Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with raise

How do I use an offer from another company to negotiate a raise from my current one?

reticulatedspline — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 12:17:32 -0800

How do I use job offer from another company to negotiate a salary increase at my current one? So the bottom line is I'm not being paid what I'm worth and I want more. My current company is paying me about $5k less than the industry standard for my position, and- as I discovered the other day- $11k less than what my coworker, who has the same job as I but on one of the company's other brands, is being paid.

Recently I've been interviewing with another company which is much bigger, and- judging from salary reports I've read- likely to be able pay me what I deserve. I just finished the third round of interviews, and the HR contact has told me the final step is completing the background check. Since I haven't robbed any banks, I figure this is pretty much a formality.

My work at my current company has been stellar, with my account growing in sales by over 700% so far this year, despite the declining market for my vertical. Meanwhile the accounts run by everyone else on the same brand as me have been flat or falling this year, so not only am I churning out huge profits for the company, I'm the only one on my brand who is doing so. They've repeatedly told me they're incredibly pleased with my work (as well they should be) so I know they'd prefer not to lose me.

My ideal situation is staying at my current company and getting paid what I'm worth. The new place sounds like it might be a good fit in terms of responsibility and workplace environment, so I'd be happy with getting a job there at the salary I'm seeking, but my current company is definitely a good fit. Since the main thing I want is more money, I'd prefer to get it without the risk of ending up in a place that doesn't suit me.

I've never tried to finagle this sort of thing, so how exactly does it work? I get the offer from the new place, we ideally reach a salary I am happy with, I tell them I will think on it, then I go back to my current employer and say... what, exactly?

My thought was "I've received an offer from another company. I'd ideally like to continue working here, but I need the salary increase they are offering me. So unless you guys are willing to make me a counter offer, I'm planning on accepting," but is that too aggressive? Should it come off sounding like such a direct threat, even if it's one I'm definitely willing to follow through on if my ask isn't met? I would prefer not to burn any bridges here, in case I need references etc. in the future, and as I stated I really would prefer to stay here as long as I can get the money I deserve.

Help, mefi!

Movin on up

Anonymous — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 21:32:03 -0800

I just got a raise. Yay! So here's my question: how good is it? Will a raise of this size make my life more comfortable? Nitty gritty details (lots of numbers!) inside. I work in print media in New York City. This is the first raise I have ever received in my life. I'm excited about it, as I pretty much live paycheck to paycheck, so every little bit helps. My salary history:

2006: $34,000 as a marketing manager for an arts organization in Boston.¹
2007: $30,000 as an entry-level assistant at a print media company in NYC.
2008: $32,500 when I switched companies. Still an assistant, but for a more important person, and I work on my own projects, too.
2009: $34,500 — the raise! No change in responsibilities, just more money. (I've actually only been at this company for 9 months; not a full year.) I'm finally back to the salary I had three years ago in the job I hated (though, considering the benefits at that job were practically nonexistent, I probably effectively reached that point a while ago).

So, is a 6.15% raise a good raise? Average? Piddling? I have no idea. Will an extra $2,000 ($166/month) actually have any effect on my quality of living? What do you think, MeFi?

¹My first job straight out of college. It sucked. I quit and moved to New York.

My time is worth more than this.

Anonymous — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 17:42:18 -0800

Workfilter: My small company has cut benefits and pay, closed my office and given my peers promotions without raises. They've also taught me everything I know. How loyal should I be to them? I work for a small PR firm that is currently going through the same struggles that our media counterparts are going through-- paycuts, downgraded health insurance, an office "relocation" to a location 1.25 hrs from the city (and I don't have a car-- I carpool), etc. I have not adjusted well to the transition, but the biggest difficulty has been the paycut. I know it's my own poor planning, but I am literally living paycheck to paycheck now. I have some reason to believe that I could be making much more using the same types of communication skills I already have.

That said, I feel guilty about looking elsewhere. They hired me as an entry-level candidate straight out of college a little less than a year ago, and they've taught me everything I know. I also recently joined a new account team from which I am learning a LOT, and I can see myself continuing to learn and grow professionally with this team's support. Because most people at my company are quite a bit older than I am, I don't see any of my colleagues outside of work on a personal level, but I do enjoy working with this team.

My company is only about 25 people, and over the past few months we've lost three people due to frustration with the work environment. We've also had several people "promoted" (without raises)-- my best guess is that these promotions have been driven because our company can't lose these folks but doesn't have the cash right now. (We've lost a lot of clients recently.) For a few reasons, primarily my client load and focused experience in my area, I believe I'm also seen as "valuable" at the firm.

