing your CV out there? It's worth doing in general anyway even if you don't actively want to leave, you might surprise yourself - you think your CV is bad but now you've got some more decent work experience to write about and others could find that attractive - that you're in a good technical team, are a problem solver - if you can throw in a few brief mentions of achievements in your new role then that's all you might need. "Promoted to X, blah blah technical team, achieved Y and Z in first year in this role..."
Even if you haven't got leverage re: possibly leaving/better pay elsewhere I'd disagree with some of the other answers, they're discounting optionality here - it's not an unreasonable thing to ask anyway after 12 months, especially if it is otherwise prohibited to discuss pay during your performance review. Book a meeting to specifically discuss this, it's a reasonable request after 12 months, especially if you don't get an automatic annual review, support your request with examples/justification etc.. you were promoted into this role without a pay increase and you were happy to accept that as you realise you had a steep learning curve ahead of you, now over the past year you've achieved A, B and C and become a knowledgeable member of the team people rely on (you don't need to mention or heavily imply the negative counter to his - that it would therefore cost time and money to replace you/bring someone else up to speed) and you'd like your pay to better reflect your current value to the team. It's a weaker request based on your manager being reasonable/fair and simply the possible risk of losing you at some point if they don't at least offer something but it can be made and it doesn't cost anything to ask, certainly isn't entitled after 12 months.
Obviously current climate or your employer struggling and you having no leverage are perhaps good reasons why they might decline to give you one. On the other hand - have you tried throwing your CV out there? It's worth doing in general anyway even if you don't actively want to leave, you might surprise yourself - you think your CV is bad but now you've got some more decent work experience to write about and others could find that attractive - that you're in a good technical team, are a problem solver - if you can throw in a few brief mentions of achievements in your new role then that's all you might need. "Promoted to X, blah blah technical team, achieved Y and Z in first year in this role..."
Even if you haven't got leverage re: possibly leaving/better pay elsewhere I'd disagree with some of the other answers, they're discounting optionality here - it's not an unreasonable thing to ask anyway after 12 months, especially if it is otherwise prohibited to discuss pay during your performance review. Book a meeting to specifically discuss this, it's a reasonable request after 12 months, especially if you don't get an automatic annual review, support your request with examples/justification etc.. you were promoted into this role without a pay increase and you were happy to accept that as you realise you had a steep learning curve ahead of you, now over the past year you've achieved A, B and C and become a knowledgeable member of the team people rely on (you don't need to mention or heavily imply the negative counter to his - that it would therefore cost time and money to replace you/bring someone else up to speed) and you'd like your pay to better reflect your current value to the team. It's a weaker request based on your manager being reasonable/fair and simply the possible risk of losing you at some point if they don't at least offer something but it can be made and it doesn't cost anything to ask, certainly isn't entitled after 12 months.
Just think for a moment how daft that sounds. Have some confidence and learn to write a CV and interview well. If you can speak about your experience and talents you will have no trouble if you get to interview, which tbh most people with good experience do.
Thanks everyone for their advice.
I have an update.
Long story short, I had a meeting with my manager, agrees my new role is a big step up in terms of knowledge and responsibility and that he now sees me as independent and capable but suggested I should be happy enough with the development opportunity and exposure. He stated salaries are frozen for the short to medium term and there are no formal processes within the team regarding salaries. He did mention that at some point he wants to introduce a formal review process and grading system and suggested that the bottom of this grading system would be higher than my current salary and so I can expect a raise then.
So yeah, not the outcome I was hoping for and feel completely unmotivated, funny thing is, is that on Monday he told me that I should start assigning myself a specific type of technical support call from another team so I can start learning a new niche area of the business, whilst this is a good opportunity, the knowledge is only really specific to the company and at the moment, I don't feel like pushing or stretching myself any further, especially if the knowledge is only useful if you work for the company.
I'll be updating my CV, talking to agencies, looking at job sites etc to see if I can find something else, even for the same or slightly less salary wise as I'm not happy with the situation, maybe I should have spoke up from the beginning, but like I said, I was basically given 2 days warning I'd be moving teams and at the time was eager to learn more, and whilst grateful for the opportunity, I think it's off that I wasn't paid more to begin with and especially now, despite the business not doing quite so well.
I have an update.
Long story short, I had a meeting with my manager, agrees my new role is a big step up in terms of knowledge and responsibility and that he now sees me as independent and capable but suggested I should be happy enough with the development opportunity and exposure. He stated salaries are frozen for the short to medium term and there are no formal processes within the team regarding salaries. He did mention that at some point he wants to introduce a formal review process and grading system and suggested that the bottom of this grading system would be higher than my current salary and so I can expect a raise then.
