MSE Forum poll: Have you ever asked an employer for a pay rise?

MSE_JC

Among all of the employment advice out there, one nugget that crops up every now and then is the brave suggestion that you should simply ask your employer for a pay rise if you haven't had one for a while and think you deserve it.

It's a bold move, so we're interested to see how many of you have ever actually attempted it and whether it worked or not!

Brie

What annoyed me in particular was when I asked for another 50 a month and was told no.  But then she added "But it's only 50 so wouldn't have made that much difference would it?"   I know now I should have responded that if it was only 50 and didn't make much difference it shouldn't be a strain for them to give it to me.  

I've hated ever since whenever anyone says "but it's only...."    What's "only" to one person might be a lot to another.  

comeandgo

I’ve never requested a pay rise, I just looked for a better paying job, always found one.

victor2

I found another job, gave my notice and got a pay rise good enough to make me stay.

mlz1413

I have asked for pay rises but I've always justified them.  IE I took on doing X 6 months ago, if you are happy for me to continue with the extra responsibility/workload please can you review my pay.

I have also stopped doing extra work if not rewarded.   My feeling is if you had to ask to be compensated and the company says no then you are not respected or valued, so it's time to move on. 

KajiKita

I had a colleague doing a similar job to me at another site tell me I was underpaid and I should ask for my salary to be benchmarked v. similar roles across the group. I did and then promptly forgot about it. Many weeks later my boss called me into his office and said I was getting a £5K payrise (a LOT of money for me 18 years ago) and no he would not consider backdating it. I was so dumbstruck by the increase that I didn't argue but left his office on Cloud 9

To be fair, he was one of the best bosses I ever worked for.

KK