To ask for a pay rise under these circumstances?

[thursnc]

I'm barely surviving on the money I'm currently on so a pay rise would be a great help. I'm really conscious of what my bosses think of me and don't want to appear cheeky!

So, my bosses (generally) pay minimum wage. I however, I am overqualified for my position as I have a degree which relates directly to my field. For this reason I get paid ever so slightly more than the minimum wage required for my age.

So I'm 21. Minimum wage for me would be £7.05 per hour. Because of my qualifications they put me on £7.50 PH. Minimum wage is now increasing to £7.38 PH. So all of my colleagues without degrees, the ones on MW see an increase, where as nobody has mentioned anything to me about my wage going up and I don't want to miss out!

I worked really, really hard to get a first in my degree and am proud of that! I do a lot for my setting that other employees do not do. I write reports for our children for community paediatricians, educational psychologists, outreach services, social workers and lots of other different agencies that some of my children are involved with. I also attend lots of multi agency meetings relating to SEN and Child Protection for some of my children, these can be extremely daunting! Especially when the other professionals there are much older and more experienced. I do my best, do my bit, say what I need to say to get the best for the child/family and am often complimented by the other professionals there on how well I came across. I drive myself to all of these meetings, my room leader has been to one or two in the past, she doesn't drive but always gets her taxi paid for by our boss where as I have never been reimbursed for any petrol I have used driving all over my large city for meetings.
I feel that if I made the point of all the extra things I do to my boss, he will get a little bit defensive and say that any other member of staff would do that too given the chance. Which is true I guess, but it does only seem to be me doing all of these things, other members of staff don't do any of that! I do really enjoy this part of my job, and wouldn't want them to take that away from me.

Am I within my rights to ask for a small pay rise? I don't mean anything major, I would be happy with £8ph and wouldn't really expect any more than that. Am I asking too much? Does anyone have any tips on how to ask or what to say? Like I said I really don't want them to think I'm being cheeky, so be honest!
Thank you!

No harm in asking but if you want your degree to be recognised then you may need to do a job to reflect that,

I would expect someone with a first in a degree in the field that they were working in certainly to be paid above minimum wage!!
Definitely ask for it.

I agree with the poster above, if you want your pay to reflect your qualifications then choose a job that requires a degree.

Minimum wage or just above is the standard for my job though unfortunately. All of my colleagues are level 2 or 3 qualified. I do it because I love it and am still young enough to afford to do it. Not something I could do forever though because its just not enough money to live on!

Don't ask, don't get

I would phrase it quite simply: your employer recognises your (excellent, beneficial) qualifications by paying you X per hour more than the others. As their pay is going up by Y amount, will yours do likewise to maintain the differentiation?

That way you avoid the risk of getting bogged down in detail about the minutia of your role.

So look into changing jobs! Do you want to be on minimum wage (or close to it) for the rest of your working life?

And if you need to talk about why, then phrase it in terms of the added value you bring (rather than hours worked or distance travelled) compared to your colleagues, e.g. do they get a better Ofsted (or anything!) from having more highly qualified staff? Have you saved them money or time etc.?

I appreciate you are young and maybe lacking a bit experience wise, but you have a lot of responsibility and I would hope your bosses are aware of the amount of work you do and effort you put in and would not want to lose you. I would put forward a case based on current role and include money towards expenses, most workplaces pay 35-45p per mile for fuel. £8 ph still seems very good value for an enthusiastic, qualified worker so if they reject the proposal I would be tempted to look for something else. Good luck with negotiations.

Thank you all so much I really appreciate all of the advice! I didn't think anyone would reply!
I do always look online at other jobs, I am quite happy where I am but know it isn't a 'forever job'. To be honest I don't know what I really want to do yet and am still considering my options, I could go back to uni to do a masters or another type of post grad course. While I decide I'm happy where I am, working full time and getting lots of hands on, practical experience which will put my in good stead later on.

Phrase it in terms of maintaining the differentiation, and also draw attention to the actual diffferences in your duties.

Don’t say anything about being over qualified or about your difficulties about living on that wage as both are irrelevant and could be seen as weakening your case.

Long term you clearly need to shift to a career path that reflects the value you bring to the workplace and makes use of your qualification (vs being overqualified).

Ah, cross posted :)

Ask but have evidence to prove you are working above your level.

No I wouldn't say anything about being overqualified that just makes me look like a abit of a dick.

I'll definitely stick to just maintaining the initial differentiation in pay, which I reckon is a fair and valid point.

If asked why I think I deserve it, I will mention all of the extra bits I do that other staff members don't. And if needed I will bring in the fact that having me as a member of staff may bring more custom to the setting, along with other benefits of having a level 6 on site bla bla.

I'm going to try to do it tomorrow, I hope I don't chicken out!

You can ask, but 50p per hour is a big leap from a financial point of view.

Actually I’d be trying to push them towards the real living wage.

Ask in terms of maintaining the difference if that is what was agreed to reflect your higher qualification when you took the job.

