Getting a "raise"

[HorseFreak]

I live in metro Detroit and am very familiar with the auto industry. IMO, this is quite generous - it's an additional $1,200/year. What exactly are you upset about? Why do you find it insulting?

Also, you may want to look into tax brackets and how they work. I don't want to provide more detail as it may be outside the purview of the forum, but there are some great websites that explain it.

I agree. OP, tax brackets don't work the way you think they do.
http://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0212/how-getting-a-raise-affects-your-taxes.aspx#axzz2BjrfdtB8

I think in this economy and the industry you work in you should be grateful to get any raise. I know it sucks that it's not as much as you'd like, but do you have the option to turn down the promotion?

[Cat-Fu]

My brother works in the auto industry as well, and he hasn't gotten a raise in a long time (IIRC, he took a –5% hit instead).

Don't say anything, at best turning down the raise would come across as ungrateful and at worst it would be career suicide.

(I also recommend that you check out HorseFreak's link; it does a good job explaining tax brackets.)

(edited to clarify my pronouns)

[Wulfie]

I understand the feeling. It can be a bit of an insult if you are adding a significant amount of work to your day and feel like you are being underpaid for it. However, at least it is a reasonable raise. Talk to your boss about maybe getting some comp time if you go over X hours per week. Sometimes they are open to that.

My story about a lousy "raise". In the early 90s I went to work for a nursing home as a fill in person, 2swing shifts, 2 gave shifts, 2 off. It was a pretty rough schedule.  I was told that after my 90 day probation I would be given a raise. That came up and the company was having money problems so wages were frozen, but I was told at 6 months, I would get a good raise.

6 months, the place had just been sold. But at a year, I would get a REALLY good raise to make up for it. At a year, Yep, got the raise... $0.03 an hour. I clarified and asked if they meant 3% and was told no, it was a 3 cents an hour raise! I quit on the spot.

They had let go a bunch of staff including housekeeping and kitchen staff and the nursing staff was expected to do their work on top of our work and forget trying to take a break, there was nobody to releve you so that you could. They broke all kinds of laws and ended up with bad press and a huge legal bill after a bunch of staff filed a class action lawsuite against them.

[CakeBeret]

I live in metro Detroit and am very familiar with the auto industry. IMO, this is quite generous - it's an additional $1,200/year. What exactly are you upset about? Why do you find it insulting?

Also, you may want to look into tax brackets and how they work. I don't want to provide more detail as it may be outside the purview of the forum, but there are some great websites that explain it.

I agree. OP, tax brackets don't work the way you think they do.
http://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0212/how-getting-a-raise-affects-your-taxes.aspx#axzz2BjrfdtB8

I think in this economy and the industry you work in you should be grateful to get any raise. I know it sucks that it's not as much as you'd like, but do you have the option to turn down the promotion?

Unfortunately I have to agree. I think some raise is better than no raise and, as raises go, $100 a month is nothing to scoff at. My DH and I combined have not received raises totaling $100 a month in the past three years. Saying anything about it could, as Cat-Fu said, have a damaging effect on your career.

[Ciarrai]

Considering I was just denied a raise yesterday after four years with my company (with no raise) and several increased responsibilities, an extra $100 a month is still a raise and I don't think you'll get a good reception from your boss if you go in upset about it.

[Betelnut]

$100 does seem wimpy but a lot of it depends on how much you were initially making.  How much of a percentage raise was it?  It can be a drag to get a promotion and not be monetarily rewarded but it will look good on your resume for the next job too!

I'm working right now to refinance my house and the net result will be a savings of about $100 a month.  I was disappointed but then I thought, "Well, over 20-25 years, that's $25,000 or so, so it's worth it!"

I would never say, "Just be grateful you have a job!" because I feel that that attitude is dismissive of real situations and feelings.  Yes, you've got a job but that doesn't mean that you aren't getting the most out of it that you can!

In your situation, I would wait until you've proven to them that your raise/promotion was the right decision.  Once you've got through a probation period or when the next fiscal cycle approaches that's a good time to re-evaluate and ask for more $$.

[Tabby Uprising]

Salary negotiation can have an element of risk to it, but it is also a common element in the business world.  Like other posters have stated, it's all in the delivery.  Be professional, have all your ducks in a row and have a conversation with your boss about it.  I think if you can project some appreciation for your promotion while at the same time outlining points for a greater increase you'll be fine.  Unless your organization has just gone through massive layoffs or has been emphasizing cut-backs, I don't think you'll look unappreciative for simply wanting to broach the topic of a higher salary. 

