Am I mad to consider accepting a promotion without a pay rise?

[CadburyCrunchy]

Position has become available due to various redundancies (previous manager had been there years and was on a lot more money). I've subsequently been offered the job to manage a team of 11 but the condition / clause is to agree to stay on my current salary for at least a year due to budget restrictions and 'cost saving' strategies...

After a year there may be a pay rise (no guarantee) but no where near that of previous person's salary. The advantage would be I'd get experience in the role so could go elsewhere with that and go up the career ladder but in the meantime I'd have all the extra responsibility and stress without any extra cash in my pocket!

Are they taking the complete piss?

Absolutely do not do it.

They are taking the piss - don't undervalue yourself for a vague promise of a fair wage in the future.

Absolutely not ...do not take that...if you're good enough to do the job you're good enough to get paid the wage for it....
Maybe look at other companies if this lot won't pay the going rate

Yes they're taking the piss. I'm in a similar position at the moment and absolutely refusing to do this. The person I'm replacing is on 10k more than me. I'm stepping up a grade to take the role, they want me to remain on my current salary. If he wasn't leaving they'd still be paying that salary. I'm not working the extra for free!

Yes you would be mad to take it without a decent increase in salary. Just ask yourself if they ever expect a man to do this - the answer is almost certainly No.
If they believe you are capable of doing the job they should be prepared to pay appropriately for your skills.

I took a promotion in the NHS.

I have had a reduction in take home pay.
Not a mistake.

And they wonder why nurses are being balloted on strike action!

Speaking as a senior manager and someone who has progressed my career very quickly, you are not mad to take the promotion without the payrise. But it important to first work out what is most important to you.

If your career progression is not so important to you, and work life balance is your top priority, then probably say no. The promotion will certainly come with extra stress.

But if you have ambitions to operate at that level in the future, then you should definitely consider it. It's very difficult to progress (and get the financial reward that comes with it) without having demonstrable experience. This is one way to get that experience. And once you are operating at that level, you can try to negotiate more money with your current employer, or alternatively you are in a much stronger position to get a role at that level (and with the appropriate salary) elsewhere. Sometimes you have to think of the longer term gain and make a few sacrifices in the short term to get where you want to be long term.

Also don't automatically assume your managers are taking advantage. Sometimes as a manager, it's good to give someone at a lower level internally the opportunity to progress and develop, knowing that they may not have all the skills but they will get there in time (and then I'd look at pay). But I wouldn't pay them the same money as someone who already has the right level of skills and experience (it would be easier to just recruit someone with the skills in the first place).

If you can negotiate a pay review into your contract in 12 or 18 months that would be ideal - and suggests your managers are not looking to take advantage. If they're not willing to include a pay review in your contract, that is a little more telling - but it still wouldn't stop me taking the role if it meant I got the experience I needed to further progress my career (and I'd very quickly be looking to use the demonstrable experience I gained from the promotion, to find the same position and associated higher pay elsewhere).

No, the money will follow

I’ve made that mistake before, taken the “opportunity” with a flimsy promise of rewards in the future.

I wouldn’t do it again, but I see why no did and I see why people do.

But do it with your eyes open. They more than likely will never reward you properly but it’ll give you a better chance of getting that by moving externally

Could they recruit externally for that role at your current salary? If not then take this and the fact that they will save the recruitment fee and time to pay the going rate or you are happy where you are.

Absolutely taking the piss. You can manage the team from next year when the budget does become available providing something else doesn't come along before that happens.

I'm sorry, but this is terrible advice. All you are doing by encouraging this sort of practice is enabling employers to exploit their staff - particually women who traditionally were less likely to demand a fair wage.

The managers are absolutely taking advantage and we fucking shouldn't stand for it.

This is a hot topic in my office, is being offered to a colleague. Who is FUMING. Seems like every day, he rants about promotion-without-payrise-offer and whether he should just leave our employer instead. This has been going on for at least... 6 weeks?

I end up concluding that 30yo-men are enormously too emotional to be allowed in the modern workplace, put on my headphones & try to keep my head down.

ONLY do this if in 1 year you are willing to use the experience to move to a different company for a better paying job. Because you won't ever get what you're worth at this company.

If they have to recruit someone, it will cost them thousands just in recruitment fees alone. I would call their bluff.

What they have told you makes no sense. The person leaving is on a much higher salary. That should be baked into the budget. You taking on the role for no salary change means they save a small amount….or share the money saved in another way.

I would be very clear with them that you don’t understand the budget gap with salaries.

Managing 11 people is a lot of emotional drivel. You need to be paid accordingly.

You would be managing 11 extra people! That comes with so much extra work, plus all the extra work on top of that, for no extra pay? That is completely mad! It’s taking the piss. I am all for getting experience, that will put you in good stead for the future, but it should be about working to live and not living work!

How would HR even allow something like this? Your managers are taking advantage of you, dangling the carrot of “experience” that you will be gaining but which will end up making you work like a donkey.

You are being offered a promotion to replace someone with 20 years’ experience. You therefore know that things will have been done properly in that role.

Not in my experience. I joined a team as deputy with a manager that has been there for a decade as had most of the team, they hadn't moved with new best practice, resistant to change, info wasn't updated property because "they just knew what they were doing". Nightmare.

Line management of 11 people for the same money is taking the piss. I'd find out average starting salaries for comparable roles in your industry and go to them with that. They're saving money on the previous managers salaries and saving on recruitment fees.

Taking the absolute PISS! What would a bloke do? Would your boss even ASK a man to do this and expect him to accept
uts a no, you’d be a fool to do this - who else are they going to get?
can they honestly recruit from outside the company for this role on your current salary?
you’ll look like a mug, you’re being treated like a mug, they’ll think you’re a mug.
If this is what the future looks like there, you might want to think about leaving.

IF you want the promotion go back and tell them what you want ££ to take it on.

Yes don’t do it. Managing 11 people is hard work

Best piece of advice I give to everyone but especially women “know your number”.

I would never offer someone a role like this but if I did and they didn’t ask for more, immediate
signal they’re not ready. Negotiating salary will be one of the easier conversations relative to stepping up and managing 11 people.

Keep negotiating. I can't believe they won't give you a bit or agree for the pay rise in one year to be guaranteed. Check that no one the tier below you will be getting more (this would annoy me).
Will your role be backfilled? It isn't necessarily harder work to manage people/take a step up and as others have said this promotion may help you get a better job elsewhere, if that's what you are interested in - so worth it if you intend to move on.
Would you live with being managed by someone else? Again worth taking the job for that reason and parking the fight about pay if opportunities don't come along often, if you stick with the company you could be a long time in the promoted job or your old job. At least the promotion has a change of increase and you're the boss.

Hahahahaha they are properly taking the piss.

So you stay in your job on the same money or you take the new job work hard, pick up the experience, up skill yourself, make your self invaluable. You are then in a position to demand the pay rise or you can jump ship.

The fact she's been offered the position suggests she's already worked hard, got the experience, skills and made herself invaluable. OP - you are already in the position to demand the pay rise. Please don't settle for less.

I think they’re taking the piss but it also sounds financially precarious if redundancies are happening so there is a question re how safe your role is anyway. How much do you like the company?