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Waiting for Raises

January 15th, 2007 at 10:34 pm

Seems like a lot of people on the blogs right now are waiting for raises. I hate it, waiting. Last year, DH got what his boss called a partial raise. Contracts had not been signed and it was promised to him that when they were signed, which was supposed to be last summer, he would get the rest of his raise and it would be substantial. And retroactive.

I am not a greedy person by nature, but I really don't like waiting for what was promised. See, the raise last year was pretty much eaten up by the huge jump in medical premiums. Add on the new taxes for bumping up a tax bracket by just a few dollars, seriously by $5. Afterwards we were left with about $25 more each month net. Now this year the premiums went up again. Not by a couple hundered a month like last year, just by $28 a month. So now, DH is bringing home $3 less than he was a year ago before the raise. Ain't life grand?

So anyhow, last week we learned that the contracts were finally signed. Then his alternate called to say that there had been a meeting and raises were not being given out across the board. Which means selective raises will still be given out, but not everyone gets one this year.

Now I am worried that his boss will go back on his word. Not because he wants to but because of pressure from higher-ups. And of course, it'll probably be week's end before we know anything at all. He had a great direct boss, who will fight for him, but that doesn't mean he will be successful.

Meanwhile, DH's alternate was just offered a job for another company up there doing the exact same thing she is doing now. The starting wage for this same job there is $1.50 more per hour than what DH makes now. The wage range ends at $11.50 an hour more than what DH makes now. DH is currently at the top of his wage range with the current company after 11 years.

Now we are both starting to wonder if his company is actually paying the differential or not. Because there is supposed to be one for working up there, the employees are supposed to make a lot more money than the ones in town (like $10 an hour more) as they are working outside civilization and all and are away from their families.

Finding out something like that is close to impossible as the company won't release the information, so the only way to find out is to ask an employee in the same job how much they make. Awkward. Finding it out from another company, a bit easier, but not by much.

So anyway, his alternate may leave for this other company. If she does, he's back to doing the work of two people again. Which he's usually done for at least half the years he has worked there. And never been compensated for. And I feel he should be because it means more time away from the family. Its all just very frustrating. I feel bad for DH because I think they take advantage of him. He is extremely loyal. It's been a good job and a good company, but...its things like this that make you question your loyalty to the company.

I know I'm probably just blowing everything out of proportion and that it will all work out just fine, but if it doesn't...I'm going to encourage DH to actively pursue other opportunities, because we can't afford not to get compensated appropriately.

We will survive, raise or not. But I was looking forward to actually making some headway this year, instead of walking in place.

5 Responses to “Waiting for Raises”

  1. monkeymama Says:
    1168900866

    I know how you feel. I have always had big raises ( the industry is just crazy). Now that I am pushing management and I hear the glut in our field is getting so HUGE suddenly my raises are very small. It is frustrating. I have too much flexibility and love my job to quit over it for now, but every year is so wait and see - I have no idea how it will turn out every year - sometimes like they just set up a dart board. I all got promoted to management (doing all the work - just not the title), but one of my weakest raises ever. It was a huge relief to find out how my year would be financially though -all depends on the raise. LAst couple of years my health insurance went up more than my pay - it's tough out there. At least this year I get to keep a good chunk for me, and not the healthcare industry...

    I hope it works out - crossing fingers for you...

  2. Broken Arrow Says:
    1168901264

    Heh. I was just talking to my boss earlier about that, joking about when we're gonna see some raises around here!

  3. Frayed Buckeye Card Says:
    1168902288

    Company loyalty, what's that? It seems as if the corporations use their employees and then spit them out. There was a time a man put in 30 years of his life and he called it quits, not the other way around without good cause. It surely is a new world.

  4. baselle Says:
    1168903724

    Isn't that funny? And the parallel thread that's running though all this is that when your DH's company has to hire a replacement for your DH (should he go), they'll have to recruit that new person at a much higher salary.

    I ran into this when I was promoted. HR, which is not the employee's friend, wanted to pay at the bottom of the recruitment range, when they knew that they would have to pay a person off the street at least 5K more, train them, and it would take them at least a year to get up to speed. It took the threat of the resignation of the COO and a special pay-for-performance clause in my offer letter to work a different deal to what I wanted. Other people have been promoted and no one else could negotiate even close to a deal like mine. And this is a non-profit!

    Loyalty is a real threat to your salary.

  5. LuckyRobin Says:
    1168928340

    Baselle, that is so true. In fact 2 years ago, they had to push through a new wage cap to hire DH's alternate, because no one would work for the then current cap as a starting wage, and of course, they couldn't pay her as much as him when he'd been working there so many more years and was going to have to train her, so they gave him a dollar more per hour than they hired her in at. If they have to hire fresh, they'll have to pay so much more and not be guaranteed the same quality level of work that they get from DH. And everyone up there that works with him loves him. They think he is the greatest guy who does the best work, but unfortunately it is usually corporate that makes these decisions. And corporate should know better. They know how hard it is to fill this position. It can take up to a year to find someone who has the specialized knowledge to do it. Actually the longest it took was 2 years once. Short-sightedness, pure and simple.

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