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Salary Kerfuffle
Reverend_Chaos
Suit Up!Spokane WARegistered User regular
Suit Up!Spokane WARegistered User regular
I have been working at a major insurance company for 3.5 years. I started here at $32k a year, and the past two years I have been given a $1k raise (which my Boss made a big deal about how we normally only get $800, but he fought to get me more). I found out a few months ago that everyone hired after me, started at $34k, and the people who started 1 year ago in September 2017 all received a $1k raise at their anniversary date, so they now make more than me. We don't get raises at our anniversary date, we get them after our year end review, so usually around April or so.
I am great at my job, I work hard, and I know more about our policies and procedures than anyone at my location. In fact, I just got done training our newest training class this last summer.
So my direct supervisor lied to me about why I got my raise, everyone got them because they were raising the minimum that my department got paid. I don't hold any ill well towards the other employees who got a raise, but I am perturbed that I didn't get one, nor did my boss pull me aside and give me a heads up on what was going on. I haven't talked to my Boss yet, but honestly he doesn't decide any of this, and I feel like he misrepresented my previous raises, so I really don't trust him to tell me the truth.
Any advice? I live and work in Washington state
TL/DNR - People hired 2.5 years after me, started at my same pay rate and now make $1k more than me. I am irritated.
I am great at my job, I work hard, and I know more about our policies and procedures than anyone at my location. In fact, I just got done training our newest training class this last summer.
So my direct supervisor lied to me about why I got my raise, everyone got them because they were raising the minimum that my department got paid. I don't hold any ill well towards the other employees who got a raise, but I am perturbed that I didn't get one, nor did my boss pull me aside and give me a heads up on what was going on. I haven't talked to my Boss yet, but honestly he doesn't decide any of this, and I feel like he misrepresented my previous raises, so I really don't trust him to tell me the truth.
Any advice? I live and work in Washington state
TL/DNR - People hired 2.5 years after me, started at my same pay rate and now make $1k more than me. I am irritated.
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It really depends on how well you get on with your boss, but you should approach them about it first if you do want to bring it up. If you feel they're lying to you after you talk to them then you can always take it to HR or further up if you're comfortable with that, but at least give them a chance to make it right.
You see this a lot with every retail or restaurant job. Minimum wage goes up and everyone starts at an amount it took 2 years of raises to get to.
Tell them you checked out the salary on glassdoor or something as to not drag in other employees. Give them an option to keep you by giving you the raises in addition to the new hire rate. Be prepared to walk.
Shouldn't be that way, but thems the breaks in our corporate distopia.
Just this.
A job offer in writing
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If you have a job offer in writing then take it and don't look back. The alternative is extremely risky and in the high likelihood it doesn't pan out you have lost everything.
I don't really know what's best, whether to use an offer as leverage or not. But everything I've ever heard says that if you are in any way counting on an offer, make sure it's in writing
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I think people are just saying get another job offer before you bring it up, not mention that offer as leverage. All of your downsides above double as good reasons not to have the discussion at all, just get another job and quit.
If you just really like the place you work or can't/won't move on the only thing you can really do is suck this one up, and negotiate more aggressively next time around
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Your boss doesn't likely to have free reign to give raises, especially if there are yearly merit increases. Have a conversation and bring data how much you are producing/saving the company and maybe you might get a larger cut of that merit increase pool. If you are unhappy and think you are underpaid, you should be looking anyways.
I've never felt more insulted when I left my last job and they said that they could give me a huge raise to stay. If they wanted me that bad why didn't they do that before.
That being said; nothing ventured, nothing gained.
I get the sense it's not the actual salary, but the, "hey look at how big a favor I did you by giving you this much of a raise" talk that he found out was the standard raise given around to everyone.
That the same raise also bumped up some of his juniors to making more money than him was just an extra twist of the knife.
I am pretty candid with my boss because I trust my boss. If you don't trust your boss, you are not morally obligated to let them in on the whole truth. They only need to know that you need more money and that's it. If there is no way such a raise is happening, then you've got to live with earning less than your peers, getting promoted to a different salary grade, or finding a job at another company.
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Honestly the best thing to do is to wait until the annual review and negotiate hard.
If you're going the "get a job offer" route just leave and take the new job. Using it to negotiate will just make you target for shitty behavior.
You'd only want to bring it up as salary research to negotiate in good faith.
And on the other side: I'd potentially be irritated if I got to the offer letter phase only to find out I was being played and possibly lost my second choice as well.
I'd get over it, but that's kind of a dick move.
It seems like there's another option here: if new hires make more than you, can you apply to the next billet that opens up?
Depending on your corporate heirarchy details, your boss may need to be your advocate if you want a raise above others at your pay grade. If you don't have the greatest confidence in your boss, is there a mentor at your company that you can discuss this with who can give you some guidance as to a way forward?
Don’t wait until annual review time to ask for a raise. You need to start prepping your boss early by finding out what you need to do in order to justify a large raise and then showing that your on track so that they can prep things on their ending.
I am actively looking for another job, both within and outside the company.
Our reviews are typically done sometime in the first quarter, with raises going into effect shortly after. I have never had a salary "negotiation" I am just handed down the amount of my raise from my supervisor, who does not have the power of giving or setting the amount of raises. As far as I know he can make recommendations to his boss, but she is the one that makes the final decision. This boss works on the opposite side of the country from us.
At this point I have been in my position longer than anyone left in my particular department. Everyone else has quit, or taken positions in other departments. I was recently passed over for a promotion that would make me a supervisor in my department. The person that the job was given to has "decided to seek opportunities outside the company" and her last day is 11/30. Based on what was said and how it was announced it appears that she did not know what she was doing, and was told to step down or resign so she resigned.
This. If you need to "go hard" on negotiating, it helps tremendously to have an offer in your back pocket. I almost never recommend actually telling your boss that you have another offer because that opens a whole other can of worms, but knowing you can walk away if they don't budge gives you the ability to be firm in what you know you're worth. Then you can make the call based on what they are willing to offer.
And yeah, in my experience, most employers are only really willing to even put this on the table at annual review time.
They may tell you to fuck off and quit if you don't like it, or they may tell you it's not true (even though you've verified it). All signs that you need to be working somewhere else. It's a lot easier to be confident in your assertions if you know you're not on a tightrope without a net.
Just to echo everyone here
Get a new job. You're going to get fuck all out of your current job, they're under no obligation to pay you more.
I speak from experience, you owe these people nothing. Get a new job and have the offer in writing. This is key. IN WRITING. Then (and only then) if you're feeling nice give your current job a chance to counter offer.
Honestly I would just bounce if the exit was there.
Generally speaking the world is smaller than you think and people talk. If you do this, you'll definatly look like a flake to one company or the other. You might get what you want in the short term, or you might not, but you'll definatly burn a bridge that you may want intact in future.
You really need to decide if this is something you'd leave over. If it is, look for another job, and when you get an offer take it. If you're not prepared to leave over this, don't go looking as you're just wasting everyone's time including your own.
I've always found that there is no harm in raising it with your manager. But raise it as "I feel undervalued" and focus on emphasizing your value. Never do it by comparison to others (it's ultimately irrelevant in the decision), never threaten or demand.
If you threaten or demand then you put yourself in a position where your manager has to categorise you as a flight risk and put in place contingency plans.
I live in a country where workers actually have rights, and work in an in-demand profession. So take this with a grain of salt. But I've never seen anything bad come from raising these concerns in a respectful way. I have seen many times bad things happening as a result of these being raised as demands. And I've been very pissed-off by having someone waste my time going all the way to an offer just because they wanted to negotiate at their current job.