Hivemind, I may have some possible job opportunities on the horizon, and I want to proceed with the confidence that I'm taking the right steps. Here are my questions:

1) How much do I owe this company? Should I feel guilty for trying to leave while still taking on new responsibilities/client relationships? I don't want to burn any bridges with them, and I don't want to leave them in the lurch, but I can sell my time at a much higher rate than this.

2) If you have used a job offer to leverage a salary increase at your current job during difficult economic times, how did it go over? (FWIW: as my pay was cut 20%, I would be asking for a "restoration" vs. a "raise.") Given how much I'm learning with this new team, I can ignore the crappy commuting/telecommuting/benefit-free situation if I'm at least making a living wage (which... I'm not. :/)-- but how do I do it?

When’s the best time to ask for a raise?

Anonymous — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 18:29:50 -0800

There have been a lot of shakeups at my work lately, and now they seem to be working themselves out, leaving me with more responsibility. No word yet on more compensation or a title change, so when should I ask for it? To sum: Last month, Department Head G announced that he was leaving to start a new division in our company. He was quickly replaced by S, who seems great. I’ve been working with S for about 3.5 weeks now—long enough for her to know who I am, but not really know my work.

My direct supervisor, C, announced this week that she is leaving for another department in our company. Her last day will be 6/22 and she will be replaced soon, I hope. My job functions as an assistant to her position, among other things.

My superior colleague, M, was promoted out of my unit today. She will NOT be replaced. In her new position, she’ll retain some of her current responsibilities but some (most?) of them will be shifted to me. So my new job will be a combination of entry level assistant with more senior responsibilities.

No one has mentioned a title promotion or raise to me at this point, which seems strange given the amount of work I’m about to be given. I’m not sure who/when to approach about this.

C, my current boss, who loves me but is leaving in less than two weeks.
S, her current boss, who could probably see my reasoning but doesn’t know me very well. OR
My unknown new boss, after a few weeks/months demonstrating my work for him/her.

A few other tidbits: I love my job and am excited for the new stuff coming my way. I will not leave if my request for a raise isn’t met, at least not any time soon (grad student, company paying for half). I tend to sell myself short, so it would be pretty easy to talk myself out of asking for this raise only...it doesn’t seem very fair to give me lots of additional work without at least a title change, much less some extra cash.

Bonus question: I currently make around $35,000. M was making between 45,000 and 50,000, I think (given similar title postings at my company in the past). How much would be reasonable to ask for, if I have to ask?

That was... unexpected.

Anonymous — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 10:40:02 -0800

I got promoted with a raise less than six weeks into the job. I need to know what else to expect, aside from having the standards raised way up. I guess this is mostly a case of disbelief at this happening to me. Maybe my boss is a bit too quick to the draw, but I'm thinking that his optimism has already been tempered by the failures that come with being a businessman. I don't know.
I'm a fresh graduate, this is my first job, and in college, I was really never the overachieving type, I was never even really involved in organizations. At this new job, I've definitely put in some effort, but I still feel like a total newbie so I wonder how my boss could place so much faith in me.
So how do I make good of this? Have there been others who have gone through the same thing? I'd like to know what comes next.
Apart from that, I just need to know if there's a bigger chance of me not getting regularized. More responsibility with less experience = more chances of making bigger mistakes. Getting fired after this would be a big blow.
Since I got a raise too, I'm also wondering if this wipes out the chance of me getting a raise if ever I get regularized, and if that increase will be substantial. I don't know yet if the raise is a significant amount, so I'm keeping my expectations low. Given the current economic situation, I was already embarrassed to have (successfully) negotiated my starting salary at a higher amount to begin with.
I don't know if I need a throwaway account, but just in case: kerplunk24@gmail.com
Many thanks.

How much should a nanny get paid and how to ask for a raise

beccyjoe — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 17:52:09 -0800

What do other Canadian nannies earn? I get $12 an hour and want to ask for a raise. Never done this before, any advice on hour to go about it? I work part time (20-25 hours p/w) as a nanny for a very nice couple with one 2 yr old daughter. They treat me very well and I like them a lot. I am not expected to do any cleaning or housework - just look after/entertain their kid. It's a good job and I enjoy it, I like the kid a lot.

But I can't help but feel that $12 an hour is measly. For similar work in Australia I was paid $18. I do a great job, and the parents constantly tell me how happy they are with me. I'm 31 and and very experienced.

I've been working with them for 3 months now and I feel it's time to ask for a raise. I'm nervous about it because I have a great relationship with them and it's obviously not business-like at all. It's not like approaching a boss in an office environment.

