bad idea to question salary review?

[Beansprout30]

Ive been informed that following salary reviews accross the company, I am due to recieve a small payrise which I am very grateful for however I have since found out it was a lower percentage than some of my co workers got. I dont want to give away too many details but I am left wondering why I only got a small amount and would like to query it with my boss - is this a bad idea?

Tricky situation! Firstly, are you comparing like with like (are the co-workers doing the same job as you)? If so, were you on the same £ as you before this review? Are salary reviews performance-related in any way? Are you sure that they've calculated the percentage properly?

I can't see any reason why you shouldn't ask your manager if s/he can clarify how the amounts were arrived at unless you're in a company where it's expressly forbidden for employees to disclose details of their salaries, in which case you could be opening a can of worms if you make any reference to what others have been awarded.

Is it performance related? We have revies and your oerformance is rated 1-4. Payrise happens for those who get a 2 (1 percent inc), 3 (1.5 percent inc) amd 4 (2 percent inc).

Could they be doing something lkke that?

I think it's okay if you ask about it in the sense of clarifying how they arrange the rises, and what things you need to do to get more next time round, particularly if it's performance related.

Be careful of saying you know colleagues have got more. I questioned this at a previous company, and was told, "You know discussing salaries is a sackable offence, don't you?" (How the hell can you ever tell if you're being paid fairly, then? I did eventually end up with a 26% rise there when HR reviewed roles and salaries across the whole department, but that was a couple of years later.)

My letter says it was based on performance and commitment, my commitment has been unquestionable ( dont mean to blow my own trumpet!) And ive performed to the best I can, however had an informal discussion with my boss and he says it wasn't based on performance and commitment and that as ive only been in my new role (small promotion-well I switched to a different position which paid the sane) 6 months he couldn't really putme forward for anything higher.

To me, the promotion contradicts the pay review. Im rewarded with a higher position, but penalised because I haven't been doing it long, ive also been unable to fully take on my new role as ive been covering a colleague who left and my boss has been off sick so ive not recieved the full training.

My colleagues who got a higher percentage do a different job but they are in lower skilled jobs. I just feel like a taking on new responsibilities was pointless if I now don't get similar pay reviews

My letter says it was based on performance and commitment, my commitment has been unquestionable ( dont mean to blow my own trumpet!) And ive performed to the best I can, however had an informal discussion with my boss and he says it wasn't based on performance and commitment and that as ive only been in my new role (small promotion-well I switched to a different position which paid the sane) 6 months he couldn't really putme forward for anything higher.

To me, the promotion contradicts the pay review. Im rewarded with a higher position, but penalised because I haven't been doing it long, ive also been unable to fully take on my new role as ive been covering a colleague who left and my boss has been off sick so ive not recieved the full training.

My colleagues who got a higher percentage do a different job but they are in lower skilled jobs. I just feel like a taking on new responsibilities was pointless if I now don't get similar pay reviews

I don't think there's much you can do, unless you also get a low percentage next time, and you've continued to put the effort in.

I presume you got a payrise along with your promotion? I think it's fairly standard to give less of the pot to employees who have recently had a payrise or who are new in a job. The other factor could be how close you are to market value pay. In my company if you are close to or above market pay then you get a smaller rise than those who are further below market value.

I have struggled with this my whole working life - positive feedback followed by no financial reward. In my current position (new boss) the way I intend to handle this is to get clear objectives up front, get an affirmation that my next salary review will relate to these, exceed the fuck out of them, and then see what happens. as usual I expect fuck all. At that point I will ask for a meeting and ask for the negative feedback that will help explain why I got so little and clarify my objectives for the next review. It may or may not help but either way it's a process that will take years. Good luck. sorry this has happened to you.

If you've had a promotion recently, then you haven't been in your new role that long, and probably not performing as well as you will once you've been in it longer and doing the whole role. It makes perfect sense to give you a lower percentage in those circumstances.

The pay rise may be pro rata for the no of months you've been in the job in the similar way a bonus usually is.
I would ask for clarity on how this figure was reached and how you can achieve a higher % next time.
Again I wouldn't mention others either, as it may state that it's a sackable offence.

It was a promotion without a pay rise though. The op would have been better off without the promotion, as if it has set her back for a significant pay review it amounts to a pay cut

Thanks all for your input. I've decided to accept it this time and see what happens at the next pay review. As much as I feel it's a little unfair or perhaps im just not understanding the full picture, I do really enjoy my job and the pro's outway the cons at the moment so I guess I should just be grateful I got anything.