Would you ask for a pay rise in this situation?

[employmentmatters]

I am currently 6 months pregnant.
I go on maternity leave April.

I work in the construction industry (office based) and am contracted to 45 hours a week.

There is only one of me who does my job in the company and and have bought up a few times that more than just me is needed for the role however, business is currently good and order book is healthy (nearly full for the year).
I often end up doing overtime to meet deadlines. Overtime is not paid.
Overtime can add another 2-5 hours per week.

I don't feel my renumeration is the fair going rate.
My salary is £36k per year.
This works out at £15.40 per hour based on a 45 typical week.
Average salaries for my position is typically anywhere between £35 for basic position to £50k for senior position.
Typically these positions are advertised at 40 hour working weeks meaning my equivilent yearly salary using my hourly rate is £32k per year.

Working out what I feel I am worth would put my hourly rate up to £17,80 per hour which would be a salary of £36k per year on a 40 hour basis or £41k per year on my hours of 45 a week.
However this seems like a lot to ask, and I'm going on maternity leave soon.

Would you ask in my position?

By the sound of it, you are underpaid. I think now is the time to ask. You will be less likely to do so when you come back from maternity leave as you might feel a bit out of it...

And remember, you're not asking for much - just for the going rate...

I think you have a strong rationale to ask for a salary review.

However I would think that your employer might be reluctant to do it seeing as you are about to dip out of the organisation for up to a year and you might come back with different priorities (ie not doing any ovetime)

I also think you need to go in with specific examples of what you have achieved in your time with the company and why this means you deserve a pay rise, and mention at the same time you've done some benchmarking research and your current rate falls short of the average you've seen for current going rates.

I don't thing going in with just benchmarking examples is going to get you a pay rise.

I work for a construction industry company in payroll & I obviously don't know your exact role but you sound well paid to me. Your current pay is certainly on a oar with our senior contracts managers & is actually slightly more than most.

We are Midlands based rather than Alondon based. They work whatever hours are required usually 8am - 4.30pm but sometimes evenings & weekends if visiting site.

Now is not the time to ask for a pay increase. When you get back from your leave, wait 3 months and then say something. Back it up by having an offer in hand at GBP40-45K for a proper bump.

I say this as someone who is aggressive about my pay raises.