Also I know that a lot of other Canadian nannies get paid much less. However I still think $12 is measly...

PLease offer suggestions on hour to go about asking for a raise in this casual, friendly employment situation. I feel very respected and appreciated, so I don't want to go about this the wrong way.

Also if you are a Canadian nanny and earn more, please tell me so I know it's reasonable!

Thanks!

How much to expect in a yearly raise?

GilloD — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 13:06:28 -0800

I have my first "real job" annual review/raise coming up. I have never done this before. I'm looking for advice on what to expect and what to ask for. Here's the rub: I'm 25. For a variety of reasons, the job I've held for the last year is my first salaried, "real" job that I've held for more than 10 months. My annual review is on Friday and we'll be discussing my performance (Which is more than adequate, but more on that below) and a raise in pay.

My concern is that when I was hired I was a totally unknown quantity. I took a somewhat low pay offer because I was desperate and because I had preciously few references in the field. I was initially hired as a marketing grunt. I did a lot of background research for campaigns, wrote some copy, executed a few web campaigns etc etc. I also put in after-hours and weekend work at events. As time went on, I gradually evolved into the web guy after it was discovered that I knew more than a fair shake about coding on the web. That job eventually grew and grew to the point where I was running all of our social media ventures, coding PHP/SQL databases for odds and ends work, relaunching our website and, now, implementing a new e-commerce software platform while simultaneously integrating that platform with a new and expensive and complicated ERP-backend. And doing the design work for these. And, oh yeah, I'm still doing weekend/after-hours trade show work, still doing marketing grunt work. I feel like I have two jobs.

But whatever. It could be worse! The problem is that my pay (About 18k, after taxes) is no longer consummate with the work- both quantity and quality- that I'm doing and is very, very much not on par for New York City. My wife and I are used to be being broke, we make ends meet, but I'm in a position now to get a little bit more and I'm not sure how much to ask for.

First of all, my boss loves me. I'm always the first to volunteer for a goofy detail no one else wants (I once wore the mascot costume when our usual mascot fellow was a no-show), I have a generally upbeat spirit and I do good work. I'm 100% confident that a review of the work I've done will come up positive.

I'm also in a position where. To finish the ERP work, at the contracting company's rate, would probably cost $15-$25000. They're very expensive. Now, I'm not going to ask my boss for a 15,000 raise, as much as I might think I deserve it. But the usual 2-3% figure I keep seeing quoted seems incredibly tiny, useless and untenable. I'm already considering a second job- I might as well just get a new primary that pays better.

So, I suppose the question is: What are the politics here? How much is it reasonable to ask for? Will asking for a crazy number (5000? 7000? ONE MILLION DOLLARS?!) make me look like a loon and damage my relationship? I'm not sure what people usually get, so I'm not sure what's sane. My dilemma is that I got hired for one job, fell into another more difficult and time consuming job, and kept the same pay. I'm not sure how to bridge that divide without looking greedy.

FYI: The payscale in this company is a little wacky. There are essentially 3 of us on the bottom of the totem pole, earning between 20 and 30 pre-tax. There are 2 mid-level folks earning between 40 and 60. The other 3 probably sit somewhere above there. (It's a small company and we used to have a very loud mouthed accountant. I know more than I should.). Also FYI, this is 9-5:30 gig, lots of extra hours, comp time, but no extra pay. We pay part of our own health insurance (About 15-20$ a week), no dental, 401k matched (Harhar, if you have money left for it!), no Christmas Bonus, 5 days paid vay-cay (Well. One of us has 6 weeks. This is another negotiating point.). No real perks otherwise, we don't get a lot of those "miscellaneous" holidays off (Columbus Day, Martin Luther King Day, Christmas Eve,New Year's etc.), so while it's a small company, it's not a Web 2.0, foosball for 3 hours in the afternoon kind of place.

Okay. I think that covers it. I'll peek in from time to time if anyone needs clarification.

Help me convince the new boss that I am not in fact a pain in the ass and should get more money

Methylviolet — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 22:36:00 -0800

New boss denied my raise, but agreed to meet with me tomorrow to talk about it. Tell me what to say. I am a technical writer at a soap factory. I've been there a year and a half. My immediate supervisor is terrific, and seems very pleased with the work I do. She gave my performance review, and it was universally positive except for one thing. Something about: Methylviolet is very passionate about the work she does and tries to make the best it can be. However, her perfectionism sometimes causes strain with other departments. This is an area she could improve. This is fair, and true. My supervisor gave me advice on that, and I recognize the need to go a little more softly. She recommended me for a raise, and sent it to her boss -- who just joined us last month, and doesn't know me at all. That was three weeks ago.

