I still haven't had my annual review at work yet. My input to it was done a month ago. We have to do a self review, with goals, etc. My boss was sick half of last week, not to mention she is always super busy.
So, yesterday I was processing payroll for our payday on this Friday coming up. I was reviewing the report I print out for the hours, vacations, sick days etc. This report also has hourly wages on it. I almost didn't notice it, but my hourly wage was different. "Oh!, she put in my raise!" Then I blinked again and saw the amount. A whole .48 cents an hour higher than before. I blinked again, honestly thinking this had to be a mistake!
48 cents an hour? Really? One time before my boss was so late getting the actual reviews done she just gave me the raise and eventually did the review. So then I compared all the others that I know report to her to see if they got raises, too. All but 2 (which is strange but I'm sure they will be getting one) also did.....BUT, all of their raises range from $1.00/hour to $2.85 per hour. Ok, I know why the one guy got the $2.85 (new out of college, past his "let's see how he does" phase and got a nice raise - that's how we do it), so even throwing him out of the average, the rest of of them got $1.50 to $2.00 per hour ($3000-$4000 per year) increases. Even our receptionist, who has been with us for years and makes a very decent salary for her job level (I even looked it up - the average salary for a receptionist in our city is $32k a year - she now makes $47k), got a $4000 a year raise!! Last year she got a $2200/yr raise.
I have never gotten less than a $2000 a year raise (my first year and a different, cheap boss), not counting when the economy went to hell and no one got raises for awhile. Most of my raises have been in the $3000-$4000 a year range. Last year was $2400, not high, not low, but I was happy with it.
But .48 cents? That's $1000 a year. That's 1.3% of my annual salary. Now 48 cents an hour would be a decent raise for someone making, say, $10 bucks an hour. I don't consider it even worth it at $75,000 a year salary. That's about $66 per month after taxes. Whoopdedooo :/ Honestly, they might as well not even bothered with it. We had a record sales year last year and this year we are totally killing it already. We broke our monthly sales goal for this month only 2 weeks into the month. So, it's not like the company is cutting back on expenses......as evidenced by the other raises I see went through.
And I, myself, certainly haven't been slacking. Just in the past 2 weeks I made a huge discovery (compliments of the informative CPA I deal with for my side job) that there are some "entertainment" expenses we can be categorizing as 100% deductible and not in the 50% category. In all our years with our company the CPA we use has never once brought this tax savings to our attention. I was so excited to find this out that I called my boss on my way home from work to share the info with her. I just spent a couple of days going through all our 2014 meals and entertainment expenses to see which I can move over to a different expense account. There might be a few more I find but I was able to save us being taxed on over $13,000. This will really be a huge savings on years we have company parties. When we had our 25th anniversary huge party several years ago we probably spent $100k that all could have been 100% deductible instead of the 50% deduction that our CPA had us use. In 2013 we had a large company X-mas/year end party that probably $25k was spent on. I've also come up with some ways to be more efficient and save time/money.
I have a feeling she put the raises through last week, thinking she had this week to get the reviews done and let us know what our raise is before anyone sees their paycheck on Friday. Then she got sick for most of last week and hasn't had time to get them done yet. It will be interesting to see what my boss says when I do get my review. If it's not until after payday this Friday and she says "you got your raise on your last paycheck" I'm going to say "oh, I did? I didn't even notice"!
I probably sound ungrateful and pissy and yes, I guess I am. Honestly, I'd rather hear a "you aren't getting a raise this year, we feel your salary is where it should be" than a piddly 1%. It feels like an insult on some level. Ok, I'm done with my rant....for now.
It is never good seeing what other people make and what their raises are. I am so sorry it was not very much. I highly doubt, from what you have said, it was from performance. Interesting though. I laughed with your proposed comment to it. I just might do that as well!
ReplyDeleteI just thought to look....even my boss got an almost 7% raise! Now I'm even more bummed :/
DeleteHaven't you received rather substantial raises in the time you've been there though? Sometimes that can catch up with you. Also, I know its your job but I don't think its healthy to know what everyone else got for a raise.
ReplyDeleteYes, substantial (at least in my opinion) but also very much along with what everyone else receives on a yearly basis. It's not good to know what everyone else gets - LOL! I just made it worse on myself by going through all the raises that got put in so far (a couple of dept's haven't yet) and the average raise is 9%! Even throwing out the highest and lowest, the average is still 8.7%. Very nice raises for everyone :-)
Deleteand I'd have been thrilled to get 3 or 4%! 8 or 9% would have blown me away.
DeleteIs it possible this is an input error? I would definitely try to exercise some patience and restraint until you have an opportunity to sit down and discuss it with her.
ReplyDeleteIs it possible this is an input error? I would definitely try to exercise some patience and restraint until you have an opportunity to sit down and discuss it with her.
