Can I please just share why I am SO happy this week?!

[EconDiva]

So I get an email from my boss on Wednesday that has the subject line 'call me as soon as you can good news'....

She never writes 'messages' in the body of the subject line so about 15 seconds later I'm on the phone with her.  She proceeds to tell me that in her 11 years of being with our employer, she didn't even know they did this, but she had just received an email from HR stating that they conducted an annual review in which they had compared my salary to the salary of other new employees joining the company with my position and found that my salary was not in alignment.  So as of this coming Monday I will be getting a 4% salary increase.

And my boss proceeds to tell me that since this is not merit related, she was happy to share with me that I'll be getting another merit increase in February on top of this which is higher than the merit increase I got last year.

I'm so excited!!

What was really crazy is that I don't usually do vision boards, but for some reason I felt compelled to do one for 2017.  So it struck me late Tuesday night, and Tuesday night I stayed up all night working on....the financial section of my vision board.  Then got this news the next day at work. 

Now I just have to plan for where the extra money will go...401k?  House savings?  So excited...yay!!!

[pka222]

What great news. 4% would be so helpful.  I got the opposite this year- no cost  of living increase but 2 extra days off

[onlykelsey]

Congrats!

[tarheeldan]

Congrats on the raises!

[wenchsenior]

Nice! 

[HAPPYINAZ]

Thanks for sharing the good news!  Congratulations!

[Slee_stack]

Something in the air? 

I also got an unexpected call yesterday and received a % bonus that's over double what I've ever received in my entire life.

It was rather shocking.

I celebrated by buying a fancy coffee drink at QT when I stopped for gas.  :P

The money will remain in the stashe.  I'm not even going to spend another $1.50 of it.  That much closer to ER!

[Cwadda]

Congratulations!

I guess I just have to share something too. I received my first sale yesterday evening! It was through a government contract and I spent 12 hours writing the proposal. It's a fat one too - $35,000ish. Plus I get a 3% commission :D

[dougules]

That's awesome.  If they're doing that for you, though, you might check to see if the bump is enough to put you in line with everybody else in your field and keep that in your pocket for next year. 

[Roots&Wings]

Nice!! Where to put extra money is a great problem to have :) If you're not maxing out 401k, that deduction can be pretty nice.

[NESailor]

That's awesome.  If they're doing that for you, though, you might check to see if the bump is enough to put you in line with everybody else in your field and keep that in your pocket for next year.

Good advice.  The issue they ran into with you is referred to as "compression".  Unfortunately, it's rather common so keeping in tune with your worth in the marketplace is a good idea.  Your skill may be appreciating faster than the 2 - 5% raises you're getting at work.

I'm debating whether to have this conversation with my manager.  I know a junior guy on a lower pay grade in a related department is making a few-K more than me.  We're both relatively well paid so I don't actually need more money but it still ribs me.

Props to your employer for fixing it without having to be forced to!

[adamb]

Today is Dec 1st, when the new overtime rule takes effect FYI. Its quite possible these raises are to prevent having to pay for overtime (I went from 45k to 48k today, just over the 47k threshold)

[EconDiva]

Thanks for the congrats everyone!

[EconDiva]

What great news. 4% would be so helpful.  I got the opposite this year- no cost  of living increase but 2 extra days off

I'd love to get two extra days off :)

I am going to Europe this month and on one of those days I will go into one of our offices abroad to work because I am short 1 vacation day :P

[EconDiva]

Something in the air? 

I also got an unexpected call yesterday and received a % bonus that's over double what I've ever received in my entire life.

It was rather shocking.

I celebrated by buying a fancy coffee drink at QT when I stopped for gas.  :P

The money will remain in the stashe.  I'm not even going to spend another $1.50 of it.  That much closer to ER!

Congrats!  Yeah I was kinda shocked too...

My friend told me to go celebrate with some wine or something but I've got a trip planned in two weeks so I'm good.  Ready to figure out how to allocate the additional forthcoming funds.