If you can, try and research what a comparable role at a comparable company would be earning.  Are you in line with the market?  It's good to have that perspective before having this conversation.  Also, examine what kind of promotion you received.  Did you go from a junior or entry level role to a mid-level management role?  Are you supervising employees where before you did not?  Are you supervising a much larger group?  Or are you in the same position, but were promoted up a level?  Like going from an analyst I to an analyst II?  Sometimes those "step up" type promotions don't inherently provide a big raise.

I bet you could find some great advice online about how to best ask for/re-negotiate a raise. 

[lady_disdain]

One of the reasons why women earn less than men is that we are, generally, less willing to negotiate both raises and starting salaries. Tabby has some good advice.

[siamesecat2965]

$100 does seem wimpy but a lot of it depends on how much you were initially making.  How much of a percentage raise was it?  It can be a drag to get a promotion and not be monetarily rewarded but it will look good on your resume for the next job too!

I'm working right now to refinance my house and the net result will be a savings of about $100 a month.  I was disappointed but then I thought, "Well, over 20-25 years, that's $25,000 or so, so it's worth it!"

I would never say, "Just be grateful you have a job!" because I feel that that attitude is dismissive of real situations and feelings.  Yes, you've got a job but that doesn't mean that you aren't getting the most out of it that you can!

In your situation, I would wait until you've proven to them that your raise/promotion was the right decision.  Once you've got through a probation period or when the next fiscal cycle approaches that's a good time to re-evaluate and ask for more $$.

Over the last several years, my raises have been about what the OP got, within the 2-3% range, which I think is about average these days. I'd let it go for now, but maybe see if comp time is something you could do instead.

[EmmaJ.]

<snip>
Of course, this advise is coming from the person who returned a $25 Christmas bonus (company had 5 employees at the time) after being there 14 months becasue "the company obviously needed the money more than I did".

Sorry for being obtuse, but I'm very puzzled.  Why would you return a cash Christmas gift?

I'm not Phoebelion, but I'd guess she returned it because $25 was insultingly low considering how few employees there were and what I assume was the financial state of the company.

Oh, ok.  I've never gotten a Christmas gift from my company and have no frame of reference.  What is the norm?

[pierrotlunaire0]

I also am in Michigan, and as a comparison, my clerks just got their increases, which amounts to about $70 extra a month.

These are very mean and mean times for the auto industry, and I am constantly seeing people who cannot find work.

Was it the presentation?  What if your supervisor had brought you in and discussed these great new responsibilities, where you would learn a lot, and be poised to move up, up, up, in the future.  Oh, and there is also a raise, too.  I know for me that would be a great pitch, because the exciting new job would be great, and the extra money would be gravy.

[Sharnita]

Teachers I know are negotiating for 5% decreases in addition to paying more for their benefits and a higher percentage of their retirements. This is in Michigan, the home of the Big 3.

[StressedGroom]

Are you union?  Because if that is the case you boss really has no control over your increase, as long as you are in the same job category any increase is tied to the contract negotiations.

If you are salaried, it does really depend on what you were making before.  When I was working for a major corporation I was essentially told, you can increase your groups salary by x% (usually around 2%), that meant if I had someone who really worked their bacon-fed knave off, I could give them a big raise, but it meant a lower or no raise for someone else. 

With the big three you probably fall within some sort of a salary category; did you change categories with the promotion or did you stay in the same category?  Even if you changed categories going from the top end of category A to the bottom end of category B could be a small bump.

The other thing to find out is if that raise was tied to the promotion, your performance, or the cost of living.

[thedudeabides]

Considering the overall state of the economy, I think turning down a raise would be looking a gift horse in the mouth. Iknow several people who haven't gotten any raises in the past three years and have been furloughed multiple times to boot.

If you do approach it, I would follow StressedGroom's lead.

[Jones]

In my previous job, I was salaried, and was forced to skip the "annual" raise two years in a row. The phrase "more duty, more honor" was cast about a lot. My last year there I managed to get a 2% raise, which equated out to quite a bit less than $100/month.

Only you know your situation and your office politics; if you think that negotiation will get you anywhere, go for it, but be careful because your management is probably acutely aware that there are a lot of people willing to line up for a job with a $100/month annual increase.