So yeah, not the outcome I was hoping for and feel completely unmotivated, funny thing is, is that on Monday he told me that I should start assigning myself a specific type of technical support call from another team so I can start learning a new niche area of the business, whilst this is a good opportunity, the knowledge is only really specific to the company and at the moment, I don't feel like pushing or stretching myself any further, especially if the knowledge is only useful if you work for the company.
I'll be updating my CV, talking to agencies, looking at job sites etc to see if I can find something else, even for the same or slightly less salary wise as I'm not happy with the situation, maybe I should have spoke up from the beginning, but like I said, I was basically given 2 days warning I'd be moving teams and at the time was eager to learn more, and whilst grateful for the opportunity, I think it's off that I wasn't paid more to begin with and especially now, despite the business not doing quite so well.
When you hand in your notice I wouldn't be surprised if your manager will 'see what he can do' and ask you to hold off for a few days and they'll magically come back with a better offer.
Did you not push back on this, exposure doesn't pay the bills and the extra responsibility should translate into extra pay.
Two vague - need to push for when - what does he mean by medium term and when should you expect this review process to take place? If he's acknowledged that you're under paid then can there be back pay in future? (Obviously unlikely but it's just a way of pushing back using the fact he's acknowledged you're under paid).
Sending your CV out is a good move in general - suggested this in a post back in August, I mean ideally you might have had a first round interview already somewhere else which might have given you the confidence to push a bit harder... especially if you then had a second round or offer.
There isn't really much harm in sending your CV out, not sure why you've not done it already - you get an idea of what your market rate should be etc.. how easily you could move.
Associate
Like some have said, raise it with your manager.
Easiest way is to send him an email if you're not confident of bringing this up person to person.
A simple email asking for a discussion around salary and salary structure going forward. That way it's at least on his mind, even if at worst, he declines your request of a discussion. It's good to know at all times, whether you're working somewhere that there's the potential to get more money if you do A, B and C.
Easiest way is to send him an email if you're not confident of bringing this up person to person.
A simple email asking for a discussion around salary and salary structure going forward. That way it's at least on his mind, even if at worst, he declines your request of a discussion. It's good to know at all times, whether you're working somewhere that there's the potential to get more money if you do A, B and C.
I have another update.
Short story is, I was offered another role, a more senior role and for 10% more than my current salary, it wasn't a dream job by any means, but I had basically been looking for anything that paid the same.
I decided to inform my manager about the offer who had a completely different tone, asked me if I was considering it etc and I replied yes as I didn't feel I could turn down a salary increase, he ended up telling me to wait a few days before potentially deciding to accept so he could come back to me with another offer.
On Monday, he informed me that as a reflection of my hard work, increased knowledge and responsibility he has decided to offer me a salary increase which works out as 26% more which I'm very pleased about.
There's still no framework in place for salaries, so no idea about the future etc and still a bit annoyed I wasn't initially offered anything but I'll take it and will certainly make sure I spend some time each week/month looking for other roles, even if it's just to demand a pay rise.
Thanks all.
Short story is, I was offered another role, a more senior role and for 10% more than my current salary, it wasn't a dream job by any means, but I had basically been looking for anything that paid the same.
I decided to inform my manager about the offer who had a completely different tone, asked me if I was considering it etc and I replied yes as I didn't feel I could turn down a salary increase, he ended up telling me to wait a few days before potentially deciding to accept so he could come back to me with another offer.
On Monday, he informed me that as a reflection of my hard work, increased knowledge and responsibility he has decided to offer me a salary increase which works out as 26% more which I'm very pleased about.
There's still no framework in place for salaries, so no idea about the future etc and still a bit annoyed I wasn't initially offered anything but I'll take it and will certainly make sure I spend some time each week/month looking for other roles, even if it's just to demand a pay rise.
Thanks all.
GET THE PAY RISE OFFER IN WRITING.
Ha yeah, it's annoying I've had to get another job offer before getting a raise, especially in this case where I've literally been promoted into a much more demanding role, acknowledged by my manager that it's a much more demanding role, wait a year to ask for a raise and told no and expect to be happy with 'exposure'. Almost wish I could afford to turn down the extra 16% over the other role and leave anyway but I suppose I should be content.
Whilst I was having the meeting with my manager, he sent me an email with an attached PDF on the company headed template confirming it so all should be good.
Permabanned
glad i work in a kitchen ... me "boss can i get a payrise?" "no feckoff" me "come on don't be a twiddle" "how much you want" me "£40 a week " "go on then but don't ask for another yr "