Promotion but no pay rise - job and home related

[DrMaryMalone]

Background so not to drip feed but it's long, sorry! I've worked for a company for 6 years now. Small office with 7 staff, nice place to work in general but can get manic and tense in busy periods. I started as an office assistant after 1st maternity leave from previous crappy office job. Over the last few years there has been a lot more focus on compliance in the sector we work in and a lot of it landed on my desk as none of the managers had the time or motivation to deal with it. I went off on my second maternity leave early 2018 and only took 4 months (during which time I worked 10 KIT days) then went back part time for another 3 months then back full time. When I went back the MD asked if I'd like to focus on the compliance and quality control areas and manage them in a newly created role starting Jan this year and they would take on someone for the other admin jobs. It would be same hours with a company car of my choice with reason and pay rise to follow once my workload had been established a bit better as it was a new position.

Fast forward 9 months and my issues are the following:

No pay rise other than company wide 2% at start of the year
Company car and fuel is costing me an extra £200 a month to HMRC (which I knew it would but had hoped a pay rise would offset a portion of this)
Time sensitive work issues mean I find myself answering emails and phone calls at weekends and at night
During busy periods I end up taking work home at night
Despite that I get the impression that the other managers resent that I work slightly shorter hours than they do and as such I end up staying late a lot but am nearly always still the first to leave at night due to childcare hours
Between that and not always being able take take my full hour unpaid lunch break I reckon they are getting an extra 5 hours a week from me over my normal hours

All of which has led to my OH saying for months now that he thinks work are taking the piss by expecting increased workload and stress over more hours with no extra pay. To put it into perspective, my take home pay is £30 more a month than someone working my contracted hours for national minimum wage - I'd actually earn more cash working in Aldi.

Between the pressure of new responsibilities at work and negativity at home when we hit a busy period at the start of the summer I dropped the ball work wise and made a few mistakes but nothing that was discaplinary worthy. I've since hit my stride and pulled off a couple of major successes. I feel like I should be asking for a payrise but I am worried my previous mistakes and inability to work longer hours due to family life will be held against me.

Long term this could be a great career but is the stress worth it now to be better off when DC are older and less dependant on me? Should I bring up a payrise and risk getting even more demoralised if I'm turned down? Or cut my losses and look for a minimum wage job with fewer prospects but less stress?

They are taking the piss. But you now have valuable new skills. I'd look for a similar role in another company which pays you fairly for the expertise you've acquired. Or if you love it there, let them know that the 'promotion' is costing you due to company car, and you would like a pay review asap to sort this out.

Why did you agree to a 'promotion' without a pay rise?

I think I'd look for a new, better job.

At the time the MD told me that the chairman (he answers to a board of directors) didn't want to authorise a payrise straight away at the start of the year as I was carrying on with my previous role until they could find a replacement admin person (which happened in April) but that after that he would be asking for a review on my behalf. So it's really only since then I've been dedicated solely to my new role but there have been 2 board meetings since then and nothing has been said. I don't know if it has genuinely been forgotten or if it is a reflection of my mistakes early in the role.

The issue with looking for a similar job is that there aren't many places in the sector in our area who aren't already either one of our customers or suppliers so could be awkward. And finding somewhere who would allow me family friendly hours might be tough as the norm in this job would be early starts and I can't commit to that as OH starts at 6am so the school.and nursery run are both on me.

I think I might speak to one of the other managers who has recently been tasked with making sure everyone is happy with their work. He is new to the company this year and probably has no idea what I'm earning whereas the MD, my linemanager and the office manager who does the payroll all do.

I think it's pretty straightforward. Ask for a pay rise. Leave if you don't get one. If you're only being paid just over NMW you can get something else. I think it is fear of the unknown that is keeping you there.

@GeorgeTheFirst I agree that's partly it - I enjoy the work and they generally pay everyone else very well for what they do. It's 10 minutes from home and the hours suit me.

