Chief Executive verbally agreed to pay rise, now being refused by HR/director

[amusicalnow]

Just wondered about the legality of this? Chief Exec agreed a pay rise verbally to me and confirmed this to a Director. Later this has been pulled as it would move me up a whole scale point/they would have to do the same for others. Any thoughts?

Do you have legal insurance on your house insurance?

That's the sort of thing it''s useful to ring up and ask about... without having to fork out for legal advice!

have you spoken to the director again since discovering that they are not going to honour the offer that they made you? If so, what did he say? And why were they offering you the raise in thefirst place? Can you argue that you got the raise for something specific so they don't need to apply it generally?

Call Acas.

Even CEO's have to abide by policy. If there is a structured pay grade system, it is very likely that s/he cannot simply override it.

I am sure CEOs do have to abide by policy but he agreed a pay rise, I accepted, we had an verbal agreement which i understand is a contract and therefore a breach of contract as they are now refusing to abide with the agreement

Even though he is the CEO, it doesn't sound like he has the authority to alter your contract. Now the relevant person is involved, they've had to say no. However as CEO supports a rise, I would expect the maximum they can give you within the set payscales.

On what basis was the increase by the CEO agreed? How much was the increment going to be - did the CEO say "take a £xK pay rise for delivering that fantastic project".

Whatever their words, I would be cautious about throwing the book at them too hastily. Yes, it possibly is technically a breach of contract, but then you need to decide if it's worth fracturing the working relationship with your employer for what may amount to £40 (for ex) in your hand each month. Think about the consequences and what's at stake here.

Do you believe your salary is currently in line with market rates for your role? You're more likely to gain traction with the HR director if you can evidence you're being underpaid, as it could risk them losing you if you're a valuable resource to the organisation.

Where something is a clear error, it will usually be possible for an employer to retract it. For example errors in a contract giving someone too much holiday or the wrong salary. If there is a clear reward policy preventing this kind of increase being awarded, then retracting a verbal offer before it’s been implemented would be fine. You are unlikely to get very far challenging that.

If there is no such policy then you might get further.