Well, today my supervisor told me that the big boss denied me any raise at all... until there is improvement on the interpersonal side. What? My supervisor disagreed with this, and fought for me: my workload has greatly increased, its complexity has increased, I do work beyond my job classification... but no. Apparently someone has complained about me to her, and she thinks I am just this pain-in-the-ass person.

I stopped by the big boss' office, and asked if she'd be willing to let me know how I could better meet her expectations. She agreed and named a time tomorrow morning. My supervisor will be there too.

You see that I am interpersonally-challenged; please give me your insight on turning this around. What can I do here?

my time is worth more than this!

Anonymous — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 14:13:46 -0800

Lots of work for little reward: How do I ask for a raise? Working for a non-profit that is not doing so hot....more inside, possibly whiny (?) I am posting this anon because i know that several of my coworkers (and higher ups) read this!

i have been working for the same non-profit for almost 2 years. recently (<6 months) got a promotion. get a raise, get a sweet title, feel happy inside. (mind you, this raise still keeps me at the barely-getting-by non-profit salary category.)

Economy starts to fail. small non-profit arts org. takes a nose dive. I get assigned LOTS of extra work-- now i do work for the sales, marketing, and PR dept. I do not get a raise. My coworkers do not either, but they are not given 3x more work.

I feel like i am whining, but is it completely unfair that i should be expected to do 3x the work while they sit and do nothing all day? I know some of them get paid more than me to do 3x LESS work than me.

I feel bad asking for a raise because, as a non profit,we are already struggling to stay afloat. But at the same time, i feel like i deserve it.

How do i (gently) go about asking for a raise? I am comfortable enough to ask MY boss, my bosses boss, etc. I am a valued member of this small team and i know they would not want to lose me. A

ll i really want is $2000 more per year. Should i write a letter first? talk to my boss about how i think the work distribution is unfair? I feel like re-distributing duties would be hard, as i am the only person who knows how to (and is trusted to!) complete a lot of tasks. Please, please, help.

Millions to be made by doing... what?

Anonymous — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 10:56:21 -0800

How do state and local government and schools generate revenue? (aside from taxes, tolls, etc) I have a client who's brainstorming for ideas on revenue generation. We're not talking instant income, the earliest expectation of returns is 3-6 months.

What can a state/local governemnt or a school district or other land-holding agencies do to raise revenue? Advertising is an option, but a little tougher in this economy.

For example:
One thing some school districts have done is to lease land use for cellphone towers on school property for a no-cost installation which pays them an annuity for land use.

Another thing is sponsorships of buildings and signage that is what I call "near-advertising" which gets a company name out but no contact details or other info (which works great for bigger brands, but not so well for local businesses)

What we have to work with:
1000's of acres of land and roadside area along interstate and toll roads

Access to the roads gives access to drivers who would see advertising and signage... but what is really gonna get them to spend on something? Billboards? Electronic signs?

Lots of cash if there is some type of implementation needed (they'd prefer to have other companies front the costs though)

The client has time and money.

What other ideas can the hive mind throw out to bring in the bucks?
(please - let's assume they all need to be legal)

What do I do with a car allowance every month?

Anonymous — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 17:49:53 -0800

My company is very eager to give me a car allowance. I wanted a raise. They countered with a lower raise, but added in a car allowance to bring the total higher than what I asked for. Why? My understanding is that a car allowance will be taxed like regular income. Talking to co-workers, some use part, all or none of their car allowance for actual automobile related expenses. They simply deposit it into their bank account if they don't use it. A car allowance is taxed as regular income, isn't it? Does the employer get taxed less on this? They seem to be really be pushing this, and on face value it looks better than what I originally asked for, I don't want to bite the hand that feeds me.

I do not use my car on business a lot, and if I were to accept this I probably just hole the money away, what's the deal here? Do I get hit with a large tax liability I don't know about? For the life of me I can't figure out why they'd go through the additional processing to cut me a check every month, and not just give me the raise I asked for. It leads me to believe they get some sort of tax benefits, but I could just be paranoid or wrong.

What should I expect at an annual review?

Anonymous — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 06:42:21 -0800

My first annual review is coming up at my first real job. What do I expect, especially regarding discussion about pay/raises? I am an internal tech support guy (with a few other tech-related responsibilities) for a medium-sized business. This is my first "real" job. (I've only worked in huge chain retail and restaurants and whatnot before this.) My very first annual review is coming up in a couple of weeks.

