How to validate a raise?

[jerrymrc]

Three years? Try 5-7 years. Still waiting for cost of living. Top performer multiple times and still get jack. Stupid economy. I need the private sector to pick up, pay their fair share!

That's the spirit. Now that I have read that the BIG hit in health care premiums come NEXT year I am worried. 2010 was $40 per month. 2011 was $60 2012 was $60 and 2013 was $80.

The old way of working and saving does not work anymore.

[Irving]

Where is HighClassWhiteTrash to blame the Unions?

[hghclsswhitetrsh]

Where is HighClassWhiteTrash to blame the Unions?

Hahaha I wasn't going to say anything till you brought me into it. Lol. We got a 2% raise that was 5 months late but back payed. The non union employees to no raise but bonuses ranging from 5-15%. This was to help show the arbitrator that none of the non union employees got 'raises'. Sorry for the derail.

Good luck amigo.

[tmckay2]

Hahaha I wasn't going to say anything till you brought me into it. Lol. We got a 2% raise that was 5 months late but back payed. The non union employees to no raise but bonuses ranging from 5-15%. This was to help show the arbitrator that none of the non union employees got 'raises'. Sorry for the derail.

Good luck amigo.

i think there is something to be said about doing the work well and busting your ass without a hand out. if the guy next to me is dragging ass and getting paid more, fine thats different, if i EXPECT a raise, in this economy, when almost every company is tightening their belt, and i didn't do anything astronomically different than everyone else (most employees are busting ass) then i think that is a bit self absorbed in our current climate and potentially dangerous in some fields.

[<MADDOG>]

Perhaps it is best to ask directly? "What can I do", or "What have I not done" to earn a larger raise?

I find questions are more powerful then statements. You don't know what you don't know...

[sniper7]

Sounds like a good approach with what you wrote. Hope for the best, but if you get $3k a year, that is a lot better than NADA or a termination/furlough notice.

[ChunkyMonkey]

My annual review is tomorrow and the comp number, I'm 98% sure I'll be offered, is about 3k shy of the minimum I was expecting. It's also, I just found out, 7k shy of what someone with my experience and qualifications is earning. I'm willing to concede a little bit of money because I like the work environment and it's low stress but that only counts for so much and a 3k raise doesn't do it.

I've had no major slip ups at work, all feedback has been really minor stuff(ex. messy desk) and recently just passed the Certified Financial Planners exam which only 61,390 people have done since 1991(56% success rate.) I've completed multiple projects this year that no one else in the office even came close to finishing, passed a major test, and been pretty damn reliable.

I strongly believe that I'm being underpaid now and would like to know the best way to bring that up at the review tomorrow. I don't want to threaten anyone with leaving, I think that's implied if I tell them I'm unhappy with the number, but I can't leave a bunch of money on the table. If anyone has some good tips I'm all ears.

If I were your boss, I would then ask you what's stopping you from getting the 7k more at whatever place supposedly your experience and qualification is earning. I hate corporate jobs.. USWest was my first and last corporate job.

Tell you boss, you'll prove yourself by earning commission only.

[Madeinhb]

You are what you are worth. If you think you are worth more, go to other companies and see what they will pay you.

[tmckay2]

well what the hell do i know, i am probably the most conservative person here in regards to my employers, but i wouldn't ask for anything, especially in this economy. the job i have i could have negotiated the contract, its not uncommon, and i had three other jobs offers paying just as much. but i decided not to risk it. whats 3k, or 7k, if it pisses off my employer or makes them feel i am an ungrateful prick? as stated, companies want good workers, no matter what it is in or who is the boss. they won't purposefully and plainly screw good people out of equal pay, they know people will just leave. if i didn't get a raise for a few years and other people were i would probably ask what i can do to earn a raise, but certainly wouldn't ask for it. i figure i am lucky to have a job, even if i could take another one, and if you like the place i wouldn't risk messing it up. much of it is perception. also, in my business i know cuts are always possible, if they happen i don't want to give them any reason to cut me first, so i just shut my mouth and bust my ass, even if i don't always get more money for it.

but thats just me. like i said i am kind of old school and view myself as lucky to have a good job and thank my employer for that and whatever pay they deem fair. if its grossly unjust i will just leave.

[KestrelBike]

All of this "I'm lucky to have a job and get whatever my employer deigns to give me" is a bit disheartening. If I'm busting my ass to be a good employee, if I'm using my education and my intelligence and discipline to do a good job not just to cover my ass but to honestly benefit the company, then I want to be paid the amount that I am honestly worth to the company. No more, no less. I don't give a shit how the rest of the economy is doing, I care about how the company is doing and how much they would have to pay someone else to do the quality work that I currently do if I no longer worked there. Anything less and I'm gettin taken advantage of (lol I currently am)