Asking for more money when being promoted

[GinsnRoses]

A colleague is leaving and I'm hoping to be promoted to their role which will involve quite a lot more work and responsibility. A new team member has been recruited in my place.

My problem is that I inadvertently found out how much the new person will be paid and it's considerably more than I'm currently on. I expect the new role to involve an increase in salary but I would never have asked for as much as what I now know the new person will be getting. Obviously I feel I should be paid more because my role will be senior.

When it comes to discussing money how do I ask for what I want without disclosing that I know what someone else is being paid?

Following with interest. I'm likely to be promoted and I have some knowledge about how much the people doing similar roles were on before they left. Going up to those salaries would be a considerable jump and I know a recently promoted colleague was pissed off that their new salary didn't match market rates.

Any ideas on how to benchmark the new role without referring to individuals whose salaries I probably shouldn't know.

That's exactly my problem and I know if I don't say something it will always niggle at me - I'm hoping to quote what I believe is industry standard but if they say no I can hardly say 'but you're paying X £xxx' can I?!

Anyone also? Hoping to meet with my boss today and no idea what to say!

Was the new person's salary range quoted on an ad you could have seen/ by a recruitment agency?

DH and his colleagues share their salary info all the time. Allowing it to be a secret - or pretending it's a secret when you do know is only going to hurt your interests.

I'm not sure but I'll check the ads - I also saw the candidate's CV, wonder if he'd specified that he was currently on.

It's so hard, previously I'd have been happy with a much smaller raise - wouldn't have dreamed of asking for too much more - but now I know this I don't see why someone less senior than me should earn more.

Employers rely on incumbents keeping salaries low, that's why new starters always tend to be on more than currently paid.

Without a decent payrise it is not a promotion, is it.?

If you need to ask for £10k, so be it.

You can say you have been looking on, say, Reed website at similar jobs and they tend to be paying x.

What will you do if they offer you less than the new person, Ginsnroses?

You should be basing your request on what you are worth, not on what your new colleague is getting.

Can you get more elsewhere?

Hmm that's a tricky one - I'll push for more but ultimately they'll have decided what they want to pay.

I probably could get more elsewhere but jobs like mine are fairly specific and to find one that I don't have to travel miles for would be tricky. In retrospect I should have asked for a higher salary when I took the job but it was my first time back in full time work after years at home with DC and a full time salary of any kind sounded good.

I have done a lot since I've been here though - hence being singled out for promotion. I've introduced new systems, been nominated for awards, definitely worked more hours than many of my colleagues - I need to push all of that don't I.

(Incidentally the meeting didn't happen yesterday, fingers crossed for today).

As you say, you need to outline briefly why you think you are worth what you're asking for. A few tips - don't apologise, don't "just" ask for anything. Be confident and if it helps, imagine a man in your situation - would he be apologetic or not want to discuss pay? Probably not because women unfortunately have been conditioned that they are worth less in the workplace. If you've put the work in and you've got your promotion then they should absolutely pay you market rate.

How did you find out? Could you say 'bearing in mind my talent, commitment and experience, and as I understand it with the role of Junior Newbie at a salary level of £40k these days, I'd expect this role to come with a salary of £50k, how does that fit within our budgets?'

And if they reply along the lines of 'but we pay you 50p and we're giving you a 1p rise you point out that yes you have indeed been working at way below your worth for some time, because you really enjoy the work, and believe in the organisations aims, but you recognise that you need to be realistic about what your skills are worth in the current market, so having thought carefully, you are sure that £50k is a fairer more realistic salary.

Good luck

Everything that they said ^

Ultimately, I'm afraid that they are looking to give you the least they away with, without forcing you to leave. The easiest way to secure a significant rise is to secure another role that you are prepared to take. How would you feel about that?

If all else fails, could you secure another pay review in six months, rather than a year?

Hasn't your employer rather jumped the gun by replacing you when you haven't accepted the other role yet (because you haven't been offered it). What would happen if you said, Well thanks for your kind offer but I'm afraid the package you are offering me for the new role does not reflect the increased scope. I was expecting an offer of X based on ...ParadiseCity.....

Actually scrap the "kind"

Employees can no longer be penalised for discussing salaries.

But big pay increases don't tend to happen when you're being promoted in house. You best way to up hour salary is get another job. When staff are hired in they're paid substantially more than if the company had promoted in house. Just the way it is.

I'd find another role and hand in your resignantion. Disclose you're new salary if they ask and they may be prepared to match it.

'Scuse the typos.

Placemarking as I'm dying to know what the new salary is!

I think they've gone about the whole thing badly tbh, it's a good company but often disorganised and lacking in communication. They should really have sorted out what they wanted in the different roles and the corresponding salary ranges before getting candidates involved.

I am extremely tempted to say I'd prefer to stay in my current role if they can't pay me what I'm worth. I know the new role will involve a lot of stress and extra hours and I'm only prepared to accept that if I'm paid well for it. Otherwise I may as well stick with the more regular hours and OK salary I currently have. This would make things quite awkward for them though as someone needs to pick up everything the colleague who's going will leave behind.

It's interesting that employers can (knowingly or not) take advantage of primarily women who stay with them for work/life balance reasons. I'm struggling to know whether this is a gender pay gap or equal pay issue.

In this case the salary is afaik nothing to do with the other person being male, but my lower current salary is definitely down to me not asking for more when I perhaps should have - not sure many men would make that mistake .

Work life balance is definitely important to me and I recognise the value of time as much as money - don't know if this is a generally female way of thinking or not.

I tHink you should ask what the salary will be when in discussion ando then look surprised / disappointed and say that you were hoping for more like xx (based on previous postholder/ other roles in the team). And then ask if it is the best they can do. If there is a wriggle then ask if if they can come back to you with a revised figure. Or else say you will need to think about whether you can accept the role on this basis.

@GinsnRoses Any update?

No - still waiting for the meeting. Told you they were disorganised! I'll post again when I've got an update - probably sometime next year at this rate!

Something fairly similar happened to me. It wasn't a promotion as such but I was being required to take on more responsibility. I requested a certain amount, outlined why I was worth it in a couple of paragraphs and then finished it with "I hope you agree that this is excellent value for someone with my skills and experience"
Did the job!