[EconDiva]

Congratulations!

I guess I just have to share something too. I received my first sale yesterday evening! It was through a government contract and I spent 12 hours writing the proposal. It's a fat one too - $35,000ish. Plus I get a 3% commission :D

Congrats on your first sale!

3% commission?  Nice :D

[EconDiva]

That's awesome.  If they're doing that for you, though, you might check to see if the bump is enough to put you in line with everybody else in your field and keep that in your pocket for next year.

You know what?  You make an absolute good point.  I have had trouble figuring out how much my worth is since starting my role with this employer almost 3 years ago.  I've been meaning to interview just so I could try to get a better handle on that. 

I got a promotion last year...prior to that with my previous title I was told I was "one of the highest paid ones with that title"...after getting the promotion to my current title which came with a 10K bump, I wasn't sure where I stood but after this it seems I'm near the bottom which I was really not aware of at all which did raise just a little concern for me as I'm now about to take on even more work within this position.

[mm1970]

So I get an email from my boss on Wednesday that has the subject line 'call me as soon as you can good news'....

She never writes 'messages' in the body of the subject line so about 15 seconds later I'm on the phone with her.  She proceeds to tell me that in her 11 years of being with our employer, she didn't even know they did this, but she had just received an email from HR stating that they conducted an annual review in which they had compared my salary to the salary of other new employees joining the company with my position and found that my salary was not in alignment.  So as of this coming Monday I will be getting a 4% salary increase.

And my boss proceeds to tell me that since this is not merit related, she was happy to share with me that I'll be getting another merit increase in February on top of this which is higher than the merit increase I got last year.

I'm so excited!!

What was really crazy is that I don't usually do vision boards, but for some reason I felt compelled to do one for 2017.  So it struck me late Tuesday night, and Tuesday night I stayed up all night working on....the financial section of my vision board.  Then got this news the next day at work. 

Now I just have to plan for where the extra money will go...401k?  House savings?  So excited...yay!!!

This happened to a friend of mine last year (but it was 10%).  That would be glorious. I happen to know that I'm about 15-30% underpaid, because I was involved in hiring the last 4 people at my level.

[EconDiva]

That's awesome.  If they're doing that for you, though, you might check to see if the bump is enough to put you in line with everybody else in your field and keep that in your pocket for next year.

Good advice.  The issue they ran into with you is referred to as "compression".  Unfortunately, it's rather common so keeping in tune with your worth in the marketplace is a good idea.  Your skill may be appreciating faster than the 2 - 5% raises you're getting at work.

I'm debating whether to have this conversation with my manager.  I know a junior guy on a lower pay grade in a related department is making a few-K more than me.  We're both relatively well paid so I don't actually need more money but it still ribs me.

Props to your employer for fixing it without having to be forced to!

Thank you for the terminology...I was sure there was a word for this but didn't know what it was beyond "underpaid".  :)

I mentioned in the post directly above that this came as a surprise to me (I was under the assumption I was closer to the average pay for my current title but this incident shows I'm not at all I guess).  I agree it's worth doing more research at this point. 

Like you, I don't 'need' the extra money.  But I 'do' have a 'need' to be paid fairly so it makes sense to find out how I compare to others.

[Erica]

So I get an email from my boss on Wednesday that has the subject line 'call me as soon as you can good news'....

She never writes 'messages' in the body of the subject line so about 15 seconds later I'm on the phone with her.  She proceeds to tell me that in her 11 years of being with our employer, she didn't even know they did this, but she had just received an email from HR stating that they conducted an annual review in which they had compared my salary to the salary of other new employees joining the company with my position and found that my salary was not in alignment.  So as of this coming Monday I will be getting a 4% salary increase.

And my boss proceeds to tell me that since this is not merit related, she was happy to share with me that I'll be getting another merit increase in February on top of this which is higher than the merit increase I got last year.

I'm so excited!!

