>been working in the administration of a retail company for 9 months >part time (~10h/week) because student >literally minimum wage (9,5€/h) but I needed that money to pay rent
>meanwhile finished my bachelor degree in business and economics (doing master degree now) >sick of working for minimum wage >tried to talk to my boss in december about a raise >he is 68 years old and also owns 2/3 of company >"yeah yeah lets talk next year about it"
>ask again in january >"yeah yeah lets talk in february about it"
>was in bad mood last week, sick of work >decided to write him an email if he doesnt to want talk in person about it >wrote I already have an offer of another company and if he wants me to stay he would have to pay the same (14€/h which is pretty nice where I live) >also wrote that Im the best with Excel and other math stuff (90% of my work) from the whole company and nobody else could do it the way I do (mostly women 45+ as coworkers, who all say that my work is worth gold for them since its saving so much of their time) >I need an answer about my raise until tomorrow or I will have to leave
Did I fuck up? I will know tomorrow, but was this a horrible idea? Demanding a raise per mail?
Good thing is that I made some money on the side and my backplan is starting my own business, so even if I lose my job tomorrow im not completely fucked
Samuel Jackson
you did good, always look out for your own interest. It's minimum wage right? Literally any other job will pay you the same so don't worry if it doesn't go great but this is a first step.
Colton Gonzalez
Try to leave as smooth as possible if you get fired Yeah and also negotiate all shit in your favor and if they don't agree leave
Wyatt Roberts
So here is the situation:
The company hired you as part time administrative worker. That's not a career job. As long as your job description stays the same they have absolutely no reason to reward you with a 50% raise, they could just hire any of the other students looking for a part time job.
If you want a substantial raise you should talk about taking on new responsibilities and that would almost certainly mean working full which you can't do.
Oh and I don't know the size of the company but your boss probably doesn't give two fucks about you. In his mind there are plenty of people who could fill in.
Caleb Roberts
Don't the bosses in these situations need to be mindful of the negative PR and fallout from firing a legit effective worker/who has had a net positive effect on the rest of the workers?
Josiah Fisher
If i was paying staff 9.50eur/h and he asked for anywhere near 14eur/h i would shake his hand and say goodluck wherever your going cos you aint staying... you shoulda gone with 11....12 at most
Landon Jones
yeah thats what I thought. The only problem is to find a part time job which isnt retail/mcdonalds (I hate working with customers) thats my plan well I also asked to change my job description to financial accountant, which is practically what I do. I also asked for more hours (up to 15-20) since I got given more tasks during the last few months The other thing is that I really am the best at my work and it would be very hard to find another student who can handle Excel the way I can (never met another student who heard about makros in excel). So technically he cant fire me if he wants the work done well I dont think he gives a batshit about that. In the last 12 months, 3 top lvl managers left because they couldnt along with him true, but on the other hand 14€/h is the average payment for someone with a university degree in my area and field
William James
Lol no. What negative PR? Angry tweets?
And OP probably won't get fired, he will just get denied a raise and he is free to go if he pleases.
Even if he gets fired (maybe if the mail was very rude or something) the statement will read something like:
"Due to our inability to find common ground regarding the compensation of Mr. X, management had to make the tough decision to terminate all employment relationships with Mr. X. Nevertheless we wish him all the best on his future ventures."
Jacob Jackson
>I really am the best at my work and it would be very hard to find another student who can handle Excel the way I can
Yeah that's a really weak argument. "This guy is indispensable because he knows excel!" -Said no manager ever.
>true, but on the other hand 14€/h is the average payment for someone with a university degree in my area and field
..if you actually use your degree and not just do part-time administrative work which apparently can be done by any student looking to earn some money on the side, which is exactly why they hired you.
Robert Jackson
>but on the other hand 14€/h is the average payment for someone with a university degree in my area and field
If he was paying you to do it for 9.50... he can sure as hell get someone else in to replace you for the same fee... Companies/bosses dont usually care for an employees worth to a company... I was the legit BEST employee at my previous company in administration, handled 80% of the bosses work... he only really attended meetings and asked me to make notes before hand... asked for a raise from 15k to 20k or leave... got laughed out the office... left the following day... company liquidated shortly after... All because the owner thought he was a fucking god!... Remember... Nobody won in this situation, because I didn't have another job lined up so i was instantly out of work, and anyone can do an admin job straight out of school really these days... its doing it GOOD that is key... and making your value be seen to the higher ups.... if your value is seen, recognized and understand the necessity of your role in the company, you will be automatically offered a raise based on performance by your higher ups... believe me, becuase that is what it is like for me at my company now... almost monthly raises and bonuses... only low raises, but constant and the appreciation is reciprocated!
Carson Green
well but if he isnt paying me what my time is worth on the market...then I should leave anyway and find something else, right?
Bentley Torres
>l but if he isnt paying me what my time is worth on the market
You cant just walk into another administration job these days... especially for full market value... if you confidentially believe you can get a job the is Equal to or better: -Pay -Work environment -Prospects -Accessibility(closeness to home and travel) -Timescales -Bonuses
Then yes by all means leave... but make sure you get this scenario setup first by attending interviews and lining jobs up... leaving your job to sit at home is not a good financial move, and an unemployed person is less likely to gain employment than a person currently in work
Matthew Gutierrez
To be honest, When your boss said "yeah yeah lets talk in february about it" - you should have set a date for you to meet and talk about it. However it sounds like you're still going about it in a fiery manner.
Godspeed Veeky Forumsrother
Nathaniel Jenkins
-Pay: minimum wage -Work environment: nice coworkers but shitty management -Prospects: none if I am being declined my raise -Accessibility(closeness to home and travel): could be closer -Timescales: its ok -Bonuses: none
I dont really have much to lose, and as I said, my backplan is to start my own business
Oliver Ross
>start my own business
Doing admin or other?
Bentley Foster
Im also skilled at webdevelopment, Im already doing some websites for small businesses and making some side money. Either I get this raise and stay at my job, or I quit and go full time web dev and maybe handling online marketing and such stuff for small businesses. I dont need much to live as student so I could try that. It will either work out or I stop it after a year
James Gray
I sincerely hope you get the raise... but i'm 90% sure you wont get 14/h from 9.50/h prepare yourelf for a counter offer of around 11/h and then probably a performance based review after a set timescale... say 6 months to 12/h... 14/h is out of reach i'm pretty certain... its almost a 50% raise which is too unrealistic.
>making some side money >handling online marketing and such stuff for small businesses
How are you planning to increase your workload from a side earner to a full time business proposal, how do you plan to attain the business from companies?
Noah Davis
>How are you planning to increase your workload from a side earner to a full time business proposal, how do you plan to attain the business from companies? more marketing, google adwords and such. Just like I got my first customers, but more intense. I see a good chance it could work out and being self employed I can ask for 50-80€/hour which is pretty nice.
Anyway Im going to sleep now, thanks for your replies, I will let you know tomorrow what happened. Wish me luck
Jason Rivera
Good luck OP. Hopefully the thread sticks around until you get a chance to update us.
Ryder Bell
bump to keep thread alive driving to work now
David Ward
Ey, let us know! Looking forward to hearing from you soon.
Owen Sullivan
holy shit guys I did it
got my raise
14€/ hour and I can choose between 15 or 17 hours a week
be good at what you are and dreams can become true
Sebastian Butler
Inb4 fired
Chase Gutierrez
when you want to be happy for a guy
but you are sceptical because the world is not fair and not sure if just trying to motivate you and make you happy.