Negotiating Wages in a Promotion

[shade82000]

Hey everyone, sorry for the long post ...

 

I have been working in the same company for 14 years and at the beginning of last year I was offered a secondment in a different department. I was then offered a full time job in that department halfway through last year. Naturally, I spoke to some of the other people in the department to find out what would be a reasonable wage, another manager mentioned 32-35k and the others confirmed so I set a figure in my head of 33k.

 

When negotiating the salary in June the manager asked me what I currently earn. I told him it was 22k but I get additional cash benefits that make it up to 30k and I would lose those benefits on moving. He said it would not be a problem. I thought they might try to offer me the same wages so I spoke to him again the next day and told him that 30k was what I currently earned and that I was expecting to earn 33k, he said that may be a problem because there is a limit on the percentage that someone's pay can go up by if they do an internal transfer (which sounds totally stupid I know, but this has been confirmed by HR as being 9% before requiring senior management sign-off). He said that we may need to start me off on the 30k and use the December pay review to move me up to 33k.

 

Between June and November nothing much happened, apart from the bi-weekly update as he walked past my desk or in a meeting ... "It's still with XXX the senior management, waiting approval / sign-off / whatever." So I just patiently waited and carried on working (hard).

 

Then, in November I got an acceptance letter offering me 30k and, because I had built a good working relationship with him, I stupidly assumed he had everything in order, so I signed it and gave it to HR. I know I SHOULD have checked with him, but I assumed that he was looking after it all.

 

December came and went and I received no pay review, this is apparently a mix up in the system because I moved departments and no pay review was done for me. I spoke to my manager last week and he claimed that what he meant in that conversation was that my wages would "go up proportionately, in line with company scales, if I had met my objectives for the year." He then said that my objectives were set by my previous department before I moved so it was nothing to do with him. I know that this is not what he said, he clearly told me my wages would move from 30k to 33k. He kept saying "Did I put it in writing?" which obviously he didn't and it has really made me lose trust in him.

 

I have since found out that the department is increasing in size and they are employing new starters from outside the company ... guess what the salary offer is? 32-35k. Great, so now there are less qualified new starters earning more than me.

 

So, I suffer from stress and anxiety and I have had to take some time off work to recover, but I am losing sleep, not eating & worrying about what I can do to get my wages moved up to what I was promised earlier in the year. If they don't increase my wages then I want to move back to the department that I was working in previously but I know this might be difficult. I guess the other option is to leave. Whatever happens, I cannot continue working for this department on that wage because it makes me feel sick knowing that they should be paying me what was negotiated. If I do move back to my old department or leave then they will have to employ someone else probably on higher wages than I was asking for so I'm hoping they will understand that and raise my wages to what was spoken about when they realise the cost of having to employ someone else. I have a meeting with HR next week, but it has already been said by my manager that they can't just put my wages up when I ask for it.

 

Has anyone had any experience with this sort of thing before? Is it a common tactic that employers use to get cheap work? I'm in a real mess here because I really like working for that company. The company itself is a good solid company, obviously, otherwise I would not have been there for so long, but it seems a lot of the managers are really tight, sometimes it feels like they are out to get me. My last manager was just as bad, maybe the managers are given bonuses depending on how much money they save.

[assisted blonde]

First of all i have got to say dont hand in your notice and dont leave for another job unless you are sure that it is the right move, employers can and do employ people on different rates of pay, I think that as you were only offered and accepted your new position at 30k in Nov to expect a pay review in Dec is a little soon. Try looking at it like this you are earning the same as you were in your old position so you are not any worse off.

When you see HR ask what the position is reguarding salary reviews and how soon would they be expecting to review yours. depending on their answer say that you are surprised that they are offering a starting salary to new recruits of 32k + and that in view of your long service etc you feel that it is a little unfair that you are not on it.

You did sign the contract and yes you should have paid a bit more attention to what it said but that is by the by its done now.

Taking time off for stress is IMO not a really good thing at the moment, I appreciate that you are disappointed but it wont help your case.

The managers are probably not out to get you but they all have different ways of managing.

As you said you wouldnt have been there so long if it wasnt a good company so just sit back and look at the bigger picture, yes you could go in all guns blazing, no dopubt someone will suggest raising a grievence etc etc but if you like the company dont p*** them off too much just yet by starting to go on about your rights, unfairness of the situation, he said this that and the other.

You have had an increase on your basic pay and quite a good one your salary is not made up[ of a lower basic and additional cash benefits so that has got to be a plus. Ask the questions reiterate how much you enjoy working for the company and see what they say, dont threaten anything and please dont resign.

[Pusillanimous]

Shade820000 as angry as you are, you need to take it on the chin, pull in your belt, get your head down. You signed the contract, your manager was not straight with you, but there is little chance of your bosses giving in to your demand, as they always were the boss and call the tune. Care, or your only option will be to leave and then you could be even worse off.

 

Approach them again in three months. And keep an eye on local vacancies with your CV updated.

[steampowered]

Remember that people's understanding of conversations can be different. If a manager says that the Demcember pay review can be used to increase your salary that could have two different meanings. It could mean "we will definitely increase your salary" or "you have a chance to go up to 33k if you meet your objectives and are awarded a raise". It is entirely possible that the manager is not trying to rip you off but genuinely has a different recollection of the conversation to you. Most people have a habit of remembering information which is favourable to them and ignoring information that is not, it is hard wired into our brain. I think you have to chalk this one up as a learning experience: you need to get these things in writing if you want to be sure of relying on them later.

 

In any event, future salary increases are always dependent on future events. The company could always change its pay review policy. I doubt managers have discretion to increase people's salary at a pay review simply because they want to escape getting the approval of senior management at an earlier time, that kind of defeats the point of requiring approval. You knew there was an internal approval process for internal pay raises, so you should have ensured that the process was followed rather than trying to get around it.

 

I think you need to keep this in perspective. At the end of the day you have just been awarded a huge pay raise. The difference between 30k and the 32k paid to new starters is not huge, and you are still on an above-average wage. It is not something to be off work with stress/anxiety about. Staying off work until you get a wage could be seen as blackmail by management so I think you need to be careful.