Seeing as this is my first annual review in any job, I just want to mainly know what to expect. What kind of things are we going to talk about? What will they say? What should I say? Most importantly, what about a raise or discussion over compensation? What is a standard raise, and do I have any negotiation power?

I really like my job, and my benefits are great, but I feel like my base compensation is not quite what it should be. I've done a bit of poking around on salary websites and have talked to a couple people in my field, and from what I've seen it looks like I'm getting paid probably about $6000 less per year than I "should" be. I think part of this is that, again, this was my first real job. The second part is that I'm relatively young for this job. Both of these things were made clear when I got hired as reasons I was somewhat "on probation," if that makes sense.

I have a really good relationship with my direct manager and the rest of the chain of command, and I don't want to spoil this by being greedy or seeming ungrateful. So what can I expect, and what can I do to best prepare?

Denied a raise; what is my next step?

RingerChopChop — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 08:21:01 -0800

I was denied a raise that I really deserved because the small company I work for "isn't doing so well right now." My request came after I was given a very positive review in which all parties agreed that have exceeded expectations. When my request was denied, the individual who denied it acknowledged that there is a large inequity in terms of pay in the office and that when we have enough money to give raises, I am the first in line. I was also told that we need to wait and see how the 4th quarter goes, and that I should ask again in 60 days because the financial picture might look better then. I feel that I'm being fed a line here and that when I ask in January the "picture" will still be that I'm not being paid what I deserve.

So, are people paid based on the quality of the work they do or the ups and downs of the business? Should I insist on equal pay for equal work or do I just trust that they have my best interest at heart but just honestly cannot afford to pay me what I'm worth?

If it matters, I'm the youngest person working for the business and am female. The "inequality" in salaries is that some individuals make four times the amount I do.

Getting the money I was promised

Anonymous — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 19:00:31 -0800

How do I go about getting a raise my boss promised me before he was fired? I am filling a supervisory position in the interim while a search for a permanent replacement is found.

When I accepted the position, I was told by my new boss that there would be a significant raise for the duration of the position. Foolish me, I got nothing in writing or email to confirm that. My new boss explained that it may take awhile to process, but that it would be retroactive to the date I started the supervisory position.

Today, my new boss got fired unexpectedly. I have explained the promise of a raise to my bosses boss, but he claims he wasn't aware of any pay raise for me in this interim position. HR received no paperwork about my raise from my former boss.

This supervisory position is more responsibility. It's only fair that it be paid as such, even if it turns out to be temporary. What tactics can I use to demonstrate to the bosses boss that I am worth the raise that I was promised while staying in his good graces so that I am still considered for the position permanently?

Best way to negotiate a large raise?

Anonymous — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 20:23:37 -0800

How can I smartly/safely negotiate a substantial promotion and raise? I signed onto my current position at a salary in the mid-50s. I definitely undersold myself, but I came from a technical position in a non-technical field and didn't have a very high base to negotiate from. After some staff turnover in the last year, I've informally taken on a much more senior position running the team I was hired into.

Now I would like to renegotiate and make that position official. I spoke with several past employees who held this senior position and their salaries were $40k to $60k higher than what I am making. I've got the chops to be in that range: 8 years of experience, some fairly significant contributions to this company, and a hell of a lot of hours spent in the office. But I am worried that they'll balk at such a sudden increase, even if it's part of a promotion.

Any strategies or advice? Is it wiser to start high and negotiate down, or should I be wary of asking for too much initially and sounding like I'm just fishing?

Should I ask for more money after a raise?

Anonymous — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 08:19:01 -0800

After being promoted and receiving a decent raise I've been tasked with hiring my replacement. My new position is managerial so this new employee will report directly to me. While working with the recruiter I just found out that the position has a maximum salary that is larger than my current one. How do I talk to my boss about this without sounding ungrateful? First, a bit of background. I've been at the company for less than a year but made enough of an impression that they promoted me. I was making a competitive salary when I started and my raise was decent but not spectacular. I'm looking to hire someone to replace my old position. That new person along with some other people will report directly into me.

I found out today that the maximum salary available for my old position is actually more than I make now - with my new raise. Obviously, that salary is only a maximum amount alloted for the role and is by no means a guarantee. However, that makes me feel a bit odd that the person working directly under me could make more money than I do.

It seems like there are several options on the table:

1. Do nothing about it. Be grateful for my promotion and my salary.

2. Wait to see who gets hired and what their salary requirements are. It's possible that the new employee will demand less money thus nullifying my concern. If they do make more money then and only then do I talk to my boss.