While it doesn't sound like you in this case, but having encountered a several very much over qualified people while working in one particular nursery. Make sure you're confident you are able in all aspects of your work. While everyone has different strengths within a team very occasionally it doesn't all even out so the practical work load is poorly distributed. Just in case your bosses are like my former boss who would point out someone looks great on paper with a First Degree (well done you) but was taking more work to train up the the apprenticeship staff and lacked bassic but essential skills and wasn't the best vaule in her budget even if they could do super dupper xy and z but caused friction within the team. Again this doesn't come across at all like you from your post. I'm just having flash backs to the lovely but clueless qualified teacher who decided she'd join us to work with under 3s becuase the smaller they are the cuter they are. Brilliant with theory and very academically smart could shoot through the planning we needed to do and go much further above what was required. But at the end of her trail period still struggled to change a nappy, couldn't make bottles up without someone guiding her through step by step every time, couldn't get her head around the cleaning responsibilities and practical routines in the job. She had many strengths but couldn't seem to pick up the practicalities easily at all. When she pointed out the the manager at her review how much more she could be earning if she took a teaching position and how much the planning in the room she had been working in had improved.

Was then asked by boss how much value she felt she brought to the day to day running of the nursery when practically she could manage to do less than our as yet unqualified school leavers. As amazing as her planning was, others were worked with to improve our provision mostly the recording of the excilence they were providing, but she couldn't pick up basic skills that were needed multipul times a day. While she wa given time and supported to try to gain thr skills she needed she decided she wasn't suited to the role before the next review and eventually found an advisory role that suited her perfectly.

@dobbythedoggy yes totally agree with this, different people have different strengths. Not really the case for me like you say, I worked there before I had my degree and has taken 3 years to get to where I am now, so lots of hard work!

Good luck, hope you get the pay rise, childcare pay is rubbish so every penny counts!

So glad you aren't causing multipul extra trips to the bathroom because you constantly forget to fasten nappies with the tapes or putting them on back to front.

Also please ask about getting millage when you're doing things for work. Maybe in a seperate conversation. But I wonder if it's not accured to your boss if others have to get taxies as that's a much more upfront expense so more obvious they need to be covered and easier to evidence. It all adds up and if it's one of your strengths being able to advocate for those children who need doing so you could be spending quite a bit on it.

And here we have a perfect case study of why the ‘gender pay gap’ exists. If you want to be paid according to your academic ability, go for another job that demands a relevant first as a minimum. They will pay substantially more than minimum wage for a grad scheme starter. It will be harder in other ways, and you may not enjoy it as much.

If you want to do something that you think is important, that you care about, is flexible and understanding and that you enjoy, that pays badly and doesn’t recognise your potential....stay where you are.

Do not join a low-skill trade and expect higher pay because you happen to have a first class degree. However ‘relevant’ the subject may be, it’s evidently not relevant to the job.

Sorry to sound harsh, but you need to either shit or get off the pot. However, the bastards absolutely should be covering your travel costs between site visits. That’s a legal requirement.

When I worked in retail (supervisor) I was on £9.50 an hour and I only left retail last year after I graduated...your pay does seem low in comparison. I agree that you should plan to leave your current company - what’s comfortable isn’t necessarily what’s best for you. As your company has a culture of paying minimum wage, I’m not quite sure how they would react to you wanting a slight pay rise

If it were me I would ask for a small promotion/new job title to reflect the extra responsibilities you are taking on (or could take on) due to the extra qualifications you have. And with a promotion comes a pay rise, of course. In my experience, it is difficult for employers to justify pay rises when the employee is doing the same job he/she always was.

Where do you work?! That sounds ridiculous for the level of responsibility you have. I got £6.50/hour temping in Dewsbury doing basic admin when I was a student 15 years ago! I remember cos it’s how I bought my first car (banger!).

@Babycham1979 you're right, you do sound harsh!

I’m not asking to be paid according to my academic ability, if that was the case I’d be demanding much more than a measly 50p above minimum wage! Although my degree does factor into that, it’s more for all the extra responsibilities I have. They aren’t small bits and bobs here and there either, I’ve just contributed to a child protection case conference. That’s a big deal and has a huge impact on a whole family and the outcomes for multiple children.

I did not join a low skill trade and expect more because I have a degree, I was already doing the ‘low skill’ (ha!) job, before I got the degree, my bosses upped my wage once I’d graduated to reward me for my efforts and all of the positives I could now bring to the setting.

I appreciate your honesty, and I am looking at other employment options for the future but right now I'm not sure which direction I want to go in. I'm comfortable where I am atm and I do enjoy it most of the time.

For your extra responsibilities then sure ask away, have a fall back plan if you are to be knocked back though, but there is no harm in asking.

@Cherrypieface123 would rather not say exactly but it is in the private early years sector.

It's bloody hard work, extremely stressful, thankless and horrifically underpaid. The 3 and 4 year olds I have now I've cared for since they were about 6 months old, Monday to Friday, 8-6. I have a really lovely bond with them and really would like to see them go off to big school before I leave.

Led by my heart and not my brain unfortunately!