Pay rise, covering paternity leave and working in Denmark

[md85]

Looking for some advice/thoughts on how to approach this situation regarding pay/value and the upcoming cover of a colleagues' (team lead) paternity leave.


I am a software engineer and I live and work in Copenhagen, Denmark. I have 10 years solid experience in the sector, working in small agencies for various clients and in larger saas focused companies.

TLDR:

My pay is too low, the only pay rise I can get is too low (3%), I am the only senior developer with skills in numerous critical areas in a department of 40-50 and receiving zero recognition for it, and have been asked to cover 3 months of paternity lead in a position senior to mine. I am not very happy about any of this.

Long version:

I work in a company of 200 people, in a products/development department of perhaps 40-50. We have several teams, platform based (server) and application (customer facing) based. I am the most senior developer in an application team, bar the team lead who has been with the company for 8 years but fulfils the workload of a part time developer. During my 2 years I have watched several highly skilled developers leave, and have often had to take on their work, alongside what is expected of me. Following recent movements, I have now been left as a mentor to a team of 4 junior developers (+ team lead (development time restricted) and a product owner), as well as the only person skilled and experienced enough to architect and direct the future of our client application (REST API + Javscript application - platform handles the bits the 'other side' of the API) on a department level. I have also led probably 20 interviews over my time here and I am painfully aware that there are no applicants as skilled as I am in the areas needed if I were to leave.

The wages are high here, but so is the tax rate (42.5% currently) and so are the living costs. I moved here almost 2 years ago, and have been in my current job for 90% of that time. Obviously I had next to nothing to base wage expectations on, so I did as much research as I could, gave a number and negotiated it a little - the result was 550,000 DKK a year and a year's pay freeze. I have since learnt that average graduate wages in my sector, in Copenhagen, are often around the 450,000 DKK amount. Therefore I would probably consider that I am 50,000-150,000 DKK below what I should be on - but I do not know wages of people with similar experience so that is a guesstimate. I just had my first salary discussion and the only offer I am to be given is 3% increase. To be perfectly honest my partner and I recently split up, and the day before my salary negotiation she set a date for moving out of our apartment, so when it came to the salary negotiation my mind was elsewhere and I put up next to no fight or defence - though it is highly unlikely I would gained any increase.

Despite my obvious failure to push for more, 3% and the current situation is not acceptable to me long term, not particularly for the salary itself, but for the value placed on me and the recognition of what I bring to the product and how much of a mess they would be in without me. I have also been asked to take over the team lead position of my current team, when our team lead takes 3 month paternity leave. I have not, as yet, been offered any compensation (I would have expected it in the salary discussion if there were to be any), but will be expected to continue my current workload, continue the mentoring of 4 junior developers, on top of the role of a team lead (and in Denmark they love to have meetings, so I will not have that much work time). Turning it down would seem petulant and surely move me to the bottom of the queue should any team lead roles become available permanently.

I am growing increasingly tired of many things, and I know the easy answer is 'look for another job', but I have invested a great deal in the work I and my colleagues have done and I don't like to leave things unfinished. Additionally, following the end of my relationship (I invested my entire life to move to Denmark) and the need to find a new apartment, in a city notoriously expensive and scarce of apartments, I am having serious considerations as whether I should 'give up' and head back to Britain. I am 31, I want a family and a home to call my own and financial insecurity is not something I can manage for too much longer.

I have never experienced a situation such as this, and the small cultural nuances and differences in the workplace are making it further difficult to decide whether I am expecting to much, whether giving an ultimatum is childish, or whether giving up and heading back 'home' is a viable solution.

 

[Mr^B]

"I know the easy answer is 'look for another job', but I have invested a great deal in the work I and my colleagues have done and I don't like to leave things unfinished."

This is entirely the wrong attitude to have to your job. There's no point in being loyal to the WRONG company. Also, do NOT over-estimate your value to your employer, you are not irreplaceable - hardly anyone is. Even Apple seem to be muddling through without his Jobsness.

There's a reason you have seen highly skilled developers leave - and it's why you must leave too.

As a side-note, how well is the company doing? Can they not afford to pay you more because they simply can't afford it? It's a little thing, and should not impact your decision to leave, but it could shed some light on the "why"...

 

[ivrytwr3]

I don't know what to advise, but your position seems more than just senior developer.

Quick and dirty maths, you make £63k and pay £26.5k tax, so in effect you are paid £36.5k per year for this position - is this correct?

Are you been taxed correctly? Can a financial advisor not advise on how to best approach your earnings and tax?