3. Talk to my boss about it right now. I don't want to sound petty but I also feel the need to stand up for myself a bit. To be clear, my boss is very approachable.

So that's the situation. I am not looking to be greedy and don't want to appear ungrateful for the promotion and raise. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to handle this? All comments are much appreciated.

I need a raise but I don't know how to ask.

lekvar — Thu, 01 May 2008 12:52:36 -0800

I need a raise, but I'm not used to asking for them and I'm really bad at it when I do. Help? I've been working professionally for 10 years now, but eight years have been with the same company. I've only gotten one raise in that time. The company I work for is small (12 people) and is subject to the whims of the economy, almost a canary-in-the-coal-mine, so nobody here is rich. Doubly so with the recent economic turmoil.

I have gotten bonuses in the past, some of them have been very generous, so I don't believe that my lack of remuneration is based on poor performance. Also, I'm the only employee in a critical position in our workflow and nearly irreplaceable due to the time I've spent in the company.

I really don't know much about how to play at business though. I go to work, sit at my desk, do my job, go home. I don't know how to jockey for position, politick, go for promotions or ask for raises. Consequentially, I rarely get any of those things. I'm used to doing my job until somebody hands me a raise in recognition of my good work but that hasn't happened for a couple of years.

So how do I ask for a raise? How do I ask at a time when everybody is having to tighten their belts?

Re-raise before the turn?

Anonymous — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 14:15:45 -0800

i'm considering asking for a raise at work, which might essentially require asking for a raise for my whole team. soliciting opinions on if it's appropriate at this time. I'm a contractor at a well-known but not top-tier startup in the Bay Area. It's a position I've held since mid-January on a 3-month contract that expires next week and for which I have a verbal agreement to re-up, but not a signed one yet.

I make $13/hr for my role here, plus a performance-based bonus of $175/month, which is easily and regularly achieved. There are 10 people total on the team, and from what I gather the manager and at least one other, likely two other people are on salary. I know that including myself 4 of us are on the same contract, that a 5th, more tenured person has the same pay rate plus health care, and that a 6th, also more tenured person is on the same pay rate but does not have insurance. Neither of these people asked for more money, and my take is that the 5th did ask for health and the 6th did not, although the 5th might have just been offered it.

My role is pretty simple admittedly, and I think they'd have a pretty easy time hiring people at this rate. And I signed the first contract willingly and I understand that it's a business and they are under no obligation to me. But I also find that $13 in this town is barely livable, and I figure if I'm going to ask at any time, this is the one. So I did talk to my boss, who agreed that we don't make much and sorta halfheartedly said she'd look into it, but that any sort of rate change would apply to all of us, not just me. Fair enough, but this now means we'd be looking at a $25 - 50K year budget addition instead of five to ten thousand. We have the money; I know that.

I'm torn on what to do because I'm feeling pretty broke these days and am emotinally stirred every time I think about this, so I'm not sure I trust my judgement. I'm also feeling forced to look for other opportunities which might require me to break a contract, so I'm leery of asking for more money and bailing soon after anyway. We have the opportunity to ask anonymous questions at regular all-hands meetings and I'm considering asking "Can my whole team have a raise?" but that seems foolish. What's the best way to handle this? I'm hoping to get bumped up at least to $16-18.

further details, tryingtogetpaid@gmail.com

Do I deserve a raise?

Anthony84 — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 19:42:24 -0800

Do I deserve a raise and what should I be asking for? Are there any resources other than salary.com type places that can help me with this decision? I know this is asked all the time but each situation seems different. Before I say anything else, I LOVE MetaFilter, this community is awesome.

Anyway, pardon the complete lack of knowledge on this topic (and my lack of clarity in asking my question), but I know very little on this subject and I want to learn as much as possible. After all, this is the first time I've been put into this type of position. In general I ask, what should I do about my salary and position given my situation?

Here's what detail I can give: I started my job a couple of years ago out of college and within a year of starting, I went from trainee to trainer due to some shifting of positions at work. I've done an exemplary job by all accounts in my current position, and I've taken on a number of additional responsibilities without additional compensation (besides merit increases). To me, that alone would warrant some kind of increase in pay or a promotion (am I right?). However, neither has happened in the last 2 years even though I've been slaving away nonstop.

To be more specific, I was hired on in California to do software testing and a little bit of development for a company. I now find myself developing and testing 50/50 or perhaps even 60/40, and training new people to assist in my work. Because my job is a mix of different things, it's hard to know whether I should be paid more like a tester or more like a developer. Also, while I don't officially manage anyone, I think I deserve some credit for the work I've done with new hires in guiding them along their way. After all, I'm taking work off of the boss's hands by doing so.