ReplyDeleteJanelle - I keep hoping that it's an input error (we have a separate company that does our actual payroll processing for us). And yes, I'll just have to be patient until I have my actual review with my boss. It will get explained one way or the other at that time and I'll know the reason. But, the waiting is no fun!
DeleteWell, guess I got my answer and don't have to wonder anymore. Just got an email from my boss that says "You might notice a change in your salary, I have your review (Very simple) that we can go over tomorrow but I wanted to get the increase in this payroll. You are now at $ 76,000 a year."
ReplyDeleteHmpff! and it ended up being a whopping $50 a month after taxes taken out. Guess I'll just dump it all into my 401k and pretend I didn't even get a raise.
That is so disappointing, and I certainly hope an explanation is forthcoming. Probably she got one of those "this is how much our in-house accountant should make ..." guides.
DeleteYou are probably right and I could go with that explanation if it was applied to other positions in our company, but it doesn't appear so. An online search shows my salary is right in line with others in our city.......but our receptionist (who answers the phones and does some data entry and shipping of small packages) now makes $47k a year (after a $4k increase) and the average is $32k in our city. It will be interesting to see what she says. We are actually going out to lunch for my review - which we have never done before, either.....
DeleteIs your firm larger than 50 employees? I wonder if they took benefits into consideration. Our little firm is still age rated for healthcare and there is huge difference between what we pay for a 20-something employee versus a 50- or 60-something employee. I am gobsmacked at the receptionist salary; is she maybe getting promoted or given additional responsibilities?
DeleteWe are just under 50 employees. Nothing that I am aware of regarding any change of responsibilities for our receptionist. She keeps pretty busy just answering the phones all day! She does a great job and is very professional.
Delete$76000 is a good income. Cheer up!!!
DeleteI'm trying - really I am! $76k is a "decent" income - for my education level, experience and the salaries in our area. It's by no means extravagant. We live in a very high cost of living area. The median home value is currently $473,000. Nothing I could even come close to buying on $76k a year. We have one of the highest gasoline taxes in the nation and our sales taxes are almost 10%.
Deleteonly good thing about it all is that you at least got a raise. Only after nagging his boss does my dh get a raise and then it only happens every few years, not every year.
ReplyDeleteYes, I just need to dig deep and find what I can be grateful for with it. If there is something I can do to improve to warrant a decent raise, then I will do that. If not, then it is what it is, I guess. It's just hard knowing that 1) this isn't standard with 90% of the rest of the employees, 2) I see the financials on a daily basis and our company is not hurting for money, in fact there is so much income from 2014 that I can guarantee it will be bonused out to the owners and managers in a very large chunk, so as not to pay income tax on it and 3) our 2 company owners make in a MONTH what several of our employees make in a whole year.
DeleteAt least I will be able to put an additional $1000 a year into my 401k this next year and with the company matching portion will really be a $1500 a year increase to my 401k.
Wow that sucks. Hopefully once you have your review you might learn why yours was much lower.
ReplyDeleteHave you considered writing her a letter/email? I would go through and make the points you made in this post:
ReplyDeletePoint out your long history with them. Point out that you were able to bring them a heretofore unheard of deductible that will save a lot of money over time, I'm guessing.
And if you really feel pissy about it, mention (assuming it's normal in the course of your job to see other people's pay info) that you know everyone else got at least $1.50 raises.
For the reasons mentioned, you would ask that they reconsider and provide you with at least a $1.50 raise, as you feel your work adds substantial value to their organization.
Do it politely, and the worst they can do is say no. You might get more information as to why in that case. Perhaps there's a cap on CPA salaries? Did the other CPA get a commensurate raise?
I have my review today, so guess I will see what she says! We are a small company (just under 50 employees) so I am the only accountant. I'm basically the whole accounting department - a/p, a/r, payroll, to doing the monthly financials.
DeleteAre you sure she did not make a mistake when entering the figure? You said she has been sick maybe she pushed the wrong digit and did not look again. Unless you mention the actual figure to her she may not know she has done that.
ReplyDeleteaccording to her email I got yesterday, scheduling my review for today, she specifically said that my new salary is this amount, so now I know it's not a mistake, as I had hoped.
DeleteOh I was so sure it was a mistake on her behalf, now I feel that is just not fair to you. Seems a bit mean of her.
DeleteMy yearly pay equity raise is usually .21 cents an hour as is my coworkers. My husband gets .10 cent raises twice a year working at a car plant that does nothing but make money. These days raises are small but better than nothing.
ReplyDeleteI try to be grateful for whatever small increase I get. Many work far harder for way less.
Wow, those are such small increases. How does anyone keep up with inflation? BUT, you also know that this is the same for all your co-workers. Mine are getting MUCH more than I got, which is what I think is the hardest part of it all. Thanks for commenting!
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