Unlikely pay rise

w00519772

I have worked for my current employer for about seven years. I was offered another job in June 2014 in the same location for a different employer. It is a very similar job. The salary offered was £40K. My salary at the time was £35K. I had a meeting with my employer and I was informed that there was no money in the budget to offer me a raise. I handed in my notice. I was then immediately offered an extra 2.5K. After much deliberation I decided to stay on the basis that my salary would be raised by another 2.5K in June 2015. I have an email, which I say:

"We agreed that my salary would be reviewed again in June 2015 with the aim of increasing it to at least: £40K (the salary I was offered by: x)"

The IT Director responds saying:

"I can confirm that was the basis of our conversation"

In my recent 121 I brought this up and I was informed that there is no money in the budget to offer me a raise. What are my options here? I am a member of a union.

On a side note; I also asked to attend three courses costing 2.5K each, which was agreed in writing. I have not attended any of them because I have not had time

stevemLS

I'm afraid agreeing to review with a stated aim is not a commitment to giving you the rise.

agrinnall

I think you're on to a loser here, if you wanted a guaranteed £40K you should have taken the other job.

bigadaj

The high risk strategy is to offer your notice again on the same basis and see if they come up with the additional £2.5k.

This could of course backfire.

TELLIT01

The original e-mail was very carefully worded. You took it as a commitment to increase your salary to £40k in June of this year but that isn't what it says. "Reviewing with the aim..." is not a binding agreement, just a statement of what they will do i.e. look at the situation.
I can certainly see that it would leave a very nasty taste in your mouth. I have been in a similar situation myself in the past, where statements have been made by management which, with hindsight, they had absolutely no intention of fulfilling.

stevemLS

TELLIT01 wrote: »

The original e-mail was very carefully worded. You took it as a commitment to increase your salary to £40k in June of this year but that isn't what it says. "Reviewing with the aim..." is not a binding agreement, just a statement of what they will do i.e. look at the situation.
I can certainly see that it would leave a very nasty taste in your mouth. I have been in a similar situation myself in the past, where statements have been made by management which, with hindsight, they had absolutely no intention of fulfilling.

OP wrote the original email, quite why they chose to word it like that......?

getmore4less

I have an email, which I say:

"We agreed that my salary would be reviewed again in June 2015 with the aim of increasing it to at least: £40K (the salary I was offered by: x)"

The IT Director responds saying:

"I can confirm that was the basis of our conversation"

woops
Something like

We agree that my salary would be reviwed again in June 2015 increasing to a minimum of £40k at that time...

FBaby

getmore4less wrote: »

I have an email, which I say:

"We agreed that my salary would be reviewed again in June 2015 with the aim of increasing it to at least: £40K (the salary I was offered by: x)"

The IT Director responds saying:

"I can confirm that was the basis of our conversation"

woops
Something like

We agree that my salary would be reviwed again in June 2015 increasing to a minimum of £40k at that time...

That still wouldn't cut it. It's the word 'reviewed' that is leaves it ambiguous. You can review anything, it doesn't mean it has to be approved.

mandragora_2

and also, you can 'aim' to do something, but it doesn't mean to say you'll actually do it...

agrinnall

mandragora wrote: »

and also, you can 'aim' to do something, but it doesn't mean to say you'll actually do it...

Yes, when I'm playing darts I might aim for the treble 20 but the chances are I'll get a 1 or a 5 (or miss the board altogether as it's a long time since I've thrown a dart).

w00519772

Well, after my 121 in July I was informed (verbally) that my salary would rise to the amount I wanted in February this year (when the inflationary rise was added). However, this has not happened again. My line manager agreed that I was due an increase and he said he would be furious in my situation. Shall I email my manager following my latest 121 saying something like:

"I wish to place on record my frustration and disappointment regarding your failure again to honour the agreement discussed [date]. Clearly this was fundamental in my declining the offer of x (job title) at y (company) and under the circumstances I do feel undervalued and even exploited.

As you are aware; I have always and continue to give extra in both time and effort to meet the demands of the job. I am a dedicated and consensus professional and at no time have I consciously reneged on anything agreed or expected of me - but this really does appear to be one way traffic. "

Is that pointless?