Anyway, it's obvious that I feel like I'm doing more than I'm getting paid for. But, being that I have been on the job for 2 years, would it be considered premature to be asking for a promotion or a raise? If I do ask for something, what should I ask for? Something higher than what I expect to get, or something lower? I don't want to give the wrong impression to my employer because other than the pay, I enjoy my job. Furthermore, I don't want to embarrass myself by going into this knowing nothing of what I can reasonably do about this.

What salary would be expected for a person in my position in California? How little is too little for what I do? Are there any good resources out there for this? I know, too many questions! Thank you for any guidance you can give me.

Does a promotion negate a merit raise?

Vidiot — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 16:14:21 -0800

My girlfriend's been offered a promotion at her job. However, her manager's informed her that because she's getting a raise due to the promotion, she won't be getting her merit increase this year. Is this kosher? Usual? She normally gets the merit increase at her performance review in April. Her manager says that because the promotion is happening before then, she's "ineligible" for the merit increase. He went on to say that if she'd gotten the promotion after her merit increase took effect in April, she would've gotten both raises.

Is this normal? Does she have any recourse(s)? I've already advised her to ask if she could see this policy in writing, but beyond that or a chat with corporate HQ HR or her district manager, she's not sure what she could do.

(oh, and when she questioned her manager about being ineligible for the merit raise, he told her that it wasn't that much money (she works in retail -- she gets consistently positive performance reviews, but the dollar amounts are small), and he wondered why she was making a fuss about it.)

Does a landlord need to give notice when raising rent in NY

wondermouse — Sat, 09 Feb 2008 16:50:08 -0800

In New York State, on an apartment rented on a month-to-month basis (no lease), is the landlord required to give a certain amount of notice when raising the rent? This seems like it should be an easy question to find the answer to, but I'm finding it for all states except New York. I live in an apartment with two roommates. We have no lease, so we do the month-to-month thing. We've lived here for several years. We recently got a letter from the landlord stating that our rent would be going up by 10% starting this month. However, the letter was dated January 24th, and it wasn't postmarked until January 30th. By the time we received the letter, we'd already mailed her our rent check for February, which was of course for the old amount.

Figuring this wasn't nearly enough notice to give us for such a large rent increase, my roommate, who is pretty much the head of the household, decided not to pay the new amount until next month, though she never called the landlord about it. Today we got another letter from the landlord requesting the new amount for this month as our check did not reflect it. My roommate's going to call her on Monday. Before she does, I'd like to know if there's a law saying there needs to be some amount of notice given when raising the rent on an apartment in this situation.

Strategic transition to non-profit management. How to?

Stewriffic — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 08:29:58 -0800

My job duties are changing rapidly, and I'm taking on tons of new responsibilities, at my boss's request. I'd like to ask for a promotion and/or raise, given the situation but am not sure how to go about it. I've been working at a very small, local non-profit health care provider for less than a year as a health educator. We're located in a medium to large sized Southeastern city. I'm a one person department, really, and wear lots of hats. Now there's an unexpected opportunity to fund an entirely new program in my department, which will likely change the focus of my job to include supervising the staff member we'd hire. I'm also taken on a lot of things outside my the theoretical job description, at the request of our ED. (Being on board committees, grant writing, program planning, statewide conference planning....etc. I was hired to do 1/2 community education and 1/2 program coordination.

What I'm trying to figure out here is a) what kind of title should I be going for, b) what sort of raise would be appropriate (and when to ask for them?), and c) how should I frame these changes to an executive director who necessarily and rightfully keeps a very tight hold on the purse?

I don't want to ask for the world too quickly--I want to be strategic about this. I'm feeling kind of clueless as to how to navigate these changes, though, especially since I'm so new here. The ED expects employees to do things outside their job description, so she might not be immediately receptive to my asking.

Currently I report directly to the ED. There are 3 other staff members who are "Directors" of their departments; two of them have supervisory roles and one does not. Our total staff is ~13 people. I am the only Spanish-speaker among us as we expand our service capacity, and I bring with me a slew of community contacts in that area. I have about 4 years of direct experience as a health educator, and about 10 additional years as an educator in different capacities (high school teacher, university instructor in a different field).

Thanks!

Do I have any recourse if my old boss screws me on my annual raise?

forallmankind — Mon, 24 Sep 2007 12:08:07 -0800

I recently moved to a different division at work and my old boss took advantage of this to screw me on my annual raise: what, if any, recourse do I have? I've worked for the same company for 6 years and every year we get an annual review. In this review we're scored between 0-5 on different aspects of our performance, and the average of these scores defines the raise you get (I usually get about 3.5).