My salary is over NMW but very low for the role. The problem is that after tax including for the company vehicle and fuel, student loan and pension I take home the same as someone on NMW without a company car would after tax.

Do you have a formal role spec for this new role?

Most organisations nowadays need this type of compliance/QC activity - a bit of searching on the web, eg online recruitment agencies etc, could give you a reasonable indication of hours, salary levels and role responsibilities and skills / quals to do the job.

Pull together a file of information and use it as a benchmark comparison to your current pay and conditions. Propose what you consider to be a fair annual salary and benefits for the role, based on what you find.

I don't know if it has genuinely been forgotten or if it is a reflection of my mistakes early in the role.. I bet these Directors wouldn't have forgotten if it was their remuneration package! If they have issues with your performance, then they should handle it by discussing whatever needs to improve via the performance development process.

Just a thought ... why do you need a company car? Unless you're in sales, out on the road, a field-worker etc and can evidence significant business mileage, you'll always be hammered for tax. Did they offload a spare car on you that was already in their fleet, or have they leased/ purchased it just for you? If there's a way of giving them back their car, it would be better if they gave you a taxable car allowance.

@daisychain some good points there. I definitely need to do some research into what I think the job is worth. I had already started getting some relevant qualifications before this role was created as the industry requirements are getting more involved each year and nobody else in the office knew much at all as it's quite a specialist area, so they have put me through some CPD and when the role was offered I was also told I would have the chance to persue a Masters in the subject if I wanted to.

Car is required as we have a number of production sites up to 30 miles away that I need to visit on a weekly basis for quality control and auditing. I was given a couple of cars to chose from, all of which were about the same tax wise. To be fair it did allow us to sell our family car and pay off the finance with a very small profit. So as a family we are probably about £100 a month better off not having the car finance and fuel costs but it's the fact it makes my pay low for the level of responsibility that grates. The car was purchased outright for me and we use it as our family car as OH drives a work van with not enough seats!

See it as a training opportunity and move on when you have the new skills. The pay rise will come in your new job, your current employer is the fool as they wont be the ones benefitting from your development.

I would ask for a review - are you at an obvious point, eg six months in.
Do your research first, seeing what market rates are for your type of role.

Then think about what the whole package should look like for you. Whilst it does sound like a job which should see you earning more than NMW, you also need to consider each of the constituent parts to see what you value.

A company car sounds like a fab benefit on the face of it - but if it's really only needed because of the company facility layouts, then it's practical rather than any kind of perk / status symbol. Would you be better off giving it up, sorting family transport again - then the company provides a pool / hire car as required? Or you use you own& claim mileage. Benefits of each .....

Student loan - not really in the mix for comparing salaries.

Extra hours - why? In some places it's because we try to employ too few people
(Or part time, when it's a full time role). That's not so good. My job I do extra hours at the busy times, and we all know when it's quiet there's half days on Fridays to be taken. It's not a formal time off in-lieu process. So again - what do you see as your solution? Propose your solutions, rather than present problems.

It sounds like they're letting it drag on because you're letting it TBH - why would they pay you more if you're seemingly happy with what you've got.

I agree with others that you need to research what other companies are paying for similar role. I wouldn't involve the new office manager, it just complicates things if you already have an agreement to review this with the MD then why include anyone junior to the person you need to act. I'd try to keep it simple, do your research and then email to say as per your agreement to review my pay, I think because of X,Y and Z that £xx,xx would be fair reflection. Highlight your successes, don't mention the problems and be ready to defend them if they do. When would be a good time to discuss this - the next board meeting is on xx so it would be great to have a resolution by xx in time for the xx payroll as the review is already overdue.

I think sometimes if you come up through an admin type role there's an tendency to undersell yourself, so just concentrate on the roll you do now and what it's worth.

Have you outright asked for an appropriate pay rise? If not, you need to, with a clear statement of what your additional responsibilities are and why they are worth ££.