Income Increase

Hi Everyone, I hope you had a wonderful holiday.  I am still on vacation and enjoying my time off.  I hope to be able to get back to reading and commenting on my favorite blogs soon.  (For some reason the comments from my phone will not post??) 

I just wanted to pop in very quickly and post about my raise. My boss called me on the second day of my vacation to let me know that I am getting a raise starting January 1, 2019.  My salary will now be $90,000 (up from $85,850)  I received my last raise in August of 2017 ($80,850 to $85,850) so I am pleased about the increase in income.  Based on the online calculators, I should receive an extra $118 per paycheck (an increase of $236 per month).  I need to figure out what I want to do with the increase in income for the 2019 year.  Probably a combination of mortgage pay down and savings. 

Negotiating for A Raise

I probably shouldn't post this, but I am planning to ask my boss for a raise.  Yes, I know that I received a raise a year ago.  No, I'm not being greedy.  Here's the back story: my boss is actively seeking to take on a new client (A company) with a diverse, widespread and large book of business. The company has cases throughout the State.  I have been supportive in assisting him with obtaining this client. He definitely needs to build his brand.   I helped him to submit a proposal, informational paperwork and encouraged him to attend meet and greets with the company big wigs so that he would be awarded the contract. Now, it looks like he pretty much has the contract.  He has intimated that he wants me to run this project.

Undoubtedly, if he secures this contract I will have an even larger work load.  I'm already busy.  I think it's only fair if I am compensated with a raise.  I'm trying to think of a fair compensation arrangement, but that's hard to do without hard numbers.  I don't want to bid against myself by asking for a small $2,500-$5,000 raise.  However, I don't want to ask for a huge raise if the company ends up sending him only a portion of its work.  I'm thinking some sort of commission or quarterly bonus, but I truly fear that he won't be honest about the arrangement (i.e., he will lie about the number of billable hours, number of cases or something else when he decides that he no longer wants to honor the agreement).  I definitely have some thinking to do about the situation. What would you do in this situation?

If he does not want to offer me some additional compensation, I plan on telling him that I can't take on the project and he needs to hire someone else to handle that client. Let the cards land where they may. 

Have You Ever Asked For A Raise?

Have you ever asked for a raise?  In my 13 years of practicing law I have only formally asked for a raise once.  I was surprised at how infrequently I have asked for a raise.  At the beginning of my career, I switched jobs fairly frequently (about once every 2.5 years) in order to increase my pay rather than wait for pay increases.  I wonder how common it is for others to request raises.  

I began my career making approximately $46,000 working for the State of Florida.  I received a raise (really 2 at the same time) and began making approximately $52,000 after about a year and half.  I left after 2.5 years (total) to work in a private law firm making $57,500 (private law firm "A").  I worked at private law firm A for about about 3 months (it was horrible).  I then went to another private law firm (private law firm "B") for the same salary ($57,500).   Private law firm B was run by a sole proprietor who did not like to give raises to her employees. Private law firm B was the only employer from whom I ever formally asked for a raise.  I worked there for approximately 2.5 years without a raise. I thought certainly after 1 year I would get a raise, definitely after 2.  I always received lots of praise for my work and voluntarily took on more work, but never received an offer to increase my salary.  After 2.5 years, I asked her for a raise.  It took a long time for her to finally come talk to me about a raise or even acknowledge that I had asked for a raise.  I think it was 2 or 3 weeks before she acknowledged my request.  We met in her office to talk , which I thought was odd.  She was a sole proprietor and she could decide, unilaterally, whether I should receive  raise and how much.  After about a grueling hour of a cat and mouse game, I finally just asked for a small $5,000 raise.  (She wanted to be sure not to name a number first and I did not want to either, but after 1 hour, I gave up.) She willingly gave it to me as she thought I would as for much more.  My salary increased to $62,500. I left approximately 6 months later for a job paying $70,000 (private law firm "C").  That was the only time in my career that I formally requested a raise.

At private law firm C, I received  a 10% raise after about 1 year and a half.   My second raise came a little over 2 years (maybe 2.5 years later).  My third came just last year (approximately 2 years after the previous one).  My second two raises were not as large as the first.  While I am not pleased that my salary increases average about 2 years apart, I am happy to receive any increase at all. I recognize that in small businesses it is difficult to increase payroll every year. Moreover, I don't agree with giving employees raises every year just for the sake of giving raises (but cost of living increases are a real and important condition of employment).  I have taken on significant amounts of permanent work and projects for the firm over the years, that is the type of event that I think triggers a significant salary increase.

Just a final note, I wanted to be clear that while I have never formally asked my current employer for a salary increase, I have always been very vocal about the fact that I expect salary increases in the future.  I will not tolerate staying at the same salary for years and years on end if I am excelling at my job and continuing to take on new projects.

What are your thoughts on salary increases? Do you expect one every year? Every six months?

I got a raise!!

It was completely out of the blue and unexpected.  I received a $5,000 a year raise which will take place next pay period.  I've already done the math and this will amount to $140 more each pay period. 

I don't know why my bosses decided to give me a raise.  Wait, well let me clarify.  I work very hard, take on extra responsibilities at work and work more than 40 hours a week.  I often end up doing the work of others as well.  However, that type of work ethic, generally, is not rewarded at the firm.  For example, my boss's assistant has been given almost $30,000 in raises over the course of 7 years of employment.  She is rarely at work and because my boss does not work she often does not have much to do.  Even when she is given work, she sometimes doesn't do it.  My boss asked me to ask her (yes, I know- we were all literally in the same building on the same floor) to prepare a list of cases.  Six weeks later, she finally did it.  After, apparently, some prodding by my boss to get it done. The list couldn't have take more than 10 minutes to prepare.

Regardless, I am pleased to be included in the smallish pool of employees that were given raises.  This is my third raise in 6 years.  My first raise was about $7,000, my second was about $3,850 and this, my third, was $5,000.