Asking for a payrise

[sparkellie]

For background: I work in retail for a chain and get paid pennies above the minimum wage.
Over the past few years I have been given and enjoyed taking in more responsibility within my role. However I still get paid the same as the 18yos sat on checkouts all day, whilst I am responsible for all cash office duties for the shop. If I book a weekend off it requires a manager to cover and when I do all I hear is arguments between the managers over why they don't want to/can't work that weekend. My job is generally one that would be covered by management in other stores. I don't believe it is unreasonable to ask for a pay rise, but given how the structure works I would be asking for management pay even if only for my weekend hours. I am becoming more reluctant to continue in a job I really do love because I feel so unappreciated and taken for granted.
How do I go about discussing this with my manager? I don't want to say pay me more or I'm not doing it any more, but basically that's how I feel at the moment.
Aibu?

You set up a meeting and go in with the facts rather than wants. Outline your duties and how they differ from the job description at your current pay grade and then ask for a pay rise.
I struggled with it too but once you get over your fear of asking for money, you will find it surprisingly easy. I still remember the day when I turned down a job and said I will only accept it if they pay me X. They said no. Then they called me a week later and offered a higher position in the company and met all my salary requirements and then some. I have never been afraid to name my terms since.

Hmmm you can always ask! I used to work in retail management and there were uplifts we could pay for 'responsible colleagues' ~ obviously if these don't exist in your chain the answer is likely to be no, but it's possible there's a loophole somewhere!

Thanks. Yeah, they can and do pay other people more to open/close the shop etc, so I am sure it is doable if they want to. I'm just worried I'll ask and they'll say no and then I'll end up not doing a job I really do enjoy just to prove a point!

Yes do it. As above set out what you do for the business and that you are working above your pay grade. Have you had pay rises in line with inflation? You can raise that if you haven’t.

Don’t say your rent has gone up or childcare is more. Keep it about what you do for the business and what it is worth to them.

Don't try to guess what they will say. And also, don't assume you need to make any big decisions based on what they say. They can say yes and you carry on much happier. They can say no and you can carry on as you are. They can say no and you can start looking for another job. They can say yes and you can still start looking for another job. Your decision to carry on with work really doesn't depend on the answer they give you.
I wouldn't threaten them to leave as part of the pay rise conversation, for sure. It is unlikely to land well as most employers don't want to create the precedent of "the tail wagging the dog".

Take in examples from online job ads of what the industry rate is for what you do. Don’t over explain yourself because you don’t have to - just keep referring them to what the industry rate is for your role. From what you describe they wouldn’t want to give up the type of weekend cover you do and would agree!

Pay rises are set across the business and have kept pay at just above minimum wage, (£11.50/hr at the moment). Each minimum wage increase has gotten closer to our pay, so I fully expect to be on £12.25 in April)

I won't quit, I can't afford to! I just may step back from the cash side of things as it is a big responsibility and a lot to ask if not being paid for it. It would also enable me to change my days so I didn't work on a Sunday.

Thanks for the idea, but it's not really the kind of role that is advertised for, so it's hard to gauge what other places would pay for the same role. Over the business it is generally a role taken on by management who obviously get paid more.

Just to give you an idea - our uplift was I think 95p an hour for cash office, and it was the same for those with opening/closing responsibilities for the petrol station. This was approx 7 years ago - it's £1.30 now (have just checked with a colleague who still works there 😂) obviously probably not negotiable but as a ballpark of what others are paying. That's a large chain grocery supermarket.

Another thing to add is avoid asking yes or no questions. So rather than ask "can I have a payrise" you need to work it in a way which makes it more difficult to give a snap answer.
I personally like outlining the discrepancy between the job description for the paygrade and what you are currently doing, mentioning that you have not been remunerated for extra duties. Then make an affirmative statement "I would like a payrise" and finish with a "What can you offer?"

Be very clear about exactly how much more you want, if you’re not clear enough they may offer you a little more that isn’t what you want.

also, you say that you are doing cash office duties that are usually done by management, but are these duties actually more skilful than working the checkout, or just different? In that case, they wouldn’t necessarily be worth more pay.

As far as I'm aware they don't have many options regarding pay it's either csa or management, however they can pay management pay for the hours you work with extra responsibility - in my case at minimum i would expect that to be the weekends, but I do the job every day.
I suppose it depends what you mean by more skillfull - I didn't find it a difficult thing to learn, but you couldn't just throw anyone in there, especially for end of week, its 5 hours worth of paperwork/cash counting etc and you definitely need to know what you're doing. It is also a lot more responsibility for example at the moment I'm working on the change orders over Christmas/new year, if i mess them up theres no change for customers. I wouldn't be so bothered by getting extra pay if it was for all the infighting over who won't work it when I take a weekend off, I think that shows that they should be paying me.

Thanks, that's really helpful

Is it coop? Duty managers get £1 more, not sure about team leaders

Biggest pay rise I got was when I didn’t want the job and I told them I would only take it if they paid me X (not expecting them to say yes)
and they did. So I took it. Try going in with an Avenue out so that you care less. Makes it easier to be bold with your approach.