How to ask for a payrise?

[pontipinemum]

I will be with my company 2 years soon and would like to ask for a pay rise but I have no idea how to go about it!

For context, I WFH fully. I have never met my boss in person and hardly ever speak to him, couple of emails a month at most, we had 1 zoom before I was hired. I have a manager I directly report into. I speak to her most days but again usually just emails/ messenger. We are supposed to zoom once a week but it is often cancelled so we can go weeks without actually talking.

I'm an accountant, where I did my training I got automatic pay increases when I passed exams so I never had to ask. I worked in a few places after but never longer than a year (redundancy/ short term contracts).

I don't want to seem like a wimpy mess 'please sir may I have some more' but I def don't want to come across rude.

There are 5 people in the company so no HR. I don't have a contract or employee hand book to reference.

Hi, in these sessions I would tasks the initiative and set up a Teams meeting with your manager. Mention to your manager that you are wondering why you haven’t had a pay rise to reflect cost inflation in two years. Most private companies seem to have given about 5% this year. If you got nothing last year then point that out too.

Say very calmly and politely that you enjoy your job but obviously you have a career to pursue and a life to pay for, and you’re conscious that you can’t hang on waiting for a pay increase forever, no matter how much you love your job, when you could earn more elsewhere very easily and your salary has been eroded by inflation.