This year though I changed division at raise time and even though I got an average of 3.29 in my review, my raise was 1.23%. I've spoken with HR about this and have been fobbed off (hey, that division had a bad year etc). So is that it? Do I/ should I just suck it up? Or is there something else I could do to get what I think I'm due?

End of year reviews and when to ask for a raise? Or how I learned to love the unemployment line

ronmexico — Tue, 11 Sep 2007 16:32:28 -0800

When to ask for a raise in the rush to the year-end-review. I've taken on quite a few hats in the last year and pushed myself quite a bit into more responsibility. I work in IT, initially the lone IT tech doing desktop and server support. The end of this month will be my 3 year anniversary with this company (this is my first IT job). Now my responsibilities have gone from desktop and simple server support to a multitude of server platforms/vendors, virtualization, network administration and R&D, you name it, as well as working with the other IT guy, whom I 'mentor' 90% of the time.

I am building documentation of the projects I've completed this year as well as recently becoming an IT representative for our company during overseas meetings with a worldwide customer in the past month (during which I was complimented by the CEO who attended).

I plan on asking my manager for a decent raise that I feel is competitive for my job duties. I have always gotten a bump every year but I really feel I can seize this year's accomplishments. While our company is not huge, our department has been the money maker for the last 2.5 years, but they tend to underpay when you look at the average salary doing what I'm tasked with.

December is when we find out our bonuses, get reviewed and usually get a small raise. So, has anyone else "jumped the gun" on talking pay increase? I'm wise enough not to ambush him with this one :)

Another "how to get a raise" question.. with a twist!

srrh — Mon, 06 Aug 2007 02:52:19 -0800

I applied for a promotion that I did not get, but my company still wants to keep me in that position's "training program," which has the same responsibilities as the position, but without the pay raise. I work for a small company (about 30 employees), and while there have been ups and downs, I generally like my job and my work environment quite a lot. However, take the small size of the workplace, and the fact that it is dominated by women (there are two men in the office), and that leads to an, at best, tight-knit, and at worst, backstabbing and gossipy place to be. What I'm getting at is that it's very informal, and everyone knows everyone's business, for lack of better phrasing.

About a month ago, a space opened up for a supervisory position, which I applied for. Myself and three others were accepted into the "supervisor training program," and basically went through a bunch of rigamarole such as strange homework assignments and awkward group interviews, and today the new supervisor was announced.

It wasn't me, and I am ok with that; I thought the whole promotion process at this company was really strange to begin with, and to be honest, a lot of me was just relieved that it was over. But I was wrong. Our ops manager informed the three of us that were not selected that we were still going to be considered supervisors-in-training, and would be called on to supervise on days when the regular supervisors needed days off. And also that we would be required to be on call at all times in case someone called out. And also that we are required to chair meetings like the other supervisors. And also that we will have the responsibility of monitoring the other employees and writing their evaluations. And also that anytime we are on a shift that DOES have a supervisor, and the supervisor needs to delegate work, it will fall on us. And so forth and so on and so forth. (Basically a whole lot of "and also"s, I'm sure you noticed.)

Basically, we will have exactly the same responsibilities as a supervisor, but without the job title or the raise that comes along with it. I do really like the company I work for, but it is by FAR the worst paying job I have ever had -- I work there only because I like it so much, not for the money. Now, I am being asked to take on a whole lot of new responsibilities and be available at all times, and not being given anything in return.

This brings me back to my first paragraph; my work place is very informal and very gossipy. There is a lot of joking, sometimes to the point where it is hard to be taken seriously, and some of the higher ups joke around in ways that are hard to read and can sometimes even be hurtful (I have not had that problem personally but I've seen it many times in the office). I'm really not sure how to say to my ops manager that I would like a raise commensurate with my new responsibilities, and have her take me seriously. I hesitate to call her intimidating, as she isn't malicious in any way, but like I said above, she is a jokester, with a very sarcastic and dry sense of humor to an extreme -- it often overpowers the other parts of her personality. I am generally an extremely straightforward person, but saying to her, "I'd really like you to take me seriously about this," before I spoke to her about it would lead to the brush off and then her laughing about it with the other managers/supervisors, and things always get around.

Sorry for being so long-winded, I'm just trying as hard as I can not to leave out any pertinent info. I don't work Monday, but I will be seeing her Tuesday, and I would like to talk to her then rather than let this sit. I look forward to any advice you guys can give me about how to best approach this, and if I left out anything or you have any questions, please let me know. Thanks in advance!