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essendoubleop · 09-18-2007, 04:58 PM

Of all the sensitive topics to talk about, by far the most difficult one for me is talking about money with an employer. What makes it so difficult is I have a tough time holding back what I truly feel. When I'm discussing money, obviously I want as much as possible from an employer, but I'm not going to say, "I want more money." That's always in the back of my head and I overcompensate for it by being too quick to comply and acquiesce to whatever they want to pay me.

I've been working at a company for nearly two years now and I make $9.50. Before I started there, I was making $9.50 for the past two years as a cook. I've done a lot of research and crunched a lot of numbers. See if you can follow me:

My Wage........Year......WA Min Wage........My % Over Min.......My True Est. Earnings
$9.50..........2004...........$7.16..............33%..............$9.50
9.50...........2005.............7.35..............29..................9.78
9.50...........2006.............7.63..............24.................10.15
9.50...........2007.............7.93..............20.................10.55
................2008.............~8.16.............16..................10.85

I have another table I created that estimates the the Washington State Minimum Wage for 2008, but I'll spare you unless you want it. So by these calculations, to earn as much as I was in 2004, I would have to have a wage of $10.85, just to keep with inflation. However, my current company is not responsible for 2004-2005, when I was not employed there. Only taking into account those years, this is the table I have come up with:

WCW Wage........Year......WA Min Wage........My % Over Min.......My True Est. Earnings
9.50...............2006.............7.63..............24.....................$9.50
9.50...............2007.............7.93..............20......................9.83
....................2008.............~8.16.............16......................10.12

My standard wage if I had NOT been given ANY performance wage increase would be $10.12.

Assuming I have earned just a 5% performance bonus for each year I have been employed at my company, I would be at 34% over minimum wage for 2008, with a wage of $10.93.

Now, I think it's fair that I should get a raise to at least $10.50, but my boss is notorious around the company for being a cheapskate. Of all the people I have ever known, he is probably the most miserly and I certainly do not look forward to asking him for a raise. I was hoping to get your opinion on this. Do you think it is a good idea to bombard him with these number tables and factually show him how much money I deserve? The reason why I'm finally getting the fortitude to ask for a raise now is I am starting school soon and I am hoping to use that as a bit of leverage, kind of like, "if you aren't willing to pay me what I'm worth, than CYa. I've got better things to do." But I've never had a better job, and I like the people I work with.

One other thing I almost forgot, the guys who have been promoted over me are making around $10.50-$11, even though they haven't been working there longer than me. It's not that I don't have the ability to do what they do, I simply don't want to get bogged down with that kind of work when school starts.

09-18-2007, 04:58 PM	#1 (permalink)
essendoubleop Psycho	Asking for a raise Of all the sensitive topics to talk about, by far the most difficult one for me is talking about money with an employer. What makes it so difficult is I have a tough time holding back what I truly feel. When I'm discussing money, obviously I want as much as possible from an employer, but I'm not going to say, "I want more money." That's always in the back of my head and I overcompensate for it by being too quick to comply and acquiesce to whatever they want to pay me. I've been working at a company for nearly two years now and I make $9.50. Before I started there, I was making $9.50 for the past two years as a cook. I've done a lot of research and crunched a lot of numbers. See if you can follow me: My Wage........Year......WA Min Wage........My % Over Min.......My True Est. Earnings $9.50..........2004...........$7.16..............33%..............$9.50 9.50...........2005.............7.35..............29..................9.78 9.50...........2006.............7.63..............24.................10.15 9.50...........2007.............7.93..............20.................10.55 ................2008.............~8.16.............16..................10.85 I have another table I created that estimates the the Washington State Minimum Wage for 2008, but I'll spare you unless you want it. So by these calculations, to earn as much as I was in 2004, I would have to have a wage of $10.85, just to keep with inflation. However, my current company is not responsible for 2004-2005, when I was not employed there. Only taking into account those years, this is the table I have come up with: WCW Wage........Year......WA Min Wage........My % Over Min.......My True Est. Earnings 9.50...............2006.............7.63..............24.....................$9.50 9.50...............2007.............7.93..............20......................9.83 ....................2008.............~8.16.............16......................10.12 My standard wage if I had NOT been given ANY performance wage increase would be $10.12. Assuming I have earned just a 5% performance bonus for each year I have been employed at my company, I would be at 34% over minimum wage for 2008, with a wage of $10.93. Now, I think it's fair that I should get a raise to at least $10.50, but my boss is notorious around the company for being a cheapskate. Of all the people I have ever known, he is probably the most miserly and I certainly do not look forward to asking him for a raise. I was hoping to get your opinion on this. Do you think it is a good idea to bombard him with these number tables and factually show him how much money I deserve? The reason why I'm finally getting the fortitude to ask for a raise now is I am starting school soon and I am hoping to use that as a bit of leverage, kind of like, "if you aren't willing to pay me what I'm worth, than CYa. I've got better things to do." But I've never had a better job, and I like the people I work with. One other thing I almost forgot, the guys who have been promoted over me are making around $10.50-$11, even though they haven't been working there longer than me. It's not that I don't have the ability to do what they do, I simply don't want to get bogged down with that kind of work when school starts.