It seems that for what you do and what you earn are not comparable, surely you could earn this wage doing a lesser role back in the UK ergo you could make more by taking a similar role back in the UK? That's also without taking into account the high Danish living costs!

Rough figures and quick thoughts.

 

[dowie]

Get an offer from elsewhere and you'll soon see if they share your sentiments about how much you're needed. Maybe they're just taking you for granted and will be shocked that you're willing to leave, alternatively they actually don't value you as much as you think they should and will see you leave without trying to make you stay... basically there is one way to find out.

 

[HangTime]

Taking everything at face value, it sounds like you may be better off back in the UK. As per the above poster your net income isn't that massive for a technical lead, especially when cost of living is taken into consideration. A job paying say £50k in the UK would have a higher net salary.

Paternity leave cover sounds like the final straw; if it were a larger company with more (relevant) team lead positions available then it might have been a good showcase for your talents (proving you could do it ahead of an internal promotion into another area) but it sounds like just added stress and responsibility.

I would get yourself on the market, if you have no strong ties maybe cast the net even wider and consider jobs in other countries not just UK/DK.

 

[md85]

Thanks for taking the time to respond, it’s good to hear some different opinions.

On the not over-estimating value comment - completely agree, and I am generally very wary of exactly this. Being involved in candidate evaluations, interviews and hiring recommendations I see it all too often, it’s a dangerous trap to fall into to over value yourself. Technical: The fact for me though, is that historically our product has been ‘legacy’ based (a mix-match of Classic ASP and C#/ASP.NET for those curious), therefore many of my colleagues are skilled in those areas, as am I. However over the year previous to me starting, and the 2 years since, we have very rapidly migrated to a thin Javascript client backing into a REST API, which then backs into the historic legacy code, alongside many node services. Those that originally put all of this in place have since left the company, through an acquisition that split the products department into separate companies, and then others through people moving on/leaving. With a split of probably 85:15, the 15 being those with any skill or experience in modern client and javascript development, it leaves very few, of which I am the most senior, with any knowledge of our actual client application. If they want to continue at the pace they are, they need people like me to stick around. While of course there are many great developers out there, probably many far better than I, I have interviewed numerous candidates for the positions we require and the skills just aren’t out there in Copenhagen - hence the perhaps unreasonably high valuation of myself.

The company itself is doing very well, we were acquired in 2015 by a larger company - there are a total of 8000 employees under that whole umbrella. While it’s minutely possible that the funds aren’t there in my particular company, I cannot imagine it. The Danish work environment is generous with many small perks and flexible working hours, my workplace offers more than most in that area - free drinks, free breakfasts, free gym, discounted lunch canteen, discounted massages, discounted travel cards, home internet paid for, free phone and contract etc. I struggle to imagine that an extra 50,000 - 150,000 (£6k - £17k) would make a dent.

Numbers regarding pay/taxes appear correct, and thinking about it objectively I probably would be taking home more in the UK than here, but the work lifestyle cannot compete. I essentially work in the office from 9am-3.30pm and am free to complete remaining hours whenever I see fit. I generally do that between 10pm and midnight once ‘free time’ has passed. This is probably the biggest thing preventing me going with moving elsewhere (likely being the UK) right now. It likely sounds greedy, given common British working hours, but I very much enjoy being able to ‘do stuff’ before the world shuts down toward 9/10pm - it’s a very fortunate life-style to have, but it’s common in most work places here in Denmark, so nothing unique in that sense.

I think I am best at least exploring what is out there and available to me, and where that might be. Given my impending need for a new apartment, I’m keen to have a better idea of the future before I end up committing to a lease.

Still a little unsure how to approach team lead paternity cover though. It is effective from April for 3 months, so I would need to discuss it soon. Rejecting it on the basis that I do not receive equivalent pay seems reasonable (to me at least), but if they don't bite then I will likely be dropped down the pecking order if I were to stay around longer term. It would serve as adequate compensation to me (for now), for the pointless pay increase though.

 

[Quartz]

I am growing increasingly tired of many things, and I know the easy answer is 'look for another job',

And it's the right answer.

but I have invested a great deal in the work I and my colleagues have done and I don't like to leave things unfinished.

Remember this: it's just business. Your employer wouldn't hesitate to throw you under the bus. And probably will come Brexit.

As for returning to Britain, it's probably a good idea what with Brexit in the offing. By returning now you'll get yourself established before the rush. But you might also look farther afield: Canada and New Zealand.