What was really crazy is that I don't usually do vision boards, but for some reason I felt compelled to do one for 2017.  So it struck me late Tuesday night, and Tuesday night I stayed up all night working on....the financial section of my vision board.  Then got this news the next day at work. 

Now I just have to plan for where the extra money will go...401k?  House savings?  So excited...yay!!!

Good for you!!! That is so exciting!!

Last week I also got a letter in the mail. Assumed it was pressure to attend the lame company xmas party but it was good news.
3% cost of living raise effective Oct 1, 2016 (back-dated) and 5% more paid towards health insurance. Now my health insurance premium are covered at 90% instead of 85%. I guess we are getting a 401k plan in 2017, to be announced. I cannot wait to see if there is any employer matching

[ormaybemidgets]

Today is Dec 1st, when the new overtime rule takes effect FYI. Its quite possible these raises are to prevent having to pay for overtime (I went from 45k to 48k today, just over the 47k threshold)

Actually, that's been paused for now, so if you actually got the raise it's out of the kindness of your employer's heart (and they don't want to look like assholes for not delivering on a promised raise).

[NESailor]

Today is Dec 1st, when the new overtime rule takes effect FYI. Its quite possible these raises are to prevent having to pay for overtime (I went from 45k to 48k today, just over the 47k threshold)

Actually, that's been paused for now, so if you actually got the raise it's out of the kindness of your employer's heart (and they don't want to look like assholes for not delivering on a promised raise).

Yup...we announced it to the affected employees about a week before that Texas decision.  With the new administration coming in - I'm certain this is going away for at least 4 years.  Well...some people got raises...

[Proud Foot]

Today is Dec 1st, when the new overtime rule takes effect FYI. Its quite possible these raises are to prevent having to pay for overtime (I went from 45k to 48k today, just over the 47k threshold)

Actually, that's been paused for now, so if you actually got the raise it's out of the kindness of your employer's heart (and they don't want to look like assholes for not delivering on a promised raise).

Yup...we announced it to the affected employees about a week before that Texas decision.  With the new administration coming in - I'm certain this is going away for at least 4 years.  Well...some people got raises...

I don't like how some are so opposed to this.  Its a significant jump and I think would have been better to be increased to that level over a period of time to help the employers. Its definitely good for the employees though.  Either you get a raise to the level and stay salaried or you get moved to hourly and either have your hours decreased to 40 or receive overtime pay. The only way it would be bad is if your employer tried to change you from full time to part time.

[Harper]

Econdiva...congrats, that is wonderful news!

I'm interested in this vision board...is it electronic or paper?  Care to share?

[bryan995]

To me - this sounds like you are significantly under-paid for the work you do.

Why not explore the job market and get a feel what you are truly worth? And then re-negotiate an even larger raise.
e.g. +10-20%?

Sometimes the only way to do this is to approach your boss/current employer with another offer, in hand.

[EconDiva]

Econdiva...congrats, that is wonderful news!

I'm interested in this vision board...is it electronic or paper?  Care to share?

Thanks!

I'm doing mine via Powerpoint.  Each slide is a different area I'm focusing on and I'll have 4 or 5 by the time I'm done.  Finance is one, but as an example I have one for wellness (mind/body/spirit), one for self improvement (a few classes I want to take and volunteer activities to get involved in, etc.), etc.

90% done...when finished I'll print each slide out and put on a board which will hang above the desk I have to get (I'll soon be working from home daily so I want it somewhere I'll see it every day).

At the site below, the first vision board is an example of how something like how my 'health' section looks on my board (but I have way less pictures because I have other slides/sections to include on my board):
http://www.embracinghealthblog.com/2016/01/04/vision-boards-embracing-the-new-year/

credit:  www.embracinghealthblog.com

[EconDiva]

To me - this sounds like you are significantly under-paid for the work you do.

Why not explore the job market and get a feel what you are truly worth? And then re-negotiate an even larger raise.
e.g. +10-20%?

Sometimes the only way to do this is to approach your boss/current employer with another offer, in hand.

I'm going to make a point to do this.  I mentioned this earlier up in the thread but I had no idea I was significantly underpaid though...this caught me off guard. 

[arebelspy]

Congrats! 

Nice your company does that.  Good retention strategy.  :)

[TomTX]

This happened to a friend of mine last year (but it was 10%).  That would be glorious. I happen to know that I'm about 15-30% underpaid, because I was involved in hiring the last 4 people at my level.

So, absent other factors you should be out interviewing.

[EconDiva]

So I get an email from my boss on Wednesday that has the subject line 'call me as soon as you can good news'....

She never writes 'messages' in the body of the subject line so about 15 seconds later I'm on the phone with her.  She proceeds to tell me that in her 11 years of being with our employer, she didn't even know they did this, but she had just received an email from HR stating that they conducted an annual review in which they had compared my salary to the salary of other new employees joining the company with my position and found that my salary was not in alignment.  So as of this coming Monday I will be getting a 4% salary increase.

And my boss proceeds to tell me that since this is not merit related, she was happy to share with me that I'll be getting another merit increase in February on top of this which is higher than the merit increase I got last year.

I'm so excited!!

What was really crazy is that I don't usually do vision boards, but for some reason I felt compelled to do one for 2017.  So it struck me late Tuesday night, and Tuesday night I stayed up all night working on....the financial section of my vision board.  Then got this news the next day at work. 

Now I just have to plan for where the extra money will go...401k?  House savings?  So excited...yay!!!

Good for you!!! That is so exciting!!

Last week I also got a letter in the mail. Assumed it was pressure to attend the lame company xmas party but it was good news.
3% cost of living raise effective Oct 1, 2016 (back-dated) and 5% more paid towards health insurance. Now my health insurance premium are covered at 90% instead of 85%. I guess we are getting a 401k plan in 2017, to be announced. I cannot wait to see if there is any employer matching

10%?!  Wow.

And 15-30% is way too much for you to be underpaid.  What gives?

[Indexer]

Congrats!!!

I know the feeling. A few years ago my company did it, right around year end, and didn't tell me. I go into a meeting with my boss where he shows me my 'merit' increase. I was new so I was expecting a small increase. This was an 8% increase. He was confused about why I was so excited.
Looking over the numbers he points to a number and says, "Well this is what you are making now. It's only a 3% prorated raise over that." 
I replied, "No, that is not at all what I'm making now. I'm making X." 
"OHHHH! HR never told you that they bumped your pay as part of a realignment."

Turns out all the new hires on my team experienced the same thing.

[Goldielocks]

Congrats!!!

I know the feeling. A few years ago my company did it, right around year end, and didn't tell me. I go into a meeting with my boss where he shows me my 'merit' increase. I was new so I was expecting a small increase. This was an 8% increase. He was confused about why I was so excited.
Looking over the numbers he points to a number and says, "Well this is what you are making now. It's only a 3% prorated raise over that." 
I replied, "No, that is not at all what I'm making now. I'm making X." 
"OHHHH! HR never told you that they bumped your pay as part of a realignment."

Turns out all the new hires on my team experienced the same thing.

8% is awesome....  but for how long had your pay been "realigned"... ?  Did you never notice on your paycheck?

[Indexer]

Congrats!!!

I know the feeling. A few years ago my company did it, right around year end, and didn't tell me. I go into a meeting with my boss where he shows me my 'merit' increase. I was new so I was expecting a small increase. This was an 8% increase. He was confused about why I was so excited.
Looking over the numbers he points to a number and says, "Well this is what you are making now. It's only a 3% prorated raise over that." 
I replied, "No, that is not at all what I'm making now. I'm making X." 
"OHHHH! HR never told you that they bumped your pay as part of a realignment."

Turns out all the new hires on my team experienced the same thing.

8% is awesome....  but for how long had your pay been "realigned"... ?  Did you never notice on your paycheck?

It was on my next paycheck. They were suppose to have told me weeks prior.